Training block overview - Foundation - WK31-36/2025

The Foundations stream allows you to tailor your training to your preferred direction with optional Saturday sessions. You can focus on building your engine, working on your running, improving your weightlifting, getting stronger or just doing more competition workouts. For best results, it’s good to choose one focus on the optional sessions and stick with it for a full training block.

Weightlifting bias - Follow optional WL sessions

Strength bias - Follow optional STR sessions

Conditioning bias - You can mix different optional conditioning sessions from week to week OR focus on a single session style

Running - Follow the optional running sessions

Competition/Sport bias - Follow optional competition workout sessions

- 4 main training sessions (60 to 75 minutes) + an optional session, another optional conditioning (aerobic base) OR active recovery day and a full rest day (on Sundays)

- three (3) main conditioning sessions (sport-specific Interval session, running and a weekly competition workout)

- Weekly skill work

- Weightlifting and strength work spread across four (4) training sessions.

- Optional session

You can choose your focus for these 6 weeks by selecting different optional conditioning sessions. You can work on your running capacity, sports-specific conditioning, aerobic base or do more competition workouts.

- The running sessions build towards a 3km time trial in the final week. In one session, we’ll work on durability and fatigue tolerance with 5km pace intervals, and use strides to improve your mechanics/efficiency. In the other one, we’ll focus on faster paced repeats that progress directly towards the 3km time trial. One of these running sessions is always an optional one.

- We have two progressions on the weekly sports-specific intervals. 1) EMOM/AMRAP style 6/7/8-minute work intervals, designed so that you should be able to maintain intensity throughout. 2) Broken up (e.g. 0:30/0:30 or 0:40/0:20) longer EMOM intervals with bigger chunks of movements AND shorter 3-5 minute intervals with short recoveries. One of the sessions is available as an option on Saturdays each week.

- The weekly competition workouts offer an opportunity to practice pushing yourself, develop your movement capacity under fatigue, and refine your pacing under intensity.

- Aerobic base session of longer duration, lower to moderate intensity that improves mitochondrial density and capillarization, which indirectly supports lactate clearance. This is available as an optional session on Wednesday and/or Saturday.

It’s important to note that each of these sessions should be done at prescribed intensities to stimulate the intended adaptations properly.

Learning and practising “Intensity control” (matching intensity/pace to session intent) is a key skill that will elevate the level of your training beyond merely “doing workouts.” It will allow you to make the most out of each session and ensure sufficient recovery from your training to continue to put in high-quality work.

We’ll continue technical development of the snatch for the first three weeks before building towards a new 1RM in the final week. For clean and jerks, we’ll stay with the full lift as we progress towards the 1RM.

Here are the progressions (from Wk1-Wk6) for the lifts:

- Power snatch + deep power snatch + snatch complex for technical development for the first 3 weeks

- Full snatch waves on Wks 4 and 5.

- 1RM in the final week of the block

- Alternating weeks progression: Wks 1/3/5 (triples/doubles/singles) and Wks 2/4 (clean focus 3+1, 2+1, 1+1 / jerk focus 1+3, 1+2, 1+1).

- 1RM in the final week of the block

- Split jerk / BTN split jerk alternating weeks to support jerk development

- no-feet snatch variations for technical development.

- Heavy snatch pulls on Saturdays

- Front squat shifts to higher repetition sets to build upper back strength/stamina and grit. Three weeks of 8s, followed by waves of 7-5-3 for two weeks before the deload.

The key progressions in this block follow a format of building to a heavy (but not maximal) set, followed by moderately hard, fairly low-volume (RPE 6-8) back-off sets. The goal is to build strength without constantly feeling tired from pushing too close to failure or excessive volume.

You should feel (somewhat) fresh each time you hit the big lifts. You should not be grinding through the sets on these lifts. The accessory work can/will be closer to failure to elicit more hypertrophy stimulus.

Here are the progressions (from Wk1-Wk6) for main lifts in different movement patterns:

- Back squat top sets of H3@RPE7/8, H2@RPE7/8, H1@RPE8/1RM, paired with back-off sets of 6s, 4s and 2s (double reps to top set)

- Deadlifts build up in 3s, paired with deficit deadlifts for back-off sets in the first 3 weeks. We’ll build to a heavy double on the 5th week before deload on the final week.

- Seated strict press for “base”, progressing into heavier strict press with top set, followed by back-off sets in the 2nd half of the block.

- Seal rows for first 3 weeks, followed by Meadows row for the second half (to familiarise you with the movement)

- Front squat shifts to higher repetition sets to build upper back strength/stamina and grit. Three weeks of 8s, followed by waves of 7-5-3 for two weeks before the deload.

- Bench press “base” work in 4-6 rep range, paired with strict pull-ups, starting at higher rep for 2 weeks before switching to heavier top set followed by back-off sets.

- Accessory circuits to bulletproof joints and build support muscles

Reintroducing barbell and DB cycling skill work. We’ll also continue with foundational gymnastics strength work.

With 60 to 75-minutes to train each day on Foundations, you’ll want to practise how to make the most out of every session. Developing efficient, repeatable routines at (and outside) the gym will help you establish good training habits that will carry you for a long time to come.

Make sure you review the session before you head to the gym (so you bring all the right gear with you). Follow the warm-ups on the programming or make up your own. Take at least 10-minutes to prep your body for the training. Do your best to be present in every part of training by approaching each session with the specific intent of becoming better in at least one movement/effort. (e.g. “Today I will focus on keeping the bar close on the snatch” or “Today I will push myself to keep the pace when the intervals get hard”).

Do a short cool-down at the end of each session, and note your results, what went well, and what you will improve on next time (and how you will specifically do this?).

For each conditioning piece, it’s important that you hit the intended intensity. If you go too hard on the 1st interval in a session, your intensity will drop too much later in the session. If you go too easy, your output and heart rate won’t get high enough to stimulate the intended adaptations.

For strength and skill work, we are looking to simply put in quality work from one session to the next. Aim to build each week from the last one, whether by increasing the reps or weights (depending on the progression). Focus on accumulating excellent repetitions to lay a solid technical foundation for future training.

Focus on establishing good daily habits that are sustainable for you. Make sure you’re getting in 3 good real food meals daily, then build any snacks and pre/peri/post-training nutrition choices around them.

To train hard, recover and make progress, you must ensure you’re eating enough. A good sign that you could eat more to fuel your training is that you often feel hungry. If you’re not sure where to start, a few rough reference points for daily intake (if you’re into macros) could be:

Protein - 2.2g per kg (1 gram per lb) BW

Fat - 25-30% of daily calories or 1g per kg (1g per lb) BW

Carbs - Remaining calories or 4+g per kg (1.8+g per lb) BW

Calories - 22 x BW (body weight) in kg (or 10 x BW in lbs) x (1.3 to 1.8 as “activity multiplier”)

Remember that if you don’t eat enough, you won’t recover and get the results you want.

The most important thing for your recovery will be to get enough (7.5-9 hours) sleep regularly. Your training (and results) will be better if you get more sleep. Aim to be in bed by 11 pm at the latest, and sleep in a cool, dark, and quiet room. If you can, get out for a short (10-minute) walk soon after sunrise (before 10 am is fine) and again around sunset. This will help set your circadian rhythm, making it easier to go to bed early.

All other recovery modalities will take a backseat to this. Implementing a 10- to 30-minute daily mobility routine, split between morning, training, and evening, will also likely pay off, both in the short and long term.