Training block overview - Advanced Competitor (Engine) - WK37-42/2025

The primary goal of this stream is to help you establish a solid foundation of conditioning. If conditioning is your biggest limiter in competitions, and you feel good about your strength numbers, then this plan is a good choice for you.

This 6-week cycle shifts focus from pure running capacity to running with interference/fatigue and aerobic capacity in general. We’ll build towards the Mikko Triangle (EMOM 40) and a 1600m Run → 4000m Bike → 1600m Run test in the final week. We’ll have one dedicated session for each of these a week.

You’ll also have one additional movement/VO2max focused interval session, two aerobic base sessions (one of which is optional), and a weekly competition workout.

Lifting focus is on general strength and builds towards heavy 5 back squat, 2-3RM (athlete choice) front squat, 3RM push press and 3-5RM strict dip/chin up (athlete choice). On weightlifting, we’ll build capacity with cluster sets on main lifts and on a hang power clean progression.

- 10 training sessions (1 to 2 hours each), an optional additional base training/Z2 day, and a full rest day (on Sundays)

- Five (5) main conditioning sessions (1 Run/bike session, a sport-specific interval session, Mikko Triangle progression session, a long base aerobic piece and a competition workout)

- Option to do more Z2/base conditioning on Wednesdays instead of the active recovery

- Weekly skill session

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

Each week is organised based on the movements, repetitions, and intensity to allow for sufficient recovery so that you can work hard in each session.

The primary focus for the next six weeks is to build your aerobic foundation and improve your running under fatigue/interference. You will have days where the legs feel heavy from the conditioning work (this might somewhat affect your strength numbers temporarily).

- The run-bike-run sessions build towards a 1600m Run - 4000m Bike - 1600m Run test on the final week. The idea is to practice and develop your ability to run even splits, even with the bike in-between. Interval durations progress over the weeks.

- The weekly sports-specific intervals start as 0:30/0:15, 0:40/0:20 and 1:00/0:30 micro-intervals before switching to longer ones in the second half of the block. As always these sessions are intended to be executed at high intensity and should be challenging but repeatable.

- The longer conditioning progression builds around testing the Mikko Triangle (EMOM 40 for cals, 1) row, 2) ski, 3) air bike, 4) rest) on the final week. We’ll explore variations around this theme instead of just working in the EMOM format.

- 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.

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.

The focus is on building the base with emphasis on specific work capacity and solid form on moderate weights. There will be few opportunities to lift heavier (especially on the snatch) but what we want is consistency.

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

- Alternating weeks of clusters (sets with short rests between the lifts) and “snakes-and-ladders” (building up each lift but going down every miss).

- Block power snatch + block snatch variations for technical development.

- Technique primers before main CnJ day (Thursday), alternating between jerk and clean.

- Alternating weeks of 3-position CnJ and clusters (like with the snatch).

- Clean pulls to strengthen positions and first pull off the floor.

- Hang power clean progression for work capacity and sport-specific transfer.

The progressions in this block are focused on “general strength” in the 3-6 rep range for the main lifts, building towards 3-5RM lifts in the final week on push press, front squat, strict dip and chin up.

Most of the work should be “moderately hard”, challenging without missing lifts or needing to psyche yourself up excessively just to make it through.

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

- Back squat top sets of H5, followed back-off sets and classic 5x5 progression (based on H5) on alternating weeks.

- Front squat 6-4-2s and 5-3-1 w/ back-off sets, building to 2s and 3s in wk5 before testing 2-3RM in the final week.

- Deadlifts alternate between higher rep romanian deadlifts and regular deadlift top set of H3/2 w/ back-off sets.

- Push press - building to 3RM in the final week, working in the 3-5 rep range in the main progression. Single-arm DB/KB press as assistance for this.

- Strict dip / chin up - building to 3-5RM in the final week. Building from 6-8 range to heavier / lower reps as the training block progresses. Incline DB bench press as assistance to dips, rope pull-ups and row variations as assistance to chin-ups.

Support Work:

- Accessory circuits focused on postural strength (holds and carries) and shoulder health.

Deload and testing in Week 6 - scaling back volume across lifts and accessories to consolidate adaptations and to test the lifts from main progressions.

We’ll continue with barbell cycling and gymnastics capacity work, building from the previous training block.

The quality of your training is the quality of your repetitions. Aim to make every training session the best it can be. Focus on what’s within your control:

- Giving your best effort (this is not merely pushing as hard as you can each time but reflecting on the intent of the training session, then applying yourself to it).

- Doing the work (and not skipping skill pieces or other parts of training)

- Holding yourself to movement standards (establishing solid foundations for all upcoming training)

- Warming up / cooling down

- Sleeping well

- Fuelling sufficiently

With conditioning our main focus, make sure to be fresh, recovered and ready to go for these sessions.

For each conditioning interval, it’s important that you hit them with the intended intensity. If you push too hard during the first interval in a session, your intensity will drop significantly 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, we aim to consistently put in high-quality work from one session to the next. Aim to build on each week's progress, whether by increasing the reps or weights (depending on the progression). Focus on accumulating excellent repetitions to lay a solid foundation of strength and technical capacity.

As your goal is to build your engine, you need to be able to hit the hard sessions hard and recover from them. This means eating enough overall and getting sufficient carbohydrates to fuel the high-intensity efforts. Having a carb drink at hand for training sessions and re-fuelling as soon as possible after might be a good idea.

A good sign that you could eat more to fuel your training is that you feel hungry. If you’re not sure, 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 in kg (or 10 x BW in lbs) x (1.7 to 2 as “activity multiplier”)

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

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.