The main focus of this stream is to improve your capacity in competition workouts and prepare for upcoming events. It has a more varied structure than the strength and engine streams.

Now that the Open and Quarterfinals are behind us and we’ve established some baselines in the test week, it’s time to look ahead to the upcoming competitions. Training on this stream will help you be ready and get ready for any competitions you might have coming up in the next 8-weeks.

You’ll do more competition style workouts and skill work on this stream than on the other ones. We’ve organised the sessions so that Monday, Thursday and Saturday are higher intensity days while Tuesday and Friday are lower intensity days, focused on building your skill, conditioning and strength base.

This kind of high/low organisation allows you to recover sufficiently between the sessions to hit the hard sessions with appropriate (high) intensity.

The strength/weightlifting work is distributed across four days. Strength training is organised around the main lifts (squat, hinge, lunge, upper body push/pull) with some accessory work fitted in. You’ll have an opportunity to improve your snatch and jerk techniques in this training block.

The skill work is split into two main sessions. We’ll focus mainly on building your capacity on the typical gymnastics movements (pull-ups, toes to bar, HSPU etc.) and barbell cycling.

You may change the order of sessions on Monday, Thursday and Saturday so that you do the conditioning 1st (as needed to make sure you’ll hit these hard).

Monday

Session #1 - Snatch primer focus on transition under the bar and complexes focused on improving the positions and pull off the floor. Higher repetition back squats. Strict dips and barbell rows.

Session #2 - Competition workout. A key session for this stream, it’s play time but push yourself hard.

Tuesday

Session #1 - Blended skill/low-intensity conditioning session to build capacity on basic gymnastics and barbell cycling.

Session #2 - Higher rep deadlifts (or sumo deadlift). Strict overhead pressing (standing/seated) and lunges. Accessory strength circuit.

Wednesday

Active recovery / Rest day

Thursday

Session #1 - Alternating weeks: 1) Snatch from blocks to develop speed/force production and snatch push press + OHS complex to strengthen snatch grip overhead and snatch receiving positions. 2) Jerk drills to improve the dip/drive mechanics and BTN split jerks to build confidence and to work on the bar path.

Each main part is followed by Power cleans/snatches to develop speed/force production for the main lifts, as well as, front squats then strict pull ups/chin ups.

Session #2 - Mixed modality Interval conditioning session. This is a key session where you should push yourself hard.

Friday

Session #1 - 2nd Skill session of the week.

Session #2 - Optional lower intensity conditioning with few options. If possible, do the long run here on at least some of the weeks to be ready for the run based intervals in the next 4-week block.

Saturday

Session #1 - Snatch balance + OHS to work speed under the bar and the receiving position. Clean and jerk complex with emphasis on front squats. Bench press (variations) and stiff-legged deadlift.

Session #2 - The 2nd competition workout of the week. Play time, this is a key session so challenge yourself.

Sunday

Rest day

A key idea we want to cultivate in this training block is that hard training should be hard and easy training should be easy (and they both play a role in building your capacity in the sport).

If you’re only “kinda” going easy on the easier sessions, you’ll most likely end up not going hard enough when it counts. A good opportunity to learn this is to really push yourself on Monday’s, Thursdays and Saturdays conditioning pieces for these 4-weeks. If you’ll do this, you’ll appreciate the lower intensity days in-between.

If you feel like you can always go hard, it likely means you’re never really pushing yourself.

For strength and skill, 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.

As your goal is to build your engine, you need to be able to hit the hard session hard and recover from them. This means eating enough overall and getting sufficient carbohydrate to fuel the high-intensity efforts. Having a carb drink at hand on Mondays and Thursdays especially 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 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 can sleep more. Aim to be in bed before 11pm latest, and sleep in a cool, dark, quiet room. If you can, get out for a short (10-minute) walk soon after sunrise (before 10am is fine) and again around sunset. This will help set your circadian rhythm so it’ll be easier to go to bed early.

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

If you’re getting ready for a competition in the next 8-weeks, SPP is the best choice for you. It is also a good choice if you simply enjoy more varied training and doing competition style workouts more often.