Wow! This Training Tribe Workouts of the Week Update salutes YOU because you are a dynamic and amazing Tribe member! Welcome to a new Training Block. This is the official launch of our 3-month Strength and Hypertrophy Block. We’ll be emphasizing resistance training to improve force output capacity and muscle mass.
This block is considerably different from the previous one, which focused on Agility and used a high degree of variance in terms of exercises, methods, order, and structure. Now, we are going to drill down on consistency with the basics. This is especially true in our first week. Nothing fancy or complicated. Solid training with a clear purpose…get stronger, and add a little muscle mass and bone density to your lifetime athlete organism.
This month’s training split is totally bodybuilder-esque. It’s a Push-Legs-Pull X 2 split with a free choice recovery day placed anywhere you want. We’re introducing the primary movements this week and we’ll stick with them all month in order to maximize the adaptations. There will be some progressions in our workload as well as a few additions in the preparatory and accessory components of each workout as the month progresses.
The major movements of bench press, squat, and deadlift (borrowed from the sport of Powerlifting) will be at the core of each session, respectively. Now you can see why I’ve been harping on getting enough loading equipment for several weeks. If you blew off the wisdom from Daddy Lightning, I still love you and you don’t suck. But get your buttockulus in gear and get thee some iron! #noexcuses #figureitout #findaway #alwayswin
Week of 2024-02-05 (week 1 of month 1: Strength and Hypertrophy Block)
| WOW | PREPARATORY | PRIMARY | ACCESSORY | TIPS |
| A 2X | PUSHUP 3 X 10 1:00 rests | BENCH PRESS Straight Sets 8 total sets 10 reps each Set 1-2 light warmup Working sets 3-8 RPE 6-6-7-7-8-8 Rest as needed | EMOM 10 reps per ex. Alternate ex. 4-8 rounds SB Push Press MB Slam DB Skull Crusher | Try to squeeze the bar or bells together as you bench press. |
| B 2X | BIKE OR WALK Zone 1-2 10:00 | SQUAT 8 total sets 8 reps each Set 1-2 light warmup Working sets 3-8 RPE 6-6-7-7-8-8 Rest as needed | Box Jumps 10 x 1 Depth Drops 10 x 1 Depth Jumps 10 x 1 Stretch As preferred | Shoot for ¾ depth in your squat for now. |
| C 2X | PULLUP (with assist) 3 x 10 1:00 rests | DEADLIFT 8 total sets 6 reps each Set 1-2 light warmup Working sets 3-8 RPE 6-6-7-7-8-8 Rest as needed | DB Curls (any style) 3 x 15 Cardio Any mode Z1-2 20-30:00 | Try to pull the bar apart as you do pullup and deadlift. |
General Workout Considerations: A couple things you’ll notice about the main lifts. All are straight sets. 8 total sets. Reps are different between the lifts but consistent within the same one. Always select weight/load using your best judgment and be a little conservative this week. Do the first two sets with light weights to “grease the groove.” Then select loads for the following sets to use an approximate RPE as it’s indicated. Rate of perceived exertion 6/10 for example, would be 60% of the total weight you could possibly lift for the specified number or reps, and so on. Rest as much as you want because we are focusing on quality output on every rep and set. 1-3 minutes is a suggestion. At first these sessions might feel too brief or easy. You can always add some extra general daily activity (GDA) like walking, chores, or very easy cardio…but don’t do a bunch of other exercises because you’ll get too sore and mess up the system. Trust me. We’re going to get a big anabolic stimulus this month.
Workout A Breakdown: Push Day. This emphasizes Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps, and some bonus high intensity circuitry. We get going by doing relatively easy, short sets of pushups. By hitting a few reps, then resting, you can accelerate your warmup and tissue readiness. With your bench press, you can use BB, DB, or KB…or even lay on your cooler and lift a box of books. The Every Minute on the Minute (very popular lately within our team) have you doing a rotation (1st minute is push press, 2nd is slams, 3rd is skull crushers) and then repeating for as many rounds as you like.
Workout B Breakdown: Leg Day. Glutes-hams-quads-calves plus a few plyometrics. Get the circulation moving in your legs with some easy walking or biking. We’re going for back squats this month, so put a barbell, safety squat bar, sandbag, or backpack on your back. You can also hold DB’s or KB’s in the back rack (not Burt Bacharach) position. Real basic. No ramps or boards under heels. No box to sit on. Just plain squats. It’s OK if you hinge or bow down a little, but don’t round your back.You’ll probably recognize the plyos. Select your box or bench height as desired but keep it safe. Jumps are jumping up onto the box but stepping off slowly. Drops are dropping off the box and sticking the landing but not jumping again. Depth jumps are dropping off, hitting the ground and then quickly jumping for max vertical. Do all of these one at a time with plenty of rest. If you are a runner and you crave a few miles, now is the time to do it, but keep it moderate. Make the lifting the focus. Stretch out your legs a bit.
Workout C Breakdown: Pull Day. Back and biceps. We’ll also have low impact cardio in this workout. El Jefe can probably bang out all pullups with no assist, but most of us will do well to use a band or chair to make this most efficient. Deadlifts follow all the same recommendations but we do lower reps in this exercise (most of the time). Those curls will sculpt your guns. Really give them a squeeze. You can do palms up or hammer, both arms simultaneously or alternating. All good. Finish with some cardio. If you have a rower and a bike, do a little of each. Otherwise, walking is always good for Lifetime Athletes.
Finally, there are a few things to say about those powerlifting movements. Critics will say they are totally nonfunctional and downright dangerous. Worshippers state they are a must-do for any Lifetime Athlete. Naturally, I’m in the middle on all this. As long as we use good technique (modified when necessary for each unique body), reasonable load progression (intelligent training), avoid really heavy max efforts, and recover appropriately…they are a great (and fun) training tool.
Outstanding stuff. Many of you are probably already accessing this information in the App. It’s ready to go for iOS and Android devices. I really appreciate all the support and suggestions you guys provided me as I developed this product. And it’s only at Version 1.0 right now! Thanks for being a Tribe member and good luck with this week, month, and block. You might be inclined to try the new Member Submission section in the app and shoot me a question.