Hello Amazing Training Tribe Member and welcome to the second month of our 3-month Strength (and Hypertrophy) Training Block. As is our method in the Annual Training Plan, this month we’ll be employing a classic training split. It’s the LB-UB-GC X2 split!
That stands for Lower Body, Upper Body, General Conditioning. Workout A is Monday and Thursday and it’s Lower Body. Workout B is Tuesday and Friday and it’s Upper Body. Workout C is General Conditioning and it’s Wednesday and Saturday. Sunday is an optional recreation, light recovery, or OFF day depending on what you need and want.
The Workout Breakdowns will explain how to get the most out of our sessions.I’ll be providing ample resources to help you and you can always ask any questions you have through Member Submissions.
Week of 2025-03-03 (week 1 of month 2: Strength Block) KB = KETTLEBELL, MB = MEDICINE BALL, DB = DUMBBELL, BB = BARBELL, E = ELASTIC BAND OR TUBING
BW = BODYWEIGHT, SB = SANDBAG, OHP = OVERHEAD PRESS
[Getting started with a new training split is always interesting. Let me know if you need help.]
Workout A Breakdown: The front-end aerobic training is easy locomotion. You can walk or jog depending on your preference. All good.
For the Primary, with each exercise, select a weight that is approximately 15RM (meaning it’s the weight with which you could do about 15 reps, give or take). You’ll be doing circuits, which will be one set of each exercise, for 3 rounds. On the first round, leave about 4 reps in the tank for each exercise. 2nd round leave 3. On the third and final round, go until you could only do about 2 more reps when you quit. All of this is approximate. We’re focusing more on effort than exact rep count.
As per usual, feel free to modify the exercises as you desire. Any basic variation of the movement that feels best for your body is fine.
The plyo’s will be quite familiar and they are all with bodyweight only. Power step ups simply use a strong, quick impulse as you step up. For box jumps, you want to jump up and onto the box but step back down carefully. Sit on the box and spring up for the seated version. And be a little careful with the standard broad jump because the landings can be a challenge for us Lifetime Athletes. Remember, we just want a few quality reps and take your time with all of these.
Workout B Breakdown: This session has a similar beginning, allowing you to custom-craft your cardio.
In the Primary, we’re using RPE and increasing weight each set like we did last month, but now we are using supersets. These are paired exercises that use opposing muscle groups so you do each set of the pair with no rest, then you take a break before the next set (of the same exercise because this is straight sets not circuits). Add weight so you can keep your reps near 8, but let the RPE rule out. It’s totally fine if you hit 6 or 10 as you go through.
Again, exercise selection is fairly open-ended here. As long as you do a variation of the movement with good technique, that’s fine. We’re just going after general patterns but we want that effort most importantly.
You’ll enjoy the Accessories, as the Drop Sets are the single best way to get a pump that exists. You do 3 straight sets of the exercises (all of one before going to the next movement), at 12 reps each. Rest 30 seconds between, but drop (take off, reduce) weight for each set. For example, let’s say you go with 20 pound DB’s on the first set, then 15’s, then 10’s. Or any other step-down.
Workout C Breakdown: Stability balls are fun and effective training tools. You may know them as Swiss balls, gymnastic balls, fit balls, etc. We’re starting out with some old standbys. The Crunch with Back on Ball gets you going. Wall Squats with ball against wall (any foot placement or range) are great. Then do some more DLOB crunches while lying on the floor with your legs up on the ball and using a diagonal (elbow to opposite knee) technique.
Keep your cardio low impact because leg workout shows up on the next day and you will benefit from being fresh.
As we often do, we encourage a very personal signature on the stretching, as well as other mobility exercises. You know the areas that feel and work best for your unique body and I encourage you to explore the movements with the highest return on investment.