JOURNAL

August '23 Programme

by tom MCADAM
27/07/23

Programme Overview

This month we carry on in much the same vein as in July, focusing on volume in the strength work and basic aerobic capacity in the conditioning workouts. The structure of the programmes has changed a fair bit however, so read on...

Monday Force

Full body strength: volume deadlift, push press, volume pull-ups, weighted sit-ups.

Tuesday Energy

Basic intervals on row / ski / bike. Partner and team workouts. Building towards a 5km TT.

Wednesday Work

Barbell or gymnastic skill followed by varied metcons

Thursday Force

Full body strength: volume squats, volume bench press, horizontal bounds, partner dynamic Russian twists.

Friday Energy

Varied workouts involving running, ergs and functional movements. A mixture of "for time", AMRAP and EMOM workouts.

Saturday Work

As usual - longer, harder partner workouts

Sunday Force

Full body strength: linear progression squats, inverted rows, skin the cat, step ups and single leg RDLs

Sunday RUN CLUB

Steady run / track session - ALL welcome!

Force Programme:

August's Force programme continues to focus on volume with the goal still being to build basic strenth and lean muscle. Remember that hypertrophy / building lean muscle does NOT necessarily mean getting huge. Oftentimes, a little extra muscle mass simply makes you look and feel leaner. Good quality muscle is also incredibly important for overall health, metabolic function and vitality.

In July, we used high rep sets to obtain higher volumes. In August, we will be using high set numbers, together with low reps, to get the volume in.

For the squats and deadlifts we'll be starting at 8 sets of 3, every 2 minutes. This will progress to 10 sets of 3 and then 12 sets of 3. These sets will all be done ~5% heavier than your sets of 8 from July.

For the bench press and push press, it will be 5 sets of 3, every 2 minutes progressing to 6x3 and then 7x3.

In week 4, we'll be mixing things up. Here is Monday's session from week 4:

For time:

10-1 reps of:

Deadlift @ 70% of 1RM

Push press @ 70% of 1RM

Pull ups

We have some power work back in the programme too, with jumps making a reappearance in the Thursday session. As ever, we want to develop athleticism as well as basic strength.

In the Sunday session we will continue with the basic linear progression back squat (3x5), adding weight to the bar each week. With a little patience this is an incredibly effective way to build leg strength.

Skin the cats continue as well. We love this movement to concurrently encourage shoulder mobility, strength and movement proficiency.

Energy programme:

The focus of the Energy programme in August will be building towards a time trial at the end of the month where you'll choose either a 5km row, 10km bike or 5km run.

Working towards this we'll do a number of partner and team interval sessions, gamefying in order to keep things interesting. The month will start a little easier on the intensity to allow you to recover after all those hefty 10ks!

As ever, the Friday Energy session will involve plenty of variety in terms of formats and movements / exercises.

WORK PROGRAMME:

The Work session continues much as last month. There will be a barbell or gymnastic skill followed by a challenging metcon workout that puts that skill to the test.

Where the other days are often controlled in their effort level, we think of Wednesday as "Game Day" for those that do it. Go for it, challenge yourself and see if you can get acquainted with a bit of intensity!