Hi all,

Welcome to October! And welcome to Week 3 of the “Foundation” cycle.

Let’s get into it.

Day 1 

Week 3 of 6 of the “Foundation” strength cycle!

• 0-10 - Dynamic Mobility and Intros / QOTD

  • Scap Push-ups

  • Up Dog / Down Dog

• 11-16 - Warm-up - complete 3 rounds of…

  • 6 DB Weighted Good Mornings

  • 6 Light Single DB Strict Press (6 per arm)

  • 6 Single DB Windmills (3 per arm)

• 17-19 - Debrief / transition / explain workouts

• 20-40 - Strength:

  • In 20 minutes, complete 5 rounds of…

    • 8 Barbell Strict Press (with 5-second descent)

  • Off-time - Wall Sit (:20 unweighted / :30 weight in bear hug / :40 hands overhead)

  • Intended Stimulus - The 5-second descent in the Strict Press is meant to challenge your shoulders and arms to stabilize the weight without collapsing, so go light enough where you can still press with solid form, but heavy enough where you feel your shoulder working to respect that descent tempo. Challenge the Wall Sit and try to jump up in variation or time elapsed on wall if you can .

  • Log a “checkmark” if you completed all 5 rounds of 8 strict press unbroken, adding weight in notes. Add Wall Sit variation in the notes.

• 41-43 - transition and set-up for MetCon

• 44-54 - MetCon

  • 1RFT (One Round For Time) - capped at 10 minutes.

    • 30 Barbell Clusters (<45 / 85 / 115+)

    • 30 Pull-ups (Banded Pull-ups / Kipping Pull-ups / Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups)

  • Intended Stimulus - Athletes must finish the Clusters before starting on the Pull-ups. One rep every ten seconds will bring you in at 10 minutes. Success on the movements looks like breaking them up into manageable sets (perhaps 5s or 6s) and holding that pattern the whole time. Learn yourself as an athlete and see if you are capable of picking a weight that is challenging but manageable. Also see if you can force yourself to take breaks before you want to early in a workout. This is a TEST so ask yourself if you achieved that definition of success today!

  • Log time it took to complete all reps, adding weights and variations used in the notes.

• 55-56 - clean up

• 57-60 - Recovery

  • Massage Gun Quads - 2 min. per side

  • EXTRA CREDIT: T-spine Smash with Lax ball - 2 min. per side

Day 2

• 0-8 - Dynamic Mobility and Intros / QOTD

  • Boot Strappers

  • Runner Lunge (high variation)

• 9-14 - Warm-up - 5 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 12 Light Barbell Deadlifts (ascend each round)

  • 12 Single KB Pull Throughs (6 per side)

  • 12 Reverse Jackknives (6 per side)

• 15-17 - Debrief / transition / explain workouts

• 18-47 - Capacity:

  • EMOM30 (Every Minute on the Minute for 30 Minutes)

    • Minute One - 8 “Tough for You” Barbell Deadlifts

    • Minute Two - :40 (Forearm Plank / Inverted Hold on Wall / AMRAP Wall Walks)

    • Minute Three - 12 Double DB Curls (with 3-second descent)

    • Minute Four - 20 Scissor Kicks (Left + Right = 1) (hands under tailbone / no hands / weight overhead)

    • Minute Five - Rest

  • Intended Stimulus - Ascend in weight every round on the Deadlifts until you reach a weight where form is still intact but it is a real challenge to keep lats engaged and back flat. If back starts to curve, GO BACK DOWN IN WEIGHT.

  • Log heaviest weight used for an unbroken set of 8 Barbell Deadlifts.

• 48-49 - transition and set-up for Accessory

• 50-60 - Accessory

  • In 10 Minutes, complete 3 rounds of…

    • Plate Overhead Static Hold (:20 with <25# / :30 with 35# / :40 with 45#)

    • 16 Glute Bridges (16 Double Leg Glute Bridges / 8 per Single Leg without weight / 8 per Single Leg with weight)

  • Intended Stimulus - Squeeze the abs and glutes when overhead. Point thumbs behind you and relax the upper body so your shoulders are out of your ears. Breathe intentionally as you hold overhead. On the Glute Bridges, drive through the heel until your hips are in line with your knees and shoulders.

  • Log a “checkmark” if you completed all 3 rounds.

• EXTRA CREDIT: Recovery

  • Glute roll on Foam Roller - 2 min. per side

  • Lumbar spine smash with lax ball - 2 min. per side

Day 3

Rest Day

• Try and fit in two to three walks of 1.0-1.5 miles apiece.

• Another good option is a light jog / Stand-up paddle board / hike / slow bike / etc.

• Mobility and/or restorative yoga are other great options on rest days.

• Some is better than none.

• Getting outside in any capacity is encouraged!

Day 4

• 0-10 - Dynamic Mobility and Intros / QOTD

  • Adductor Rock Backs

  • Up Dog / Down Dog + Push-up

• 11-17 - Warm-up - complete 4 rounds of…

  • 3 Inchworm + Push-up

  • 6 Cossack Squats (3 per side)

  • 6 Unweighted Windmills (3 per side)

  • 6 Light Barbell Push Press

• 18-22 - Additional Warm-up:

  • Take 4 minutes to build into your working weight of the Shoulder-to-Overhead complex for the day

• 23-38 - Strength:

  • In 15 Minutes, complete 5 rounds the following Shoulder-to-Overhead complex:

    • 1 Barbell Strict Press + 5 Barbell Push Press + 1 Barbell Strict Press

    • Off-time - 8 Dips (toes-assisted box dips / banded ring dips / strict ring dips)

  • Intended Stimulus - The S2OH Complex is 7 reps unbroken (do all 7 reps before putting the barbell down). This complex is meant to train your awareness of when you are using your legs versus when you are not. Really tap into your glutes as you push off the ground on the Push Press, and squeeze your quads to keep from dipping on the Strict Press.

  • Log heaviest weight used for a completely unbroken S2OH complex.

• 39-41 - transition and set-up for MetCon

• 42-54 - MetCon:

  • Triple Tabata (3 Sections of 8 Rounds of :20 on / :10 off):

    • Section 1 - Tabata: AMRAP Jumping Lunges (Jumping Lunges and Forward Lunges are both OK)

    • Section 2 - Tabata: AMRAP Plate Ground-to-Overhead (G2OH) (<25 / 35 / 45+)

    • Section 3 - Tabata: AMRAP Sit-ups

  • Intended Stimulus - Work to keep the reps from the 1st round of the Tabata as close as you can to your 8th round of the Tabata, for all three sections. Success looks like very consistent reps throughout the whole 8 rounds of each.

  • Log total reps from each of the three Tabatas in three separate entries, adding variations in the notes.

• 55-60 - Recovery

  • Pigeon Stretch (unassisted or assisted) - 3 min. per side

  • EXTRA CREDIT: Child’s Pose with Thread the Needle - 2 min.

Day 5

• 0-10 - Dynamic Mobility and Intros / QOTD

  • Bottom of Squat Hold

  • Adductor Rock Backs + Thread the Needle

• 11-16 - Warm-up - 5 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 12 Air Squats

  • 12 Sit-ups

  • 12 Mountain Climbers (Left + Right = 1)

  • 12 Lateral Jumps (Left + Right = 1)

• 17-22 - Additional Warm-up:

  • Take 5 minutes to build into your working weight for today’s Double KB 1 ¼ Front Squats

• 23-38 - Strength:

  • In 15 minutes, complete 5 rounds of the following rep scheme of Double KB 1 ¼ Front Squats…

    • 7-5-3-5-7

  • Off-time - 7 Tuck-ups

  • Intended Stimulus - Today’s reverse pyramid of the 1 ¼ Front Squats is made to really challenge your core bracing, especially on the final two rounds. Try to work up in weight during the “Additional Warm-up” section and use the same weight for all five rounds today during the Strength section if you can. At the top of the rep, inhale into your diaphragm so your belly is full of air, and hold that air as you squat down, ascend a quarter of the way up, reverse direction and squat back down to full depth, then ascend all the way up to finish. That is one rep. You will need to breathe in and out as you work through that movement, but be sure to still hold some of that tension in your belly when you’re in the bottom of the squat, as that protects our spine when we have heavy weight up top on our torso. Hit those last two rounds with quality and a drive to brace the core perfectly - ending on 7 reps WILL CHALLENGE YOU. The Off-time movement is meant to be more of an active recovery than anything else.

  • Log the weights used for the heaviest set of 7 unbroken Double KB 1 ¼ Front Squats.

• 39-42 - transition and set-up for MetCon

• 43-53 - MetCon

  • Burpees for Time (50 half burpees / 75 full burpees / 100 full burpees)

  • Intended Stimulus - Yup, that’s it. That’s the thing. It’s simple but if you challenge the pace it will not be easy. This is an awesome benchmark workout to check-in on every year or two. It’s also a great one if you’re stuck at a hotel and or relative’s place with no equipment and just need to pound something out in less than 10 minutes. Pick a pace that you know is challenging but can be sustainable for you and HOLD ON! One every 4 seconds will bring you in under 7 minutes. One every 5 seconds will bring you in just over 8 minutes. Etc, etc.

  • Log time it took to complete all reps, adding variation and rep scheme chosen in notes.

• 54-60 - Recovery

  • Child’s Pose with Thread the Needle - 2 min. per side

  • Glute Smash with Orb or lax ball - 1 min. per side

Day 6

• 0-8 - Dynamic Mobility and Intros / QOTD

  • Up Dog / Down Dog + Push-up

  • World’s Greatest Stretch + Hamstring Stretch

• 9-15 - Warm-up - 6 minutes, continue to cycle through…

  • 10 Light Double DB Suitcase Forward Lunges (5 per side)

  • 10 Plank Shoulder Taps (10 per side)

  • 10 Unweighted Good Mornings

  • :30 Jump Rope

• 16-20 - Additional Warm-up

  • Warm-up into working weight of the Double DB Suitcase Forward Lunges and Barbell Squat Cleans.

• 21-57 - Long Workout Day!

  • 3RFT (Three Rounds For Time), capped at 36 Minutes

    • 50 Single Leg V-ups (aka Jackknives) (25 per side) (25 total Tuck-ups are OK too)

    • 40 Double DB Suitcase Forward Lunges (Left + Right = 2) (<25s / 35s / 50s+)

    • 30 Barbell Squat Cleans (<45 / 85 / 115+)

    • 20 Leg Lifts (hands under tailbone / no hands / weight overhead)

  • Intended Stimulus - Take your time! The Squat Cleans alone should take you 4-5 minutes per round if you’re really pushing the weight. Take note of the options on the Single Leg V-ups - if you plan on scaling this workout you can do 25 total Tuck-ups instead of the prescribed 50 Single Leg V-ups. The Forward Lunges can also be Walking Lunges if you desire. On the Lunges, make sure you are stepping out far enough so that you shin is nearly fully vertical. Stepping out too short will put undo strain on the knees!

  • Log time it took to complete the entire workout, adding weights and variations used in the notes.

• 58-60 - Recovery

  • Pigeon Stretch (unassisted or assisted) - 1.5 min. per side

  • EXTRA CREDIT: Banded Leg Stretching (Banded Hamstring, Banded Couch, Banded Supine Twist, Banded Adductor, etc) - 4. min per side

Day 7

Rest Day

• Try and fit in two to three walks of 1.0-1.5 miles apiece.

• Another good option is a light jog / Stand-up paddle board / hike / slow bike / etc.

• Mobility and/or restorative yoga are other great options on rest days.

• Some is better than none.

• Getting outside in any capacity is encouraged!