For a 2x per week training program it is best to do two full body training programs hitting all of the main muscle groups and practicing all six movement patterns. There should be a rest/recovery period between workouts which ideally would be 48 hours but should be at least 24 hours. (Training the same muscle groups/patterns on back-to-back days does not allow the body to recover from the stress of the previous training session.) Quality recovery is more important than training because the recovery time is when the body adapts to the stress of the training session and becomes stronger and more resilient, which is a key objective.
Prior to all training sessions complete a warm-up!
A Warm-up includes:
Foam Rolling (Main areas: Quads, lateral hip, groin, upper back, posterior shoulder, chest)
A Stretch or Mobility Exercise (Bench Quad Stretch, Pigeon Stretch, T-spine Rotations)
Two Core Activation or Core Exercises (Side Plank, Deadbug, Planks, Incline Bench “Y’)
Dynamic Warm-Up (Skipping, Shuffling, Carioca, Lunges, Hamstring Scoops, etc.)
Speed Exercise (Eg. Jumping or Medicine Ball Work)
After warm-up complete all 6 movement patterns:
Push-Pull-Squat-Hinge-SingleLeg-Carry/Core
● Push examples:
Horizontal: Bench Press, Push-ups, 1 arm cable press, machine chest press
Vertical: Landmine press, Incline Bench press, Overhead Dumbbell press
● Pull Examples:
Horizontal: Seated Row, Kinesis Row, Dumbbell Row, Birddog Row
Vertical: Lat Pulldown, Pull-ups, Chin-ups, Straight arm pulldown
● Squat Examples: Goblet Squat, Front Squat, Box Squat,
● Hinge Examples: Good mornings, Hip Thrusts, Romanian Deadlift, Deadlift
● Single Leg Knee Dominant: Split Squat, Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat, Single Leg Squat
● Single Leg Hip Dominant: Kickstand Romanian Deadlift, Single Leg RDL,
● Carry/Core: Farmer’s Carry, Suitcase Carry, Waiter’s Walk, Chops, Lifts
Ratios 3:1 Pull:Push & 2:1 Horizontal Pull: Vertical Pull
1:1 Hip Dominant: Knee Dominant
Complete all 6 movement patterns including two pulling exercises (7 exercises in total).
If time still remains add in supplementary exercises to work on strengthening areas that still need work, usually 1-3 exercises.
(eg. Copenhagen Planks, Tricep Pushdowns, Bicep Curls, Chest Flys)
Complete 2-4 sets of each exercise. For most people 6-15 reps is ideal. We chose 6-15 reps because we get a good balance of muscular strength and muscle hypertrophy in this rep range. There is also less risk for injury because we are not going to a maximum load.
Cardio: We generally do interval training because it is the most time efficient. It is great to do both anaerobic (high intensity) and aerobic (lower intensity), but low intensity aerobic training requires a long period of steady state cardio and isn’t as time efficient. We can generally get some good cardio done within 5 minutes with our anaerobic high intensity training. It is best to do the steady state aerobic training at a different time than the resistance training session.
Examples of anaerobic training: Airdyne Bike, Jump Rope, Rower, etc.
Cooldown: We do a cooldown to start the recovery process. This is something we do to bring the heart rate down and to stimulate the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system.
Example Exercises: Supine Pec Stretch, Positional Breathing Exercises