10 Weeks of Hell: Advanced Programming for Functional Fitness (PART 2)

If part one of this 10 week plan hasn’t scared you off yet, then there is a real chance that part two will.  This is a very difficult program, one that will require serious commitment to all aspects of training, not just the hours spent in the gym.  Keep reading to see what you need to do so you can crush your competitive season!

This is part one of the 10 week plan for advanced athletes.  If this type of challenging program is your kind of plan, then I really recommend starting at the beginning.

It’s also important to highlight that as we add difficulty and volume to this plan you need to spend more, and more time working on your recovery from it.  You need to be eating like an athlete, and you need to recover like one.

Alright, now let’s get into the next installment of our plan which will take us up to early February or so.  The Final installment will cover the weeks preceding the Open, and the programing during the open.

As an equipment note, there are a lot of hand intensive pieces in this program, and I’ve had good luck wearing batting gloves when I start to blister.  Something made of thin leather is ideal, like these gloves from Under Armour (Amazon Affiliate Link).

Without further ado!

Week 5 

We start this section of the plan with week five below.

First off you’ll notice that the squats are the majority of our heavy strength work, but they are kept to low volume and high intensity.  We also have several dedicated clean and snatch sessions.

These movements are guaranteed to show up in the Open in one form or another, and it’s never a waste of time to strengthen them.

We’ve also continued with some new EMOMs and a lot of WODs.  It’s important to note that none of these pieces are too hard in and of themselves, but combined, they are going to take a toll on you.  Manage your recovery!

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Week 6

Week six is fairly similar to the previous week.  I keep a lot of the EMOMs and strength work similar, only increasing the difficulty slightly.

The concept of the technical max, or tech max, means that I want you to work to the specified reps, using the heaviest weight you can manage without appreciable form degradation.  This will not be a rep max, as you have to compromise some form to achieve the heaviest load.

You will also note that many of the WODs reward big sets, and few breaks.  This is to keep you from giving up mentally.  I want you to become accustomed to big sets, because the Open will require this for top performance.

Week 7

Week seven is the last week of this section of the plan.  Week eight will continue on with some aspects of this progression, but movements, loads, and rep schemes will be different.

There should be no surprised by now, and you should be able to handle this volume.  Notice, I give you the option on the light days of choosing how much volume you want, as well as the movement you want to pick.

A fartlek is a running term that means you basically perform intervals of harder and easier work, as you like.  There is no pace requirement, nor distance.  When running this could be sprinting for the length of a block, then jogging for a while.  Feel free to experiment with what ever strategy you like.

Personally I like assault bike for the conditioning work as it is probably the most generally applicable to WODs.  My next favorite is running, and rowing would probably be last for this program, only because there are already dedicated rowing pieces planned out.

If you are doing this program, you are an advanced athlete, and you should have a decent idea of what you need to work on. If you still have some questions then check out my ebook!

Scaling 

This is to be expected in this program.  You need to be smart and if you find that certain movements are painful, or do not suit you for various reasons, don’t do it.

Try to keep the same movement pattern, but feel free to change the move.  If you need more specific guidance, leave a comment, and I will get you an answer.

I also want to point out that if you find you are feeling terrible, sore, and lacking in motivation, you can take a day off.  Remember, your success in this program comes from solid work on a weekly and monthly basis, not hitting every single detail.

Final Thoughts 

This is a shorter chunk of programming, but there should only be one more part to take us through the Open season.  This is going to be hard, but progress is never made when you are comfortable.  Be smart, stay consistent and comment with any questions you have.

If you’ve finished this, then move onto Part 3 of the plan.  It only gets harder!!