This program was written for masters athletes that want a difficult program that is tailored for their specific needs. Often times a more generic program will fail to take into account the specific requirements of the masters functional fitness athlete. I’ve seen everything from programs that are very likely to injure the athlete, to programs that would barely challenge anyone. This program strikes a nice balance, and will have you setting PR’s in no time. Keep reading to see if this program is for you.
I’m embarrassed to say that it’s taken me several years to write a program for masters athletes. That doesn’t mean that many haven’t done my other programs, but I thought it was about time to write something specifically for them. Especially since I’m rapidly approaching that age bracket myself!
The first thing we need to ask ourselves is what makes a good masters program? The answer to that is three things. They are listed below.
Keys to a Great Masters Program
- Maximize Training Return on Time Investment
- Do No Harm
- No Coddling
Any athlete that I coach at my home gym can attest I’m not the easiest coach they’ve ever worked with. I’ve even been known to dispense such nuggets of wisdom as,”try not to get tired,” or “going unbroken for the whole WOD is always the fastest.” Joking aside, I do push athletes because I’ve seen them hold themselves back time and again. This is often the case with masters athletes.
I’ve found, over my years of coaching, that these three keys are crucial for coaching any athlete, and even more so with masters. They are often very busy people, and can’t go to the gym three times a day or spend two hours a day working out. Thus, we need to get all we can out of the time they have carved out of their schedule.
Injuries are an inevitability for any hard training athlete. Most are minor, and require nothing more than rest. Masters can be slightly more injury prone, so we need to take this into consideration, both by warming up thoroughly, and selecting movements that are less injurious, but still useful.
Lastly, I see way too many coaches coddle masters athletes. I swear if I see another set 20 ring rows at a nearly standing position I’m going to lose it! Athletes are athletes, and if they aren’t complaining about the workout then it was too easy!
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12 Week Masters Athlete Functional Fitness Program
This program is an even balance between building muscle mass, functional fitness capacity, and strength. No doubt many of you will be familiar with my other program where I bias them towards strength, or towards building muscle mass, but this is an even mix of all of the above. Ideally, this would be done by someone who has experience and coaching in all these moves, as it’s not a beginner program like this one.
Week 1: Masters Athlete Program
As with many of my programs, the first week is a testing week. You can see we are testing the big three lifts, and you will also see several of these WODs in the final week of this program.
I expect you to complete a thorough warm up prior to attempting the strength work. I always recommend 3-5 minutes of running, rowing, or assault bike. You should then follow it up with some skill work in the specific movements you are doing. Things like, KB swings, empty bar reps, and technique practice are great ways to finish the warm up.
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Week 2: Masters Athlete Program
I want you to pay attention to the rest intervals for the strength work. These are going to become important, as you will see. You will also note that several times a week there are longer WODs, or a WOD and strength combined. This is for a reason.
Masters athletes do well with longer WODs as they get in more work and are thoroughly warmed up. This reduces the risk of injury and makes sure that they get enough volume to make great progress.
Week 3: Masters Athlete Program
We have cut down your rest period for the strength work from two minutes, to 90 seconds. I’ve done this for a reason, as research shows that decreasing rest interval training is a great way to save time, and actually increase muscle mass at the same time.
Week 4: Masters Athlete Program
Things start to get spicy with the strength work this week. You only have 60 seconds to rest. This is exactly what causes you to write me angry emails! I fully expect you will have to lower the weight you could use if you had more of a rest period. I encourage you to read the research on rest intervals I linked above, as it really shows some great benefits to decreasing rest intervals.
It’s ok to pick a lower weight than you used last week. I want solid reps with a strict rest interval. Don’t add in any “extra” rest. I’ll know. I’m always watching.
Week 5: Masters Athlete Program
This is the second to last week of this portion of the program. This means that it is going to be challenging. I expect that you will feel fairly sore, and a little beat up. Make sure you are taking your time warming up and paying attention to correct technique to make sure you get through it in good condition.
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Week 6: Masters Athlete Program
This is our deload week, which means we reduce the volume, but not the difficulty. You can see we are working to three rep maxes which should feel fairly heavy since you haven’t lifted this heavy so far. That’s ok. We will be doing a little more strength work in part two so you will get plenty of practice.
Nutrition and Recovery
You can achieve good results with out paying too much attention to your nutrition, provided you select healthy foods, and stay out of the drive through lane. For those athletes that want even more performance I recommend checking out this nutrition calculator. It will give you calories, macros, and more.
You would also do well to review this article that covers research backed recovery methods. Let’s just say that there’s a reason I don’t do ice baths, and I always spend 10 minutes cooling down with easy rowing, or assault bike work.
Final Thoughts
As the title implies this is the first portion of the 12 Week Masters Athlete Functional Fitness Program. This will be followed by part two, which will continue on with many of the themes in this program and build a little more strength. Stay tuned for that program, and get out there and start training.
If you like science based programs that build muscle mass, then check out this program!
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Jake-This is just what I have been looking for. I workout in my garage gym, and I have all the equipment needed except for a bike, rower or Skierg. I normally try to sub heavy jump rope for those, but I’m not sure exactly how I should do that. I use the heavy Crossrope jump rope. Currently have the 1/4 and 1/2 pound ropes, but can get the heavier ropes if needed. Any suggestions for that or other subs I could use?
Good to hear this program looks like a nice fit for you Mitch. I think jump rope is a fine sub. Running always works if you have the space. Burpees can do well too. Just keep the sub so the amount of time it would take you to row or assault bike is about how long it would take you for the jump rope etc.
What are your thoughts on combining this with your aerobic conditioning sandwich method/program? Just looking to get some more running in weekly while attempting this.
That would work well. Make sure you are eating enough for all that work. Have fun!
Will give this a go after hybrid bodybuilding. Just started phase two.
What do you think about the set up: Hybrid – masters – PPL repeat?
I think that would work very well. Let us know how it turns out for you.
Jake I do Brazilian Ju jitsu and Muay thai and wanted to know will this program help compliment my practices or is there another program you recommend?
Raj. This would be a good program but you might need to lengthen the overall length depending on how much mat time you are getting. I would recommend doing the program sequentially, but you might only do 3-4 sessions per week as both of those fighting disciplines are very challenging on the body.
I am on day 41 and my 3 & 6 rep max have exceeded my 1 rep max that took me 2 yrs to achieve at my old crossfit I was at! I love this program and the lifts before the Wod, it is made me challenge myself to a level I never had before due to the repeated lifts, TY!
On day 41 there is an acronym of TM….what does that stand for?
Awesome work. You must really be getting after it!
I just found it TM- Technical Max!
Ding Ding Ding….. you have the right acronym!