The 15 Week Lift Heavy Run Fast Program for Functional Fitness (Part 1)

If you want to get jacked and be able to move like an athlete, then this is the program for you. It’s a hybrid program incorporating the latest research on functional fitness, and concurrent style strength training, with aspects of my most popular programs for functional fitness athletes. I fully expect after completing this program you should be setting personal records on your lifts, as well as running faster than ever. Keep reading for more.

When I first start designing a program, the first thing I consider is who my target audience is. For this program that was easy. It’s me. I’ve found that over the years my running ability has degraded and it’s started to impact my WODs and Metcons. Even though I’m stronger than ever, I still have some big holes in my fitness.

Obviously, this program isn’t only designed for me or there would be a lot more movements requiring jean shorts, and mustaches. Check out the list below for some folks that I think would really benefit from the 15 Week Lift Heavy Run Fast Program for Functional Fitness.

Who Is This Program For?

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• Tactical athletes who need muscle mass, strength, and running ability
• Functional Fitness Athletes who have a deficit in conditioning
• Athletes that need to drop some body fat without ruining their fitness
• Off season team sports athletes: Soccer, Football, Rugby, Hockey, Lacrosse, etc

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As the name implies, this is the first part of a multipart series. Each cycle will cover 5 weeks in length. The last week of each cycle will be the deload. I normally do 4 week cycles, but for this particular program we will be experimenting with 5 week cycle lengths, to see how well it works.

I should also note that the running workouts in this program are biased towards shorter efforts. You should expect to do a fair amount of interval training, and shorter sprints. I’ve found that this pairs well with strength work, and it keeps from interfering with your strength gains. Without further ado, let’s get into the program.

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CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE PDF FOR THE 15 WEEK LIFT HEAVY RUN FAST PROGRAM FOR FUNCTIONAL FITNESS

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The 15 Week Lift Heavy Run Fast Program for Functional Fitness (Part 1)

The first thing you’ll notice is that the program is color coded. Red blocks are primary strength movements. Blue blocks are your running days. Grey blocks are accessory movements or WODs. Take a look at the first week to get a feel for how the program looks.

You can see that this is a fairly high volume program. It’s written as 6 days per week, with Sunday being a complete rest day, or something easy like walking. If this seems like too much work, don’t sweat it. I’ve got tons of programs that are very challenging that might work better for you.

If this is your cup of tea, then realize that you have a few options in execution. As a coach, and programmer, I generally don’t care when you do the workouts, or if you split them up. For some athletes, it makes sense to split the running from the lifting. For those with limited time, it might have to be done at once. At the end of the day, I want you to execute this plan as well as you are able. The fine details do not matter as much as you would think.

Week 2

If you’ve seen any of my other strength, or muscle building programs, then you’ll be familiar with how I like to increase volume or intensity each week. If you compare week two you’ll see that each block is either a little heavier or a little more volume. This ensures that you continue to progress.

There are a few movements that I want to point out that can be very challenging if you aren’t used to them. The first is the GHD. If you’ve never done them, or never done very many of them, I would recommend cutting those in half. They will make you very sore, even at half the volume.

The second movement you might have trouble with is the Nordic Curl. This is a very hard hamstring exercise, but well worth it. You can use a band or your arms to assist you in the bottom position of the movement. Don’t feel bad if you can’t do any without assistance. They are very taxing.

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Week 3

At this point the weights should start to feel pretty heavy. None of them are max effort, but they aren’t easy sets either! We’ve also added a fair amount volume to the running workouts. If possible, I recommend trying to split them apart from the lifts. You’ll find your workout quality goes up if you are able to do this.

Astute readers, or those who’ve read my ebook on Programming Your Fitness, will realize that these WODs are written to compliment the strength work for that day. They are also written to avoid interfering with the next days movements. Nothing is worse than trying to warm up for some heavy lifts, when you are super sore from the previous days work.

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Week 4

As I alluded to earlier, this would normally be a deload week. For this program, this will be the heaviest week prior to the deload. Don’t worry if you are feeling a little run down. That’s pretty normal. I recommend trying to get a little more sleep, as well as warming up a little longer, prior to beginning each session.

For your warm ups, I normally recommend 3-5 minutes of running, rowing, or assault bike at an easy pace. I then like to do some bodyweight movements that use the same muscle groups that I’m getting ready to use in the workout. I’ve found that this is a pretty quick, and efficient warm up that allows you to hit the workout with max intensity.

Week 5

This is our deload week. I like to keep these weeks fairly heavy, but cut the volume down. This allows you to keep working on moving heavy loads, without imposing a huge recovery demand. Generally, the volume is about two thirds of what you did in week four.

If you need to scale some of the WODs or movements that is fine. I recommend checking out this article, where I cover the details of scaling correctly. It’s not hard, but there are definitely some common mistakes I see athletes of all experience levels making.

If you want to focus on building muscle mass then this is the program for you!

Nutrition

The best program in the world won’t do you a whole lot of good if you eat like a raccoon (garbage out of a dumpster). You don’t need to be super obsessive about it either. I recommend that you check out this nutrition guide for functional fitness athletes. It covers the basics of nutrition that I find many athletes lack.

Next, I recommend checking out this nutrition calculator. It will give you calories burned in a workout, dietary recommendations, as well as a few other tools that I use with my athletes. Keep in mind that it is a starting point, not a customized diet for your individualized needs.

Recovery

Most athletes make this way too complicated! Drink water, sleep 7-8 hours a night, and eat an adequate amount of food that supports your goals. Things like supplements, therapies, and things you need to spend a lot of money on have little to no value in my experience.

If you are getting the basics right, and want to look into a few other methods that are supported by science, you can check out this article on recovery. Remember, things that you do for yourself are almost always more beneficial than things done to you.

Final Thoughts

Nothing about this program, or my advice is complicated. Getting fit and setting personal records is not a matter of complication, it’s a matter of being consistent and getting the basics right. As always, if you have any questions, then put them in the comments below and I will get you an answer. Now get out there and start training!

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