The 7 Month Beginner to Intermediate Functional Fitness Program Series

One of the most common questions I’m asked is which order should an athlete do my programs? It’s understandable, as I have literally dozens of free functional fitness programs to choose from. In this article I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a 7 month programming sequence. The goal is to take a newish functional fitness athlete and add muscle, strength, and work capacity, until they are solidly into the intermediate ranks. Keep reading to see if this is for you.

First, I’d like to say that if you are truly new to working out, you’ll learn much faster going to a reputable gym, or finding a knowledgable workout partner to help you along. While this series doesn’t use super complicated movements, you do need to have safe technique on common lifts before attempting this.

This programming series is designed for someone who has experience in the gym, and can squat, bench, deadlift, and press with safe form. I don’t expect you to have every single movement mastered.

If you do happen to find yourself in a situation where you can’t work out in a good gym and have no one to help you, you can learn these movements from Youtube. I learned that way back in 2008, so I know it’s possible. Without further ado, let’s get into the first program.

5 Week Functional Fitness Program for Beginners

I wrote this program for athletes who were transitioning into functional fitness from other areas. This might be a lifter who wants to walk up stairs without sweating or it might be a runner who wants to gain some strength. Here is a sample week.

This program is 3 days per week, with each day following a similar routine. You’ll start with a warm up, followed by a specific warmup, and then light stretching.

You’ll then complete a WOD or workout of the day, which will generally last for 8-15 minutes. This will be followed by a nice cool down. Check out the full article for more tips on technique and learning the lingo. This brings us to our next program in the series.

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6 Weeks of Muscular Growth for Functional Fitness Athletes (Part 1)

This is by far one of my most popular programs. I wrote it several years ago, and several hundred thousand athletes have taken a gander at it. It’s slightly more biased towards lifting but I’ve also included plenty of WODs and metabolic conditioning sessions. Take a look at this sample week.

You can see that this is the first portion of the program. Overall it is 12 weeks in length, which is just long enough to make some solid progress. I’ve also taken the liberty of fixing some of the pieces of this program that weren’t quite how I like them. I’ve revised some of the lifting progressions, and some of the accessory movements as well. You can find all of those revisions in the complete 12 week premium version below.

6 Weeks of Muscular Growth for Functional Fitness Athletes (Part 2)

This is the second portion of the program. It continues on in the same manner as before, but I’ve made a few changes in terms of overall volume and exercise selection. Take a look at this sample week.

You’ll also find that the reps are trending lower, which will allow us to build a little more strength. At the end of this program you’ll probably be setting some new personal records in the lifts and your WODs as well. Remember, if you want a one stop shop for the full program, then get your copy of the 12 Week Muscular Growth Program for Functional Fitness Athletes.

The 5 Week Strength and Conditioning Program for Intermediate Athletes (Part 1)

You might think that this program should come right after the beginner program, right? Well you could do that, but I think you’ll find that even though this program is written for intermediate athletes, it is very hard. Of all the programs in this series, this is probably going to be the hardest. It is also the best program to build overall strength.

This first week is very hard on the back. I know because I was questioning a lot of my life decisions when I tested it out several months ago! Once you get used to the volume you’ll find that it isn’t so bad. Remember that even though this is written Monday – Friday, you can make adjustments if you need an extra rest day here or there. Just do the workouts in order.

The 5 Week Strength and Conditioning Program for Intermediate Athletes (Part 2)

This is the continuation from part one. This portion, combined with part one, brings the intermediate program to 10 full weeks of training. Like part one, this is still heavily biased towards lifting, with just enough conditioning to keep your engine humming. Take a look at this sample week.

After all of this work you should be stronger and fitter than you’ve ever been. If you need some more programming ideas, then you can check out some of my more popular programs in this 72 Week Functional Fitness Programming Sequence. I also encourage you to look around on the site, as there are many programs that you might like to try. Take the time to find one you really like.

Nutrition

You’ve probably heard late night fitness “gurus” telling you that you can eat what you want and get in great shape. Well that’s crap, and you should know better! You don’t have to eat like a monk, and there’s plenty of good food that is also good for you.

I highly recommend that you check out my Ultimate Nutrition Guide for Functional Fitness. It will cover everything you need to know without nerding out on minutia that really doesn’t affect performance.

Next, you should check out my functional fitness nutrition calculator. This is a tool I created for my athletes. It allows you to track your body fat, and it also creates a diet plan with macro recommendations depending on your fitness goals. Enjoy!

Recovery

Recovery is one area that is full of voodoo and bullshit. There really aren’t that many things that demonstrably help you recover. One of the best recovery methods is easy cycling or walking for 10 minutes after working out. Researchers found that it worked better than massage, or cryotherapy. They also found that wearing exercise tights dramatically reduced soreness and increased performance. It may seem dumb but wearing tights actually does work well.

Final Thoughts

This programming series should get you from brand new to functionally fit, but only if you put the work in. I tell my athletes all the time that having the best programming means nothing if you don’t consistently execute the plan.

Nothing in these programs is complicated. You should expect to scale some of the workouts from time to time. These details really don’t matter. At the end of the day your body doesn’t know if you didn’t do muscle ups, and chose pull ups instead. It only knows if you worked hard. Now get out there, and start training!

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