The Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator (Part 1)

If you’re anything like me, then you are always on the lookout for a good fitness program. This means that you will eventually come to the realization that you can either do someone else’s program, or pay a pretty penny to have a coach create something just for you. This program is a DIY functional fitness plan that allows you to choose the pacing, the volume, and the right accessory movements, targeting your particular weaknesses. Keep reading to generate your free program!

It’s no secret that I write a lot of free programming for readers of this website, and I find as a coach, that I’m always torn between writing a very detailed program that might only help a small portion of athletes, or writing a program that will help the largest majority of athletes. So far, I haven’t really found a good solution to this problem, until now.

The Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator: Overview

Initially, I wrote this program because I wanted to solve some of my own problems. I have a very inconsistent schedule, with no notice work requirements, that can really interrupt my fitness program. This drove me to create a program that will allow for flexibility in scheduling, because we are all busy people. We can’t all spend two hours in the gym every day.

I then wrote a core program that balances the three most important aspects of true performance: strength, WOD performance, and metabolic conditioning.

Next, I wrote some accessory movements that will target weaknesses we all have in common, making sure that each session can be done in less than 45 minutes. In fact, most of these sessions can be completed in around 20 minutes.

Lastly, this program is self paced. If you have a completely free day, and want to do two or three sessions, then you can do so. If you don’t have as much time, then you can still put in some useful work rather quickly. It is meant to be performed sequentially.

The Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator (Part 1)

This is the first part of what will be an on going series lasting for several months. What you see below is cycle one of this program. You will find the PDF download at the end of the article.

Each sessions is color coded as to what type of work you will be performing. Black sessions are strength work. Gray sessions are WODs, and green sessions are conditioning.

You will notice that for the strength sessions most of the movements are banded, meaning that normal weight, and elastic bands are used to create variable resistance. It is incredibly effective. If you want to learn more about it, then check out this article explaining variable resistance for strength athletes. Here is Cycle Two

These two cycles are the core of the program. You’ll notice that each cycle splits the work into the three primary components of performance. However, to truly customize it you will need to add in these accessory movements listed below.

These accessory movements are split into tracks. You have the strength track, the technique track, and the conditioning track. For the duration of these two cycles you will be sticking to one track or another. Don’t do technique one day, and conditioning the next.

Now you have all of the pieces for part one of the Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator (Part 1). Keep reading to see exactly how they should be combined to create your custom program.

Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator Instructions

As I alluded to earlier, this program is designed to be self paced. I expect that for many athletes the first two cycles will probably take around one month. You’ll notice that there is a deload, signified by darker color session blocks, starting on session 43.

The beauty of this program is that it allows for correct pacing for a variety of athletes, from newish intermediates, to advanced. Having tested some of these workouts, I’ve found that somedays I only feel up to one session, and on most days I can get two sessions. On days I’m feeling frisky, I’ll get three sessions in.

I want you to pay special attention to the total amount of sessions you are able to do in a month. In the coming months we will be increasing the number of sessions you will be performing, as you increase in fitness.

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Adding In Accessory Movements

These accessories are crucial to your performance. You need to be honest with yourself and determine what your biggest deficiencies are as an athlete. Check this article out to help you determine what they are.

If you are a strong athlete, but lack conditioning, then you will be doing the conditioning track. If you rarely get gassed in WODs, but find yourself standing around waiting to recover on heavy weights, then you will be spending more time on the lifting track. If you need some technique work, then use the technique track.

Once you decide what your accessory track should be, stick with it for two cycles, and work on the suggested moves when they match up the type of session you are doing. Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s look at an example session so we can see exactly how this works.

If you want to learn even more about creating your own custom program then check out my ebook!

An Example Session

Our example athlete is someone who’s been doing working out hard for around a year, and is of intermediate strength. They ran 5k’s recreationally for weight loss and have a pretty good engine with ok technique.

The athlete has an hour to dedicate to working out today, and plans on getting a lot accomplished. This is what their first session should look like.

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General Warm Up: 5 min running, rowing, or jump rope

Specific Warm Up: 3×10 Back Squats with bar, increasing weight to their first work set of the 5×5

Session 1: 5×5 Back Squat, rest 5 min afterwards

Accessory: 4×5 Bulgarian Split Squat, working to decently heavy weight

Cool Down: 10 min easy on the Aslt Bike

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This is a nice session that will really nail your leg strength. It should take an athlete around 45 minutes or so including warm ups, and cool downs. Our example athlete could follow this up with Session 2 after a break, but as a coach, I would recommend they perform this at a later time.

If this athlete was performing session two (on another day) they would warm up, perform the WOD, then cool down. They could then perform the weighted dips after a nice break. Alternatively they could perform them before the WOD, this is up to the athlete to decide. The important thing is that you pair a session with appropriate accessory work.

If our athlete instead needed more conditioning then their schedule would look differently. Here is an example day for an athlete that is working on the conditioning track.

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General Warm Up: 5 min running, rowing, or jump rope

Specific Warm Up: Burgener Warm Up, then warm up to hang clean weight

Session 5: Hang Cleans and Burpees, then rest 10 min

Accessory Work: 30min easy aslt bike

Cool Down: Last 5 min on Aslt Bike easier pace

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When pairing strength with conditioning you should perform the strength move first and then conditioning. When pairing a WOD with conditioning, I recommend choosing an easier, more aerobic conditioning accessory, as you just hammered your anaerobic system in the WOD. Don’t freak out about creating the perfect pairing. With a little practice you’ll find what works well for you.

Download the PDF

Click Here to Download the PDF of the The Custom Functional Fitness Program Generator (Part 1)

Final Thoughts

This program requires some real thought on your part, as well as an honest appraisal of where you need work. Remember, you don’t need to do big sessions, spending hours in the gym. You can just hit one session and call it a day, but make sure you are doing enough work over several weeks.

I expect that these two cycles will take about one month. If you are a little over or under, that is ok, but if you are on Session 15 after 6 weeks, you need to get your ass into gear!

As always if you have any questions or comments put them below where I can answer them promptly. Now get our there and start training!

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