Over the next 15 weeks we are going to close out our annual program with an epic macrocycle consisting of four particular mesocycles.  We will be releasing more details about that last mesocycle as we get closer, but this write up will be about the first three mesocycles.  For those of you that don’t know, a macrocycle is the larger general structure of a program.  Phase 4 is a complete macrocycle.  Mesocycles are shorter and are usually anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks in length.  This particular macrocycle is going to have four mesocycles, with each mesocycle consisting of four weeks.  Now that we are up to speed with unnecessary jargon, let’s talk about what we are going to do!

The first mesocycle will return to some of our first of the year movements that focused on fundamentals, asymmetrical work, and tempo squats.  This last training period has been tough as we have tried to become more explosive and powerful.  Such training is amazing for overall athleticism, but can be tough on connective tissue.  Explosive training tends to increase our neurological connections to our muscles.  We get better at being able to use the muscles we have, and get to use them extremely quickly.  Bone density is also greatly improved by explosive, high-impact training.  Tendons and ligaments, however, usually require higher volumes of training with often slower speeds to better promote increased blood flow for strengthening.

Both tendons and ligaments just don’t normally get a lot of blood flow, which means they tend to be slower at adapting and strengthening.  By using tempo work and some higher repetitions the first four weeks of Phase 4 we can increase their resilience, and give them some much needed love.

We also find that asymmetries sometimes can get expounded when we are training explosively.  This is for a number of reasons, but suffice to say it is important to return to single limb movements to achieve a greater balance in our movement patterns.

Our second mesocycle will consist of building our strength in our squats, presses, and pulls.  The volume will be moderately high still, but we will not be pushing the repetition ranges that we are going to do in the first four weeks.  We also will be decreasing our unilateral exercises in favor of bilateral movements that allow for greater loads to be moved.  The focus will be on building our strength.

The third mesocycle our volume will continue to drop for the repetitions of our sets.  This will allow us to focus on the speed of our movements.  Remember, speed + strength = power.  We don’t want simply to be strong, we want to be able to be powerful athletes.  During this four week period we will be focused on three distinct power adaptations: speed-strength, strength-speed, and speed-endurance.  To use more plain english, we will want to get better to moving light weights quickly, moving heavy weights quickly, and sustaining our ability to move quickly over longer periods of time.  Expect to see our use of Olympic weightlifting movements to increase during this period.

Our fourth and final mesocycle of the year will be about play.  We will be putting together everything to peak for the final week of this cycle.  This part of the cycle will consist of the greatest variation of movements, and workouts that will culminate in a fun end of year testing week.

For our first Mesocycle expect the following schedule:

Mesocycle 1 - Week A:

Monday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Tempo Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Turkish Get Up

Tuesday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

Wednesday:  Speed - Endurance

• Primary:  Lunges

• Secondary: Jump Rope

Thursday: Speed - Strength

• Primary: Snatch

• Secondary: MB Throws

Friday: Max Strength

• Primary: Tempo Front Squat

• Secondary: Piked DB Shoulder Press

Saturday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Mesocycle 1 - Week B:

Monday: Speed - Strength

• Primary: Snatch

• Secondary: MB Throws

Tuesday: Max Strength

• Primary: Tempo Front Squat

• Secondary: Piked DB Shoulder Press

  • Aux 1: Clean

  • Aux 2: Handstand Push Ups

  • Aux 3: Toes to Bar

  • Aux 4: Sandbag Pull

  • Aux 5: Deadlift

Wednesday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Thursday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Tempo Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Turkish Get Up

  • Aux 1: Split Stance RDLs

  • Aux 2: Farmer’s Carry (banded), carries in general

  • Aux 3: Bearhug Squats

  • Aux 4: Weighted Step Ups

  • Aux 5: Power Clean

  • Aux 6: Overhead Squat

Friday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

  • Aux 1: Pull Ups

  • Aux 2: Dips/Push Ups/Handstand Push Ups

  • Aux 3: Ab Wheel

  • Aux 4: Bear Crawl

  • Aux 5: Passthroughs

Saturday:  Speed - Endurance

• Primary:  Lunges

• Secondary: Jump Rope

  • Aux 1: Running/Bike/Rowing

  • Aux 2: Burpees

  • Aux 3: Air Squats

  • Aux 4: DB Thrusters

For our Second Mesocycle:

Mesocycle 2 - Week A:

Monday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Shoulder Press

Tuesday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

Wednesday:  Speed - Endurance

• Primary Movement:  Wall Balls

• Secondary Movement: Jump Rope

Thursday: Speed - Strength

• Primary Power: Snatch

• Secondary Power: MB Slams

Friday: Max Strength

• Primary: Front Squat

• Secondary: Push Press

Saturday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Mesocycle 2 - Week B

Monday: Speed - Strength

• Primary Power: Snatch

• Secondary Power: MB Slams

Tuesday: Max Strength

• Primary: Front Squat

• Secondary: Push Press

Wednesday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Thursday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Shoulder Press

Friday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

Saturday:  Speed - Endurance

• Primary Movement:  Wall Balls

• Secondary Movement: Jump Rope

For our Third Mesocycle:

Mesocycle 3 - Week A

Monday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Push Press

Tuesday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

Wednesday: Speed - Endurance

• Primary:  Thrusters

• Secondary: Jump Rope

Thursday: Speed - Strength

• Primary: Snatch

• Secondary: Plyo Push Ups

Friday: Strength - Speed

• Primary: Clean & Jerk

• Secondary: Clean Extension

Saturday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Mesocycle 3 - Week B

Monday: Speed - Strength

• Primary: Snatch

• Secondary: Plyo Push Ups

Tuesday: Strength - Speed

• Primary: Clean & Jerk

• Secondary: Clean Extension

Wednesday: Benchmark Workouts

• Longer Duration Benchmark Workouts

Thursday: Max Strength

• Primary Strength: Back Squat

• Secondary Strength: Push Press

Friday: Gymnastics

• Primary Skill: Ring Muscle Ups

• Secondary Skill:  Toes to Bar

Saturday: Speed - Endurance

• Primary:  Thrusters

• Secondary: Jump Rope