Friends,

Let’s take a look at where we’ll be headed over the next four weeks of training here at Steelworks Strength Systems!

Week 1 Day 1, Week 2 Day 6, Week 3 Day 5, Week 4 Day 4
SKILL:  Agility
STRENGTH:  Speed, Speed Strength, Power
Energy System Development (ESD): Aerobic

Being able to absorb and redirect force is a key athletic skill found in many sports.  However, even if you don’t play sports being able to control your body as it moves through space is super important for preventing catastrophic injuries in the ankles, knees, hips, and lower back.  We’ll be using the agility ladder as we go through our Lateral Bound and Stick Drill.  Superset with that will be a medball exercise used for javelin throwing to work thoracic spine (upper back) rotation and also overhead mobility.  We’ll transition to power snatches in our Strength in the same wave loading pattern as last blocks power cleans.  Concluding the session, ESD will feature a moderately paced, moderate duration “window of work” themed conditioning session.

Week 1 Day 2, Week 2 Day 1, Week 3 Day 6, Week 4 Day 5
SKILL:  Reaction
STRENGTH:  Speed, Speed Strength, Maximal
ESD: Aerobic

In today’s Skill as we look to improve quickness in the frontal plane (think side to side movements) and hand eye coordination.   Grab a partner, a pair of cones, and a tennis ball!  Strength will feature two separate movements NOT superset:  split stance medball lateral throws and high bar back squats.  You’ll get that core nice a warmed up for the back squats which will feature a two second pause in the bottom of each rep!  Get ready to react and be explosive!  Concluding the session, ESD will feature a moderately paced, moderate duration “EMOM” themed conditioning setting.

Week 1 Day 3, Week 2 Day 2, Week 3 Day 1, Week 4 Day 6
SKILL:  Balance
STRENGTH:  Speed, Power
ESD:  Aerobic

Upper body and lower body balance will be targeted in today’s Skill.  Single leg box drops will strengthen the hips, knees, and ankles and the unilateral nature of the movement (single limb) will help iron out imbalances in stability between sides.  Superset with the lower body balance work, strict WALL FACING handstand pushups.  Not only a good tool to help develop awareness of balance in a compromised upside down position, but also coordination between the core and the upper body to improve vertical pressing strength.  Speaking of “strength”, Strength portion of the workout will feature a great little barbell complex to help develop vertical force production in the clean:  get ready for flat footed clean pulls + cleans!  Goal with this is to teach you how to push DOWN into the floor appropriately to move the bar straight UP!   We’ll finish off our session with a moderate paced, moderate duration “Up the Ladder” themed conditioning setting.

Week 1 Day 4, Week 2 Day 3, Week 3 Day 2, Week 4 Day 1
SKILL:  Agility
STRENGTH:  Speed, Maximal
ESD:  Alactic

Today is all about opening it up!  You are going to open up that core and those hips with some rotational box jumps and then the shoulders and upper back with some forward rolling progressions. Strength and ESD will be fused into one giant superset as you will work on being “powerfully enduring”. Strict ring dips and plank banded pulldowns will kick off this portion of class.  Finishing off the superset will be a “sprint-float-sprint” on the Airbike!  Sprint-float-sprint motifs are utilized frequently in sprint training to work on the mechanics of speed development.  The float between the two sprints enables athletes to stack more volume into the session by reducing the intensity momentarily in the middle of each set!  That break and then re-initiation of max effort also improves your ability to summon up the highest intensity in a fatigued state.  Buckle up, buttercup:  these are sure to help you get that sweet leg pump!

Week 1 Day 5, Week 2 Day 4, Week 3 Day 3, Week 4 Day 2
SKILL:  NONE
STRENGTH:  Power
ESD:  Glycolytic

No Skill today as you’ll be gearing up for the hard intervals in ESD. However, before the slosh-fest:  split jerk technique work!  A big problem many new and more experienced lifters commonly have in the split jerk is faulty foot mechanics.  When an athlete moves into position as he/she/they pushes under the bar, how quickly the feet move will make or break the lift.  The first part of today’s Strength works on the concept of pushing hard under a bar in a split jerk with lightning fast feet.  You’ll carry that skill over to full split jerks.  The session will conclude with 3 sets of 1 minute at  3 movements that are high breathing rate, high muscular recruitment in nature to crank up the intensity.  If you are looking for an intense sufferfest to test yourself.  Today is the day!

Week 1 Day 6, Week 2 Day 5, Week 3 Day 4, Week 4 Day 3
SKILL:  Balance
STRENGTH:  Speed, Speed Strength, Power, Maximal
ESD: Aerobic

Backward Rudiment hops return to the program.  Unlike in past iterations, you’ll have to navigate through both high and low amplitude hops while still holding solid positions and patterns.  The hops will be superset with medball hammer heaves, an accessory medball movement used by track and field athletes who participate in the hammer throw event.  By throwing the ball up and back behind you, you’ll work on developing body awareness, improving thoracic rotation, and developing a core that can produce some real power!  In this day’s Strength the same flat footed pull complex returns.  This day, however, will feature snatches.  If you tend to pull early with your arms during your snatches the superset strict pullups will hopefully fatigue your arms so much that you will really rely on your legs as the prime movers.  The training session will conclude with a “chipper” themed conditioning workout.