Season 2, week 1: Aug 5-11, 2024
Monday Aug 5
Welcome to day 1 of HTC's S2, 2024. This is a 12 week program designed to build both strength and stamina. For the first few weeks you will be alternating between days where you lift and days where you run but as you get deeper into the program you will be asked to do these on the same day (AM and PM sessions) as we add another lifting session to the week.
We will be focused on building 3 primary lifts - the Bench Press, Deadlift and the Zercher Squat - by a certain percentage of our 1RM each week, but don't worry if you don't know your percentages just yet. In the description of each workout I'll give you both the percentage of your 1RM AND a bit of guidance if you don't know your 1RM just yet. For the accessory work, choose a weight that gets you somewhere in the middle of the rep scheme provided and if at any point you go over, simply increase the weight next time. As far as resting is concerned, this is highly individual. A good rule of thumb is 3-5:00 between sets for the strength work and 1-3:00 between sets on the accessory stuff, depending on the exercise (you'll have to rest A LOT longer after a nasty set of Lunges than you will for Lateral Raises!).
Lastly, our running will be geared toward a 10km race at the end of the 12 weeks. This training will consist of easy runs, threshold intervals, hard track repeats and long runs. Don’t get to caught up in the weeds. Just follow along to the best of your ability.
Happy training!
Today is 70% - The weight should move pretty quickly, although you might slow down a bit toward the end of each set. Think TOUGH BUT MANAGEABLE. Focus on dialing in your technique and moving well.
Bench Press: 4x6 @ 21X0
Deadlift: 3x5 @ 21X0
Superset: Assisted Glute Ham Raise + Incline DB Press, 3x8-12 of each with 1:00 rest btw exercises and 2-3:00 rest btw sets.
EZ Bar Skull Crushers: 3x10-15
Tuesday Aug 6
Run Day -Threshold Intervals*:
10:00 easy Z2 warm up, then,
10:00 threshold (Z3-Z4) + 10:00 easy + 10:00 threshold
5:00 easy cooldown
*If you don’t currently know your HR zones/threshold pace, perform the following test in lieu of today’s workout to bring accuracy to your training.
30:00 LTHR Test
This is a test of your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR). LTHR is a measure of your anaerobic threshold, or the pace at which you produce lactate at such a rate that the body becomes incapable of clearing it, resulting in a performance plateau or decline. This measurement is necessary to more accurately predict our HR training zones so that we can best improve our performance over time.
Wearing a HR monitor, perform a solo (no training partners) 30:00 all out effort run on a flat surface. At the 10:00 click “lap” on your HR monitor so that you get an accurate reading of the final 20:00. Your average HR for the final 20:00 of this test is your LTHR. From this measurement you can use the list below to guide your training from here on out.
HR Zones
Z1 - Less than 85% of LTHR
Z2 - 85-89% of LTHR
Z3 - 90-94% of LTHR
Z4 - 95-99% of LTHR
Z5a - 100-102% of LTHR
Z5b - 103-106% of LTHR
Z5c - More than 106% of LTHR
Wednesday Aug 7
Upper Body Pump. Perform each movement with eccentric control.
Lateral Raise: 3x10-15
Pull Ups: 3x5-10, use an assisted/weighted version if necessary to maintain the rep scheme
Seated Cable Row: 3x8-12
Incline DB Curls: 3x8-12
Cable Curls: 2x10-15, drop set the final set for an additional 5-10 reps
Thursday Aug 8
Run day - 5km easy run
Friday Aug 9
70% - The weight should move pretty quickly today although you might slow down a bit toward the end of each set. Think TOUGH BUT MANAGEABLE. Focus on dialing in your technique and moving well.
Zercher Squat: 4x6
Superset:
45° Back Extension 3x8-12
DB Walking Lunges 3x20-24
Rest 1:00 btw exercises and 2-3:00 rest btw sets.
Superset, 3x10-15 of each:
Seated Calf Raise
Standing Tib Raise
Banded Hip Flexor March/side
No rest between exercises and 1:00 btw sets
Saturday Aug 10
Rest
Sunday Aug 11
Run day - 40:00 @ a conversational pace, rest 3:00 then 3x0:45 hill sprint*
*find an uphill long enough that you can push hard for 0:45. Walk down and repeat.