Strength training, muscle building, and we are going to sweat ALOT!
Cycle 2 of 2025 is here and it’s time to get STRONG!
In this article we want to give you an overview of the training cycle and one MAJOR way you can make sure your strength work is actually making you strong.
Overall Focus
The focus for cycle 2 is to drive strength up, increase aerobic capacity and make sure we are continuing to build on the foundation of quality movement from cycle 1.
The end of cycle 1 had us moving explosively on every rep and making sure every movement looked better week by week.
Our next strength training cycle in March will build on your strength gains with high-rep sets and advanced variations.
This cycle will allow us to be ready for that and able to attack it on week 1.
Daily Focus
For this training cycle we will be using a having less variety in our movements so we can focus on lifting heavier each week to make sure we are maximizing our strength increases.
Below is a weekly breakdown of how each day will be laid out but if you have any questions make sure to ask your coach when you take your next class.
Monday
- Bench Press + Box Squats or Dual KB Front Squats and Shoulder Raises or Push Ups + Sprint Conditioning
Tuesday
- RDL or Deadstop KB Swings + Landmine Press and Plyometrics + Lunges and Core Exercises
Wednesday
- 30 Minute Aerobic Conditioning + Core Finishers
Thursday
- Strict Press (Barbell and Dumbbell) and Lunges + Single Leg Hamstring Exercises + Rows + Full Body Finisher
Friday
- Back Press and Plyometrics + Dumbbell Bench or Floor Press and High Rep Squat Accessory + Sprint Conditioning
Saturday
- 30 Minute Aerobic Conditioning + Bodybuilding
One Thing You Can Do to Maximize Your Strength Work
For cycle 2 we are going to use a method called “RPE” in order to make sure you are getting everything you can out of each week.
RPE stands for Rate of Perceived Exertion which sounds fancy but really it just means “On a scale of 1-10 how hard did that feel?”
Here is how the scale works:
10/10 RPE – I could NOT have done a single rep more than I did.
9/10 – I SHOULD not have done a single rep more than I did.
8/10 – That was really hard but I could have done 1 more.
7/10 – That was challenging but I felt like I could have done more if I needed to.
In this cycle anything under a 7 will be warmup sets or sets where you are building up in weight.
How Does This Help You?
- RPE allows you to know what your target for the day should be. By following the prescribed RPE you can test yourself in order to know if you should add weight or stay the same. Why? Week by week we are simply looking to add appropriate stress to your body so that we improve on each movement. More often than not you will find that you have more in the tank than you thought you did. By asking yourself how many reps more you could have done you will have a good indicator of what you should do with your sets and jumps.
- Have you ever had one of those days where every weight you touch feels like it’s 50 lbs higher than it should be? RPE allows you to have those days and still hit your targets. Why? Because your target is a perceived effort and not simply more weight. If your goal was 200 lbs but 145 feels like an RPE 8 then you’re making progress.
- On the other hand RPE allows you to make bigger jumps if you are feeling particularly strong on a certain day. Maybe you hit 100 lbs on your Back Squat last week and the goal this week is to hit 105 lbs. After a few sets you realize you could go to 115 lbs and still stay in the prescribed RPE of 8. Go get it, big dog.
So How Do You Use This?
- We will have the targeted RPE listed under each strength section. This will allow you to remember what effort level you should be at even if you are training on your own. We see you, Open Gym-ers 🤝
- Track your weights each week in Wodify. When you get to the following week and you aren’t sure if you should increase in weight just check the RPE prescription and watch how you feel as you hit your first 2-3 sets. Once you are at your final set you will know if you should increase or not. Pinky promise.
- Ask a coach how the set looked and if you should increase. Heads up though! If you take Coach Mary Margaret’s class at 5:30 or 6:30 AM on M/W/F she will tell you to go up.
- Don’t decide what weights you are going to hit until you start moving and get a few sets in. Ask any experienced lifter when they had their best lifts and it is rarely a time when all the stars aligned. Sometimes you walk in feeling like dirt but after a few warmup sets and some Dua Lipa bangers you find out you’re ready to crush. Note: this will NOT happen if Coach Matt is playing a country playlist. Keith Urban has never produced a good Back Squat. You can run and tell that.
If you are interested in diving deeper into RPE here are two of my favorite articles on the subject from EliteFTS and BarBend.
We built Landing Health & Performance so that you don’t have to do this alone. Ready to take your strength to the next level? Book a goal-setting session today and let’s make Cycle 2 your strongest yet!
Cheers to you and all of your progress.