Incorporating conditioning into strength routines can be a nebulous concept for some athletes, particularly those without a clearly defined goal or sport in which they participate. One must understand that by adding conditioning into their workouts, they will inevitably sacrifice strength to some degree, at least initially. This is a difficult pill to swallow, and rightfully so. Stress is stress, mentally or physically, and it will take its toll on your performance. Obviously nobody wants to see their hard-earned bench press numbers drastically reduced because they started doing sprints and kettlebell swings after their "real" workouts. Keeping the faith that this initial setback can lead to huge gains and an incredible increase in work capacity in the future can put true validity into adhering to a ten minute sweatfest a few times a week.

Everything you do in the gym should have a purpose, and if there is a risk in performing a particular exercise, you better have a good explanation as to why it is in your program. You can address this issue by evaluating if the exercise itself is dangerous, if you have an injury or personal limitation preventing you from performing said exercise safely, or even if the equipment does not allow for proper and safe execution of movement. For example, there is no reason why you should do high repetition box jumps on a slimy rock in the woods if you recently had knee surgery or have chronic back pain, just so you can claim that you’re "hardcore". Just because an exercise is hard does not mean its good for you. Likewise, just because you can do an exercise does not mean you should.

I had an athlete join our facility several months ago and his main reason for joining was because he claimed that he "loved getting kicked in the dick." I asked if he would happily pay for this "coaching", as I wasn't sure how it could possibly enhance an athlete’s performance. Understandably, I can see how some people view fitness that way, as everywhere you look on the internet, fanatics are smashing through millions of reps of sloppily performed exercises, marred by blood and sweat, to make claims of elite performance. However, if all you're doing is counting more reps in less time, than you will likely discount the idea of doing better reps for increased performance. More isn't better, better is better. Taking this into consideration, I recommend performing your high skill movements early in your workout, while maintaining a strong focus on practicing perfect technique. Keeping the bloodbath conditioning limited to low skill, high work output movements at the end of your workout, or on separate days, will provide you with greater work capacity without any deterioration in your well-earned technical mastery.

Another concept to consider involves determining to what degree the conditioning you perform today is going to affect your training tomorrow. If I know I have a high intensity squat session planned for tomorrow, for example, I would highly reconsider doing ten rounds of a hill sprint and burpee mash-up today. A better alternative would be punching a heavy bag and a few bouts with a large battling rope, as it's not as taxing on your lower extremities. This way your legs will be better recovered for their battle to come tomorrow, yet your heart rate might be as high as a stoner at a summer festival. This concept is unfortunately invalid for those who have no idea what tomorrow’s training adventures will bring. This also assumes that increased strength is a priority in your training. If it is not, I suggest you reevaluate the purpose of your training. I am well aware of the phenomenon of training for the unknown and unknowable, but just because you do a random daily workout does not mean it's the absolute best way to be prepared for an event that may occur in the future. Just sayin’.



The basic outline of the strength program that I design at The Strength Shop is created in approximately 2-month cycles, with minor adjustments made along the way. The conditioning, however, is not programmed this far in advance. There are simply too many factors to consider for this to be effective. I like to constantly change the exercise pool that we use for our conditioning to complement our strength training, keep the athletes guessing, and keep things fresh and fun at the gym. But I certainly do not just pull exercises out of a hat and roll dice to see how many sets and reps we'll be doing on a particular day. While that "hopper go lucky" system might be fun once in a while between cycles, a poorly timed astronomically high rep workout with certain exercises could prove catastrophic to an athlete’s performance in their ensuing training.

I once did a few hundred sumo deadlift high pulls in a workout because someone said so and I walked around like a hobbit with noodles-for-knees for a week. Needless to say, my training was squandered during this time. One might say it made me stronger, but I'm telling you it didn't. It was stupid. I've since learned my lesson. Hopefully these ideologies help you maximize your performance, and prevent you from giving yourself or your athletes "a good kick in the dick."

Let's take a look at a sample week of training applying the above information.

Let's say Monday and Thursday are upper body dominant days, and Tuesday and Friday are lower in this particular cycle. We still perform full body lifts in some form essentially everyday. Some days might be power versions, other days are full squat variations.



Monday

1) Power Clean + 2 Split Jerks x 5 sets
2) Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 4-5x4-5
3) Barbell Bent Over Row 3x8-10
3) Ring Pushups + Chains or vest 3 x submax

10 minutes AMRAP
Hand over hand sled pull @ 60 feet
12/12 sledgehammer strikes L/R
10/10 Bulgarian Training Bag Circular Revolutions Around Body each direction

In this conditioning circuit, there is little or no eccentric work being done. This should keep the DOMS to a minimum, since muscle soreness is mostly derived from the negative work being performed. The hand-over-hand pulls are purely concentric while generating force in a horizontal plain, and can be performed seated or standing. There is a lot of abdominal and back tension to stabilize the torso. The sledgehammers are moving more in a vertical path slamming downward, but do have a rotational aspect as well. Bulgarian revolutions move the bag in an orbit around the body with great velocity. Maintaining a stable torso is imperative, and rooting your feet while the weight is moving will prove challenging. This exercise is fantastic for shoulder girdle mobility and midline stability.

Tuesday

1) Snatch Pull + Hang Power Snatch + Overhead Squat x 4-5 sets
2) Snatch technique 70% x 1 x 5
3) Front Squat 4x3-5
4A) RDL 3x8-10
4B) Bulgarian Split Squat 3x8-10 L/R

Hill Sprints

A moderate grade hill that will allow for a 10-15 second run works great. Perform your first few sets at 60%-70% then build up to 95%-97%. This is for fat loss and conditioning so total recovery is not necessary, but some recovery should be allowed to advocate decent running mechanics. 10-15 sprints with 45 seconds rest is enough to smoke almost any athlete if they put in the effort. If no hill is available, we push, pull and drag sleds, prowlers, logs and tires around the parking lot. For additional zap, I will sometimes throw in burpees and/or kettlebell swings into the mix with sprints. Think 12 swings with a 1.5 pood kettlebell, 30-40 meter prowler push or hill sprint, 10 burpees, 45 second rest x5 sets.

Thursday

1) Rack Jerks 5x2
2) Push Press 4x3
3A) Chins 3 x Submax reps
3B) Ring Dips 3 x Submax reps
4) Ab Wheel Rollouts 3x15

5 Rounds as fast as possible:
10 Double KB High Pull
250 meter row

Friday

1) Box Jumps 15-20 singles @ submax height
2) Snatch Work up to Heavy Single
3) Power Clean + Clean x 8-10 sets
4) Squat 5x3-5

Typically I wouldn't even condition on a day like this due to Friday happy hour, but sometimes it's necessary. And for the sake of providing another option, I saved the best for last.



Complexes

Here's where we have some fun with the tool of your choice. Pick a pair of kettlebells, dumbbells, a sandbag, a waterball, a barbell, a tank, a significant other or a log. You can have endless workouts by constantly changing the tool being used and the movements selected. In a complex, just make sure that each movement flows seamlessly from one to the next. I also like to put the hardest exercises earliest in the complex. If an athlete has a limitation that requires 1-2 movements to use significantly less weight than the others, (overhead squat vs. deadlift) simply omit the movement until they are proficient, add a few reps to the other exercises or replace it with something else.

2 kettlebells
3-5 Rounds with 60 seconds rest

10 presses
Overhead walk x 100 feet
10 Front Squats
Rack Walk x 100 feet
10 Cleans
Farmers Carry x 100 feet

Sandbag
Perform desired sets

Rotational clean with staggered left foot x 6
Reverse lunge left foot x 6
Push Press x 6
Rotational clean with staggered right foot x 6
Reverse lunge right foot x 6
Push press x 6
Get up x 6

Barbell
5 Sets is a good number

5 Power jumps without bar
5 Power snatches
5 Push press behind neck
5 Overhead squats
5 Good morning
5 Squats
5 Bent over row
5 Romanian deadlifts
5 Power jumps without bar

You can shorten the rest period and/or increase weight as you progress.