Coaches Corner August 2026

Build - There are many different ways to build muscle and strength. You could do it based off of Percentages, Reps in Reserve, Rate of Perceived Exertion, High or Low reps, and many other variations. Most strategies are ways to prescribe intention to the lift. You can also use a higher volume, lower intensity approach or a lower volume and higher intensity approach, etc… They all work! And like Thomas Sowell said, “ There are no solutions, only tradeoffs”. Each approach has its benefits and drawbacks. We mostly use a daily/weekly fluctuating model that takes into account general trends in energy, focus, and consistency. Sometimes having a rigid percentage to hit, depending on training age, how strong you currently are, and a host of other small details can be more of a hindrance than a guide. And on the other hand, never pushing yourself into the realm of being uncomfortable and doing multiple sets in that range, can also be leaving some easy gains on the table. One of the days this block is meant to have multiple sets done at the same, or really close to the same weight. That is the goal, not to continue massive jumps to one big set. Other days, we are looking to build until one big top set. So listen to the coaches instruction and get out of your comfort zone by applying something new into your training. 

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Charge - Short and sucky. Push your effort on these sessions. They are not long enough to get much adaptation from a lackluster effort. Do them as fast/hard as you can allowing for good form and full range of motion. I understand that some people have some movement restrictions, and that is totally fine, but some people have “self-identified” with movement restrictions without actually needing to cut range of motion. Lifting and training is a skill. It should be done with thoughtful and tactful attention, always striving to get a little bit better. It is not a punishment, or something to avoid, but rather a gift. Something that you “get” to do, not something you “have” to do. Do it to the best of your ability so it can serve you longer than the discomfort of achieving it. 

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Grind - Movement selection plays as big of a role in driving the outcome of a conditioning session as athlete intention. Not all days should be brutal, and some days should. To manage that, the time durations and exercises are meant to reflect what we are trying to achieve for the day. Sometimes, keeping movements relatively easy is going to elicit the adaptation we are trying to achieve, and sometimes using heavier loading and increasing the movement spectrum will drive intensity up and also will stimulate the response we are looking for. Working brutally hard all the time is not good, and of course, easy all the time is not good either. Of course each person's perception of what hard is, is different, and the hardest thing you have ever done is the scale at which everything is weighed upon. Upgrade your hardware by pushing yourself on the days it is asked for and watch as things start to feel easier, and the bandwidth with which you judge exertion broadens.

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Sustain - Everything that was just said above, applies here as well. Just a bigger spectrum. Some Sustain sessions can feel like you have been pinned for the entire thing, but in reality it is not the case, it just feels that way because of the total accumulation of fatigue. Which is a factor. But if you just did one quarter of the work and stopped, it would not be so bad. The duration drives the suck, and the mental fortitude drives the outcome. 

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Cool Down - Hips, shoulders and core. 

Josh

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