New Training Phase: Work Horse

The longer I’ve worked with tactical athletes, the less interested I’ve become in writing rigid training programs and the more I’ve enjoyed giving athletes a set of constraints within which they can build their own approach.

The next phase of our Long and Strong training program, Work Horse, is probably the purest form of that sentiment that I’ve yet been able to create.

Overview

Work Horse, as the name suggests, is a 6-week phase of training that emphasizes Work Capacity across several time domains. Work Capacity in and of itself is a bit of a vague term, so for deeper context I’d point you towards a write-up that I originally put together several years ago, then republished here on MOPs & MOEs back in 2023 (time flies…). The Multi-Pace structure that I lay out in that article will be the same overall structure that we use to set up our work capacity sessions in this next phase of training.

Now here’s the kicker…

If you’re subscribed to our Long and Strong team, you’ll largely be constructing these work capacity sessions yourself.

I give you the “what”

You create the “how”

Let me explain…

Multi-Pace Theory very cleanly lays out specific time domains and rest intervals that are designed to achieve a certain outcome. The movements that we end up choosing are largely secondary to the time domains themselves, as that’s what ultimately drives the stimulus. Now, obviously, there are some left and right limits. For example, a 60-second work interval demands a highly cyclical movement selection that allows for maximal power (think max effort assault bike versus something slower like walking lunges). As those time domains open up, however, the world kind of becomes your oyster.

And therein lies the “choose-your-own-adventure” aspect of this phase of training. On work capacity days, I will provide the constraints, and you will create the session. Here’s an example:

4 Rounds

5 minutes of work, 3 minutes of rest

Three exercises (keep the exercises the same for each round)

10 calories of Exercise 1: cardio machine of your choice

10 reps of Exercise 2: DB Step Up, DB Walking Lunge, or DB Front Squat

10 reps of Exercise 3: DB Man Maker or Burpee Pull Up

Clearly, there are a number of different ways that you can attack this, and that’s the beauty of it. On a given day, based on how you’re feeling, you can set this up in such a way that it becomes a test of mental fortitude. Conversely, if you’re feeling a bit taxed, this can shift into more of a “movement as medicine”-style session. Whereas many coaches and athletes might be intimidated or turned off by the creativity of this approach, we’re going to lean right into it.

Secondary Emphases

As we so often preach at MOPs & MOEs, we’re never going to truly “turn off” any one fitness quality across a phase. And Work Horse is no different.

Strength Work

One to two days of the week will be dedicated strictly to strength/hypertrophy work. We’ll run alternating sessions of Deadlift/Bench Press and Back Squat/Pull Up utilizing a full-body approach. Rep ranges will stay relatively low (1-4 reps) to emphasize absolute strength development. Whereas our accessory work might’ve historically consisted of metcons or speed work, for this phase we’ll actually ramp up the bodybuilding quite a bit and promote some lean muscle mass growth following the strength work.

Endurance Work

Because our work capacity emphasis will allow us to explore higher speed and higher power movements across shorter time domains, we’re ok giving track intervals a break for a few weeks. As such, the bulk of our “pure endurance” work will shift exclusively towards Zone 2 training with strict MAF Heart Rate instructions to fine tune things for folks who have access to watches and chest straps. To be clear, MAF isn’t the most accurate approach of all time, but it does allow us to easily guide over a hundred athletes towards something that resembles an appropriate intensity.

Progressions

The nice thing about this kind of DIY approach is that the progressions themselves don’t need to be complicated from one week to the next. At the start of the phase, you really just need to lay out your constraints for the various work capacity intervals you want to prioritize, and then let the athlete mix and match based on feel each time they step into the gym. To the untrained eye this might come across as laziness; however, I would actually argue that this is the exact style of programming we need to emphasize if we want our athletes to gain a sense of autonomy and actually learn something about themselves!

So, with all that being said, sign up today to give Work Horse a try!