Most people are familiar with the 80/20 rule, as it applies to many facets of life. Workouts are no different. 80% of your workouts should be your “tonic” workouts, as in the ones that you can do day in and day out, like taking your medicine. The other 20% should be the workouts that really push you to improve, and while they deliver results and help you reach peaks, they are not often repeatable or sustainable. I just finished a “tonic” program, and I’ll share it with you in depth, so you can try it if you like.
It is a good idea to cycle your training year into quarters, and life has a way of naturally doing this for you sometimes.
Myself, living here in hot and sunny inland Southern California, I have a training pattern that is opposite those who live in cooler climates. Winter and Spring are our seasons to get outside and enjoy the outdoors via hiking, biking, or running. My “gym” workouts tend to get trimmed down to 2 per week during this time, as I’m spending as much time on the trails as I can before the various species of rattlesnakes emerge from their dens hungry and ready to mate.
Summer and Fall are when I put together training programs to improve my Strength or prepare for the next FitRanX level test. It is guaranteed that there will be at least one 3-4 week stretch of unbearable heat that will render my garage uninhabitable, and I will retreat to my neighborhood gym and patch together the best workouts I can using traditional barbells and dumbbells.
During January and February, at the high school I teach at, I run the clock for all the home basketball games. This means that 2 weekdays per week I am unable to work out at all. Since I am typically on the trails on the weekends, and life happens, that leaves me 2 days in my garage per week. This also follows the holidays, when training patterns get thrown all out of whack. This particular holiday season, I was also hit with that nasty virus which completely knocked me on my ass for weeks and caused me to drop just over 10lbs (which is completely odd for me, I don’t lose weight easily).
So I entered January weak and lacking any training program completely. I needed something that would build up my Strength and Conditioning, focus on the basics, but wouldn’t take a lot of time or brainpower. I settled on an adaptation of a program I did last winter, which was inspired by a program Dan John wrote about. It was 20 workouts long, and consisted of 2 alternating training days, so ten of each. It would take as long as it took me to finish the 20 workouts, and since there was only one week I squeezed in 3 days and one week I only got 1, it took me 10 weeks to finish.
Each workout took me about an hour, which is in my sweet spot. For me personally, an hour to an hour and a half is perfect. It takes me a good 20-30 minutes just to feel warmed up and strong, and I like to work my strength endurance as well. So, here it is, with my exact weights and rest periods:
Day 1
Warm-Up: 24kg Alt Swing x 10 and Pull-Ups x 3 done for 5 rounds, resting :30 between rounds
Round 1
- 28kg Swings x 5
- Rest :30
- 16kg TGU to Windmill x 1+1 and Pull-Ups x 2
- 28kg Swings x 5+5
- Rest :30
- 20kg TGU to Windmill x 1+1 and Pull-Ups x 4
- 20kg Snatch x 8+8
- Rest :30
- 24kg TGU to Windmill x 1+1 and Pull-Ups x 6
- 28kg Alternating Swing x 20
- Rest 1:00
Rounds 2 – 5
- 28kg Swing x 5
- Rest :30
- 28kg TGU to Windmill x 1 R or L and Pull-Ups x 2
- 28kg Swings x 5+5
- Rest :30
- 28kg TGU x 2 L or R and Pull-Ups x 4
- 20kg Snatch x 8+8
- Rest :30
- 28kg TGU x 3 R or L and Pull-Ups x 6
- 28kg Alternating Swings x 20
- Rest 1:00
- (Each set of TGU you switch sides, so Rounds 2&4 are R/L/R, and Rounds 3&5 are L/R/L)
Day 2
Warm-Up: 24kg Swings x 10 for 5 sets, resting :30 between sets
Round 1
- 28kg Swings x 5
- Rest :30
- Double 20kg Squat x 4 and Press x 2
- (don’t set down the KB’s between Squats and Presses)
- 28kg Swing x 5+5
- Rest :30
- Double 22kg Squat x 4 and Press x 2
- 20kg Snatch x 8+8
- Rest :30
- Double 24kg Squat x 4 and Press x 2
- 28kg Alternating Swing x 20
- Rest 1:00
Rounds 2-5
- 28kg Swing x 5
- Rest x :30
- Double 26kg Squat x 2 and Press x 1
- 28kg Swing x 5+5
- Rest :30
- Double 26kg Squat x 4 and Press x 2
- 20kg Snatch x 8+8
- Rest :30
- Double 26kg Squat x 6
- Rest :30
- (Yes, I rested an extra :30 between the Squats and Presses here)
- Double 26kg Press x 3
- 28kg Alternating Swing x 20
- Rest 1:00
Loaded Carries (only on Day 2)
- 24kg Double Waiters x 25yds out
- 24kg Double Rack x 25yds back
- Rest :30
- Double 40kg Farmers x 50yds
- Rest 1:00
- I started at 2 rounds of this, and every 2-3 workouts would add a Round until I completed 5 Rounds.
- Then I bumped it up to this: Double 24kg Waiters x 50yds
- Rest :30
- Double 44kg Farmers x 50yds
- Rest 1:00
- Started at 2 rounds, every 2-3 workouts I added a Round. I got up to 4 Rounds at the 20th workout.
Total Numbers per 2 Workouts:
- Swings: 450
- Snatches: 160
- TGU: 30
- Presses: 30
- Squats: 60
- Pull-Ups: 75
So, basically, this is a very simple yet high volume and intensity workout, using high numbers of sets and rounds to sneak in the reps.
I have to say this about the weight – the first day I did the Squat and Press workout, I bit off more than I could chew. I thought I would work up to Double 30kg KB’s for Rounds 2-5. I got through Round 2 and they buried me. I couldn’t keep them in the rack on the squats and couldn’t’ get the 3 reps of presses. I backed off to Double 28kg’s for Round 3, and again they buried me. I backed off to Double 26kg’s for Rounds 4 & 5 and was able to finish. Had I not just come off the flu I think I could have handled at least the 28’s, but maybe next year. The workouts have to be repeatable, so the weights cannot kill you. That first Day 2 left me hurting for almost a week.
So here’s how you select your weights: The TGU and Press weights are weights you can handle for up to 5 reps on a normal day. The Squat weight you can handle for up to 10 reps. The Swing weight is a bit challenging at 20 reps on Workout 1, it becomes easy by Workout 12. Same thing with the Snatch weight, but is a weight you can handle easily. The hips should snap explosively during the Swings and Snatches and the weight should float. Your grip should be challenged in the beginning, by the last workout you should be able to put the KB wherever you want it in midair. Your Pull-Up reps should be based so that your highest set is no more than 50% of your max (my max is about 12 pull-ups currently).
This program is great for times when you are coming back off of a break or injury, are extremely busy and don’t have time to plan and think about your workouts, or for when you w
ant your workouts to take a back seat to other activities but you don’t want to regress in your current strength and conditioning capabilities. Part of the magic is forcing yourself to complete all 20 workouts. The “hump” occurs around workout 12, when they become “easy.” By workout 20 you’ll find yourself skipping the already short rest intervals.
I saw a noticeable increase in my shoulder and thigh muscle mass, and my waist continued to shrink. I only gained back 3lbs of my illness-induced weight loss, and I suspect most of it was muscle (my BF dropped from 20% in December to 18% in March, at a finishing BW of
207lbs). In my first “normal” workout, I cranked out sets of 5-10 with Double 28kg’s on Presses, Squats, and SLDLs like it was nothing and completed sets of 8-10 on my pull-ups. I did 10:00 of :15/:15 Snatches with a 20kg and barely was out of breath. The sneaky amounts of volume this program gives you is the secret. I can’t wait see what this did to my TGU abilities.
Give it a try and let me know how it works for you!!!
Tim Peterson, Chief Fitness Instructor
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