Coming off a 6 week cycle of much higher volume than we have seen in the Lift Heavy, Swing Fast program, we are going to dial the volume back for this 4-week “Mini-Cycle.”
October will likely be the last chance for many to get out plus play some season ending tournaments.
Over the next 4 weeks we will use contrast training for the final time of 2023.
Contrast training is a strength movement followed by a power movement recruiting similar muscle groups and movement patterns. For example a squat followed by a jump.
For these the intention has to be on being powerful, strong and explosive. The reps and sets will be lower, which means we have to increase intensity in each rep vs total amount of work in the workout.
Think one rep at a time, just like we do on the golf course - one shot at a time, give it your all.
The focus on each rep for our big lifts will be in the concentric phase of the lift - meaning the drive, for example on the squat - it's from the bottom up, the pull on the pull up and push on the press. This will help us get some serious speed and power during these 4 weeks.
After completing the previous 6 weeks your conditioning has increased, which has raised your ability to push even harder on these low rep schemes.
To keep up with the conditioning while using lower rep counts and overall total volume in this cycle - we are introducing Zone 2 cardio.
There are many benefits of Zone 2 cardio - which is relatively low intensity cardio performed at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate.
If you do not have a wearable showing your heart rate you can determine your level of intensity by performing a “talk test”. You should be able to talk to someone, but you wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation perfectly. If they were on the phone for example someone could tell you were working out, and you’d likely have to pause speaking during sentences to catch your breath.
This will be programmed twice a week on Tuesday and Saturday - can be done before or after mobility/conditioning. Most recommendations are 3-4 hours a week of zone 2 cardio. You will complete a chunk of this while doing your usual workouts in this program, but will program this in since this cycle will be less cardiovascular intense than the previous 6 weeks.
After this 4-week cycle we will be into full Off-Season training for several months, but let’s finish the season with a bang!
