How to set up a group training week – Alpha/Omega

Before continuing please be aware this is just ONE of the options you can use.

I’ve used several over the years and found this one to be very useful.

This example is based off training a group of 4 people with similar goals (strength & conditioning for this example)

You will split the group into partner pairs and have them alternate what they’re doing each session.

Here is the basic set up:

Sessions –

Lower Body Session A:
A1 – Squats 6×6
A2 – RDL 6×6-8
B1 – Walking Lunge 100 total reps
C1 – Calf Raise 100 total reps

Upper Body Session A:
A1 – Close Grip Bench Press 10,8,6,6,6
A2 – Chin Up x10-15 reps per set
B1 – Press Behind Neck 5×10
B2 – Dumbbell Row 5×10

Lower Body Session B:
A1 – Deadlift 6×6
A2 – Cyclist Squat 6×6-8
B1 – Kettlebell Swing 200-300 total reps

Upper Body Session B:
A1 – Incline Bench Press 6×6
A2 – Weighted Pull Up 6×6-8
B1 – Dip 5×10
B2 – Barbell Curl 5×20

Group Rotation –

Session 1 – Monday
Alpha Group: Lower Body A
Omega Group: Upper Body A

Session 2 – Tuesday
Alpha Group: Upper Body A
Omega Group: Lower Body A

Session 3 – Thursday
Alpha Group: Lower Body B
Omega Group: Upper Body B

Session 4 – Friday
Alpha Group: Upper Body B
Omega Group: Lower Body B

This is a 7 day training microcycle.

It’s super easy to apply.

And if you planned on only having 3 sessions per week here is what it’d look like:

Sessions –

Lower Body A – as above
Upper Body A – as above
Conditioning – as below

Conditioning Session:

A1 – Sprints 10×200-300m (time cap of 20min)
B1 – Double Kettlebell Complex 5×1-2-3-4-5 (Swing, Clean, Press, Squat, Row – time cap of 20min)

Group Rotation –

Session 1 – Monday
Alpha Group – Lower Body A
Omega Group – Upper Body A

Session 2 – Wednesday
Alpha/Omega – Conditioning

Session 3 – Saturday
Alpha Group – Upper Body A
Omega Group – Lower Body A

You’ll find this can be repeated anywhere from 6-10 weeks for a solid amount of accumulated volume whereby you’d increase the sets, reps or loading (probably the loading)

After which point something would be tweaked (volume, load, movement choices etc).

You can use the structure above for group up to 16 in size meaning 4 people per group – this would then become a movement focused set up.

If you’ve got any questions do leave them in a comment.

Enjoy,
Ross

Basic Strength & Conditioning For Combat Sports

Things like MMA, Wrestling, Boxing, Thai and a like don’t need S&C, they just need more training in what they do, right?

Wrong.

It’s been a long held belief that if you want to compete in some kind combat sports that if you lift weights you’ll get slow.

Because of this so many have a training set up that is conditioning and more conditioning.

In fact last night I was grappling with a young lad, and as you can imagine he’s in his prime and overflowing with testosterone.

Unlike my crippled old ass that needs a full ritual complete with the sacrifice to cthulhu in the hope of morning wood, lol.

But in all seriousness, it really is a hope these days.

Getting back to the point.

He was young and strong, and a lot of people will say – “Strength doesn’t matter, it’s all about technique.”

And I don’t disagree that technique is king, but strength is the general that the kingdom can’t do without.

Now giving the dude a decent chance to defend a ‘double wrist lock’ I wanted to see if I could break his grip/defence he used.

Could I bollocks, but he left his neck open so chose death that way instead.

Then I watched the dude roll with a lad on a few years older who was way more skilled and steam roll him because of the difference in strength.

I waited and then heard this classic line – “You don’t want to muscle things. Try to use technique.”

This is a way of protecting ego because it just got a hefty dose of reality in the fact that STRENGTH matters.

Now you still need to work on your skills for the sport you’re in, that’s obvious.

But if you can have a decent amount of strength, athleticism and skill combined then you’ll become a very effective combatant.

I’ve worked with plenty of people and this is the simplest set up I’ve found to help the majority.

Day 1 – Anterior Chain
A1 – Squat variation
B1 – Press variation
C1 – Core variation
C2 – Secondary Press variation

Day 2 – Posterior Chain
A1 – Hinge variation
B1 – Pull variation
C1 – Core Variation
C2 – Secondary Pull variation

You could use a 4 day per week option with this getting in 2 sessions of each (recommended for most), but there’s also other options such as training 3 times a week alternating D1/D2/D1 in week one then D2/D1/D2 in week two and repeating that.

Or you may train 5 days a week alternating sessions and so on.

It’s not set in stone, but I’d suggest at a minimum having 2 strength sessions per week.

The volume would cycle through different training blocks of perhaps 3-10 weeks depending on the training phase.

Working weekly volume:
Strength – 75-100 reps
Hypertrophy – 200-300 reps
Power – 75-150 reps (would be based on velocity that can be sustained)

Progression wise there’s endless options but I’m going to save you a lot of hassle and give you a ‘plug & play’ program below.

Hypertrophy Block – 6 weeks – train up to 4 days per week.

Day 1 – Anterior Chain
A1 – Back Squats
B1 – Incline Press (dumbbells)
C1 – Hanging Leg Raise
C2 – Dip

Day 2 – Posterior Chain
A1 – Deadlift
B1 – Chin Up
C1 – Good Morning
C2 – Renegade Row

You’ll be following a rep goal of 75 reps per movement with a limit of 5 total sets, this means aim to hit the reps within 5 sets (to clarify).

Once you hit the rep goal you may add weight.

I’d advise coming down with a 2-3 second eccentric, explosively perform the concentric and rest roughly 1-2min between sets.

Strength Block – 3 weeks – train up to 4 days per week.

Day 1 – Anterior Chain
A1 – Back Squats
B1 – Incline Press (dumbbells)
C1 – Hanging Leg Raise
C2 – Dip

Day 2 – Posterior Chain
A1 – Deadlift
B1 – Chin Up
C1 – Good Morning
C2 – Renegade Row

The movements stay the as before but now it’s time to change up the rep goal and use 35 total reps per movement, this will allow for heavier loadings and the total set limit allowed to hit this target will be 6 sets.

As before control the eccentric for 2-3 seconds and aim to concentrically lift as explosively as possible, rest 2-3min between sets.

After the 9 weeks you’d change up the lifting variations and repeat the process.

If you’ve got any questions please do leave them below, or when you’re ready to take your game up a level please do reach out and we can have a chat about what you specifically need training wise.

Enjoy,
Ross

A curious question –

10×10 overlooked in 2023 or just overrated 

Popularised by Charles Poliquin, this training method gained a lot of traction for it’s simplicity.

• Choose a movement
• Load with 60% of your 1RM (your 20RM equivalent)
• Tempo 4-0-X-0
• Rest 60 seconds between sets 

Ideally hitting a muscle group every 3-5 days using this method is said to provide a sufficient stimulus for growth.

You’d increase weight once you hit all 100 reps.

But lot’s of people tried it only to get little to no return from it

Usually because they got bored and gave up after 3-4 sessions because at first it was easy to hit the 100 reps and after a couple of 2.5kg weight additions they missed some reps.

The reason may have been their loading or more likely the proximity to failure they were achieving because that’s been linked as one of the most important hypertrophy promoting factors of late. 

This makes sense from a stimulus to fatigue angle.

It’s a lot of work with a minimal stimulus when not done correctly.

You may find setting it up as a super set is more beneficial because working an opposed pairing may lead to heavier loads being viable due to longer rest periods.

It’d look potentially like one of these set ups typically:

A1 – Squat 
Rest 1min 
A2 – RDL
Rest 1min 
Repeat 

or….

A1 – Squat  
A2 – RDL 
Rest 2 min  
Repeat 

And with the heavier loads you’ll find the entire 10×10 might require a couple of sessions to hit all 100 reps, allowing for a longer block of training. 

You’ve also got the general ’10 set method’ approach which was born of this as well

This is more favourable for those that want more strength.

Typically it’s set up like this:

10×6
10×5
10×4
10×6
10×5
10×4
New protocol 

Loading wise you’d be using over 80% typically, although there’s always the potential that can be made for starting out a little lower around the 75% mark and hitting 9 week block instead of 6 weeks. 

Another option that also yields 100 working reps is to simply set the rep goal at 100 and hit it in as few sets as possible. 

This I’ve found to work well on accessory movements for an epic bit of pump, but it’s a grind for heavy compound ones. 

But going back to traditional 10×10.

Is it overrated

I don’t know truth be told. 

From what I’ve seen of it very few people ever stick at it long enough to actually gain any significant progress from it. 

So that’s not the protocols fault, it’s the persons.

I believe if someone was to really plan out 6-10 weeks work of solid training for 10×10 (accumulation) then a possible intensification block of a further 6 weeks with the ’10 set method’ they’d really see some great gains. 

Alternatively you could do 6 weeks of 10×10 followed by 3 weeks to he 10 set methods for Acc/Int and repeat that for a year. 

All it’d require is a focused mindset 

But this is what people lack these days, although in saying this I’d be interested to know of your experiences with 10×10.

Diamond in the rough  or a polished turd?

I was a good coach once

Sitting alone is a very interesting thing.

While doing so I pondered on what has me feel as strong as I do about the decline in the standard of PT.

This was what got revealed.

In the past I personally put in a lot of effort to learning so that I’d be a better coach and PT, but despite my effort I was always left to witness people of a lower standard end up with far more rewards and this bothered me.

One thing it revealed is that you’re not going to be given respect or compensated for your effort to become better.

In fact it was the inverse, you got less.

But anyone that was ran through a short training course seems to come out and end up at max capacity in no time at all.

I was quite jealous of that because my inner self felt it was unfair and quite an injustice.

All the lesser (in my ego’s eye) PT’s did was make people hot, sweaty and fatigued each session.

There was no logic, reason or practical programming, it was just a mess that was sold as being sexy, fun and entertaining.

But here’s the kicker, it worked.

The sad part is that holding some kind of personal standard held me back as a coach and it took a fair while to build up a decent base of clients.

This happened not because I was ‘good’ but because I was still remaining after all there rest had come and gone.

At this point I really put in a lot of effort for my clients, their programming and also giving them the tools to not only create the change they wanted but also sustain it so they’d not need me.

Some flourished once they’d moved on, others fell back into old habits which was a shame to see.

Time went by and I watched this cycle repeat itself.

Crap coaches gained traction and scored big, whereas those that wanted better for their clients just about made a living.

It’s the biggest lesson I didn’t want to accept for a long time.

People don’t want to become better, they just want to be entertained and feel like they’ve done something.

When I did this resulted in the running of bootcamps that did well and have reoccurring participants.

But they stayed for the community, those that made progress also did PT along side the group training as well.

Again seeing this simple fact got to me – people just want to feel like they’re doing something.

Yet they won’t want to pay much for it because they see no value in it.

Once more the test of time revealed who had an attitude that want3ed long term change and their traits got noted.

Then came the online revolution thanks to the farce that was COVID.

To see terrible programs, crap coaching and utter BS bring people a hefty chunk of change again left a bitter taste.

As you can imagine they lower self (ego) was really not having a good time seeing this, but it had no choice but to accept the reality and that we either play that game or stick as we are and try to ‘do better’ for people.

It’s why coaches with morals and standard don’t do what people class as ‘well’ because it puts a lot of emphasis on clients being self sufficient and accountable.

These days I’ve found myself drifting further and further away from traditional fitness.

It’s become too draining to see people spinning their wheel endlessly.

But when I dig into this further it’s also a reflection of giving up on myself as well.

There’s only so much we can carry after all.

So if you’re a coach I’d advise you sit and think about what kind of coach you want to be and what’s most important to you.

Do you want to be good or like the rest?