Hey Athletes! Want to learn more about how to program for a year or more? Then tune into this week’s episode of Ask Me Anything!
Episode 28 of Ask Me Anything is up!
Ask Me Anything: How To Program For A Year Or More
In this week’s episode of Ask Me Anything, Jerred and Joe answer Michael’s question. He asks about the Garage Gym Athlete programming and if it is planned out even further than the 12-week cycle. Jerred and Joe give their answer and explain how and why we program the way we do.
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Related Resources at End of Three Fitness:
- The ‘EZ’ Programming Method (Fitness Programming 101)
- Joseph’s Story: How to be Strong, Functional & Durable
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Thanks for listening to the podcast, and if you have any questions be sure to add it to the comments below!
To becoming better!
Jerred
Transcript:
Ask Me Anything: How To Program For A Year Or More
[00:00:00] Jerred Moon: Welcome to garage the math. He asked me anything. It’s pretty simple. I’ll be answering questions from the thousands of athletes that follow our daily programming. If you have a question or topic you want submitted, go to dot com slash AMA. Let’s get started.
All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the garage gym athlete podcast. Jared moon here with Joe Courtney. What’s up Joe.
Joe Courtney: Hey, welcome to another, another new day.
Jerred Moon: Another new day of asking, answering questions. We’re not asking questions. Are we
Joe Courtney: not? I can ask the question if you want me to, but
Jerred Moon: that no, we already got one here.
All right. So let’s get into the question. When this one’s from Michael, he said, you’ve talked a lot about needing to stick to programs for at least six to eight weeks and do not program hop. Additionally, you base your training and testing around 12 [00:01:00] weeks cycles. Do you have a much larger macro cycle, one year planner so that you are using these 12 week cycles as mezzo cycles building directly?
On each other or is each cycle programmed independent of the previous program. So I’ll jump straight into answering the last part of that. Cause it’s a, it’s a good question. And the answer is yes. Yes, but not like with an asterisk. So it’s not. So our plan is not put together in such a way that like a professional athlete.
So if you were to go through something like, the CSCs, which is, you know, certified during the conditioning, specialist or whatever, they, they teach a lot about. These longterm programs like this. And it’s good idea if you’re working with a professional athlete. So there needs [00:02:00] to be this on-ramp stage, a volume stage, a tapering stage, and then like their event.
Cause most athletes have like this time period of the year that’s in season and they need to be ready for that time. We don’t have that, you know, so we don’t program like they do, where there’s like this big, like, Oh, well, do you come in during this time of the year? We’re in a tapering phase, or if you come in during this time of the year, we’re in this type of phase, we don’t do that a lot.
Let me talk specifically about hard to kill we, we program in majors and minors every 12 weeks and just like a college major or minor. So that 12 week will 12 weeks we’ll put across every track, every track, not just hard to go. Every 12 weeks we’ll have a major emphasis. So in strength, maybe where are you going for just raw strength or maybe our major would be dynamic strength, something like that.
And hard, hard to kill could be, you know, we want more of a mixed modal aerobic focus [00:03:00] for 12 weeks and then the minor might be strength. So that’s how we program these things and how I look at this over the year. It’s just making sure that we’re not getting lopsided anywhere. And that that’s my main goal and mission.
It’s not so much it, you know, cycle one of a year and then cycle three. You’re going to miss something. It’s just making sure that we don’t get lopsided with the major. So I wouldn’t do aerobic endurance as a major and hard to kill with a minor and strength and then do this same exact thing. The next 12 weeks, I make sure that we’re flipping things around, that way everyone’s challenged and in a bunch of different areas.
And we do this for strength to, all that, to say how we put it together since there’s no tapering, there’s no like in season off season for any of these tracks, you can come in at any time period. And. Still see results, especially if you come in for a full 12 week cycle, but I even try to build a 12 week cycle off of the last four week wave when we’re starting new.
So when we start a new 12 [00:04:00] week cycle, like I’m making sure that there is not a ton of overlap between. let’s say the last few weeks of training and a 12 week cycle and the next few weeks of training, even if we’ve completely changed, our goals are major or minor. I’m still making sure that there’s a nice transitionary time period, a blend to where we’re not seeing the same stimulus over and over again.
So, yeah, there’s a big, there’s a big plan, but it’s not like. I don’t know how other people would talk about this, because if you’re training an athlete for a very specific sport, this type of planning, this macrocycle plan that you’re talking about is very, very different. We’re just trying to make sure there are no holes and fitness.
We’re not necessarily preparing anybody for anything other than being an amazing human being.
Joe Courtney: Yeah. when I look at. With the tracks I’m going to do in my cycles. I almost commit to two cycles in a row because they floated. Yeah. There’s so much. So usually, I mean, when we’re building up for 12 weeks, we’re working on the, what you said, the major, the minor, but then usually.
The next cycle will still [00:05:00] compliment on that and still build, continue what that was doing before. I remember when we were doing the cycle webinar recently, VD was addressing like, somebody will ask you to go all this volume, last cycle, what’s up with next cycle. And he, and he mentioned that, you know, last cycle, we were ramping up the volume or doing a ton of volume.
And now this cycle, it’s starting to decline volume and increase intensity as we’re doing that. But it’s still flows. From the freebie cycle to this cycle and Marco was doing it similar with endure. It started off with really low, high intensity intervals, and that has, intervals have grown. As it went through last cycle, and then now they’re still growing somewhat to this cycle so that it still flows from one 12 week cycle to the next, which I think is, is, and now with what’s on my goals, just thinking personally is that, I’m thinking more longterm with my goals versus just okay, for this 12 weeks, I just want to do this.
It’s more of like, Hey, I think this year I kind of want to look at overall, this is what I want to improve. So it’s kind of taking a macro look at. What you want for the year versus [00:06:00] the 12 weeks, because they just compliment each other. If you stick to the same type of thing. So for us
the same track. Yeah.
And I really, you know, to the beginning part of his question, I think you need to stick with something for 12 weeks. If you’re looking for anything to change, you can PR things faster. Like you could PR a barbell lift in four weeks if you had to. But the one thing that’s really hard to change quickly and maintain is aerobic endurance.
So that’s like to Joe’s point. Once I realized I had some holes in my aerobic endurance few years ago, I started focusing on a lot more, but now it’s. It’s much bigger picture. Like what can I do in the next year? What can I do the next three years to my aerobic endurance, to improve those things and keep seeing improvements without losing a ton of strength or, you know, whatever else.
So you really do have to take this really long term mindset, with your training. However, you know, whether you’re pursuing. Just our programming cycles after cycle, or if you want to do this yourself, you need to be thinking about these things. And this is an, [00:07:00] I mean, I know this is a hundred percent shameless plug for growth, mathlete and self serving and all that stuff, but yeah.
Just what we discussed, if, if you’re serious about seeing results and you’re not putting that level of thought into what you’re doing, and you’re just like, I can just find a workout today or whatever you really spinning your wheels. And so whether you sit down and do this yourself, or have someone else do it like, like us, like we, we spend a lot of time, effort and energy on these things.
that’s what you need for continued progress. And because eventually you will stagnate or, you know, Go off into the pasture of mediocrity, if you don’t, if you don’t think about these things and plan them out. So that’s a, whether you want to split them out for us. I know, I know we’re planning it out from Michael.
I’m just talking about anybody else listening. put some thought into it and try hard, try harder. All right, guys, that’s it for this one. if you guys are liking this. The video version on YouTube, subscribe and leave was positive comment. [00:08:00] And, you know, give us a thumbs up on the video. And then if you’re listening, then go ahead and leave a five star view positive comment.
And if you want to ask a question, go to dot com slash AMA, and we will answer your question. Either. Hey guys, thanks for watching or listening.
I hope you enjoy. Today’s ask me anything episode. So one more time. If you want to submit a question, topic or idea you can do so at dot com slash AMA and Hey, while you’re there, if you haven’t already sign up for garage, gym athlete membership, we are the best community and programming on the internet. I dare you to try and prove me wrong.