YOUR Eight-Week Training Plan

Are you the type of person who is eager to have a PLAN and SCHEDULE so that you can jump right into your training?  If that is you, you’ve come to the right place!

This weekly series of plans will help you schedule the Bodyweight Strength Program circuits into your daily and weekly routine.  

Here’s what to do: 

1. Below you will see LINKS to each week (1 through 8) of your PLAN. Use the *Click Here links you will see to print out your weekly calendar. 

Print out only one week at a time, so you can stay focused on where you are, not where you’re going.

2. Use the hyperlinks below and the menu to the left to refer back to both the instructional videos and the follow-along sample workout videos. 

Most importantly, stay focused on learning, practicing, and executing each day’s training to the best of your ability. Be patient and persistent!

YOUR Instructional and “Follow-Along” Videos.

• To be able to quickly and easily access the instructional videos for each of the SIX Bodyweight Exercises – all you need to do is go to this tab: STEP #5 – Instructional VIDEOS
• To be able to quickly and easily access the BONUS Follow-Along Level 1-2-3-4 video workouts – all you need to do is go to this tab: BONUS #1 – Follow-Along Workouts

Some Important Reminders:  

1. As the intensity rises, assuming you become increasingly skilled at training to COMPLETE (but temporary) failure, it is assumed you will benefit from more rest between training sessions.  It is when you rest that you improve! 

2. For the first week, when the focus should be on learning what is good form, and how to execute full-body radiation of tension and time under load, you have the opportunity to practice frequently, even every day!

3. You may have the opportunity to “sandwich” two quality sessions back-to-back before delayed onset muscle soreness sets in.

Once you begin to train at Level 2, you may experience an additional need for rest between sessions. Take it.

4. It is assumed that as you gain skill and become more familiar with the exercises, your ability to bring in maximum radiation of tension and go to failure, will improve.

This is NOT easy training – it’s much harder than it looks on paper.

5. Always, always, always train smart! If in doubt, take an extra day of rest before resuming the plan.It is always better to wait a day and have a higher overall quality training session, then force it when you’re tired and end up having a poorer quality session.

Training Levels:

• You’ll be starting at LEVEL 1 during all of week 1, and then you will progress from there.
• For each week of this plan, you ALWAYS have the OPTION of staying at the same “level” you trained at, or progressing to the next level. I HIGHLY encourage you to make sure you increase the intensity first with increased tension, not time. (Read that again). Remember, you decide how hard this is. Make the most of each level before moving on!

Week 1 

• Your primary goal at the start of the program is learning and practicing new skills and perhaps a new way to train.  The focus is on whole-body radiation of tension and time-under-load. 
• If you are more experienced with this kind of training and feel you’re capable of progressing more quickly to LEVEL 2, then do so with caution. YOU decide how hard your training will be and how much progress you will make.
• The best path toward long-term success is to take time at the start to learn and master the fundamental skills in the program. 

For your first week, I’m having you do the circuit every day. This may come as a surprise, but there’s a method to my madness and it is this:

The most important thing you need right now, after having watched the instructional videos carefully and read through the directions, is practice.  Because you are at LEVEL 1, the amount of fatigue you will be carrying from one day to the next is minimal.

I’m even giving you the opportunity to do more than one set if you feel that would be helpful.

Everything we’re doing now, is to prepare for the more intense levels of training to come. Practicing the movements, learning how to radiate tension more effectively, and checking on your form, are all essential in order to make progress.

Once your skill and strength improve, you will be able to push yourself harder. And as a result, more rest will be required. You’ll see that in your upcoming weekly plan.

You certainly can practice more frequently than I’ve programmed here – that option is yours. You may have other sport-specific training you’re doing and will likely have additional responsibilities in your life, all of which take your time and energy. That’s the great thing about this program – once you know it, you can nail it in less time and get more out of it!

Week 2 

• You’re training four days this week at Level 1 or Level 2.   Your individual experience and strength level is the determining factor in how you progress.
• Your focus for WEEK 2 is to continue to learn, practice, and apply the principles you’ve learned that make this program so effective and efficient.
• You will now see THREE rest days during the week, inserted between the training days. Remember, in order to make the most of a REST day, you’ll want to make the most of the training itself. Bring the intensity!
• You may remain at Level 1, or increase TUL to Level 2.  My recommendation is to err on the side of caution and focus MORE on radiation of tension to increase intensity, than TUL (e.g. remain at Level 1).

Once you are into week 2, you should have had the opportunity to practice the individual exercises and done the circuit multiple times. Your skill and understanding should be improving.

As such, we’ll start this week with a well-deserved rest day, and then we’ll get back to a consecutive-training-days approach until day 5. At which point you get some more rest.

Remember…

• If you need an extra day of rest, take it.
• If you have a bit extra time to focus in on practice, especially of those movements that may be more challenging for you, take it.

It’s up to you!  Keep at it, I know you are doing great!

Week 3 

• You’re again training four days this week – this time exclusively at Level 2.   The bar has been raised! 
• As always, your focus for WEEK 3 is to continue to learn, practice, and apply the principles you’ve learned that make this program so effective and efficient.
• There are subtle differences between Level 1 and 2 – including and especially the pause at the more challenging range-of-motion. Pay close attention to this!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”

As week 3 commences, there’s a very good chance that a bit of extra rest is in order, especially because you are very likely now training at Level 2.

It’s assumed your skill level will have improved. You’ll be pouring more energy into the workouts and as a result, may even have a little bit of delayed onset muscle soreness.  🙂  Oh what a good feeling!

You don’t get better WHEN you train, you get better when you recover AFTER the training. Don’t forget it! 

Week 4 

• You’re training three days this week at Level 2 or Level 3.   
• You begin this week with two straight days of REST following your week 3 training. Use this two-day stretch to recover fully and re-energize so you can raise your game in Level 3! This won’t be easy, but you can do it!
• There are subtle differences between Level 2 and 3 – including and especially the increased pause at the more challenging range-of-motion. This is much harder than it sounds, trust me!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”

For week 4, we again take a slightly different, more progressive approach to training. For this week, I’m introducing you to the concept of block training – where you “block” two consecutive sessions together back to back in a week, followed by extended rest.

Why might this potentially work well as you gain more experience and improve your skill and strength?

Here’s why: Delayed onset muscle soreness, aka DOMS (which is the soreness that comes from training progressively harder – essentially its tissue breakdown and resultant damage), typically peaks in 36 to 48 hours. If you’re reading that and then start thinking – “wait, does that mean I might be able to train again fairly soon after and not feel DOMS until the following day?” – you’d be on to what I am sharing with you. Yes, sometimes that opportunity presents itself and it can work.

What’s the caveat?

You’ll need to make sure you allow AS MUCH recovery as is needed after those two back-to-back sessions, as your body will certainly need it.

Train smart!

To summarize, remember what was said earlier:

The “secret” is in the intensity.

Your GOAL is a very high DENSITY, or work to rest ratio. You want maximum work in a minimum amount of time.

If you train hard and intensely enough, you don’t need a lot of volume or a ton of exercises. It isn’t the movements or the exercise that makes us stronger.

Rather it’s STRESS to our body and to the muscle and connective tissues, which in turn causes an adaptive response, that forces our body to become stronger.

Onward and upward we go!

Week 5 

• You’re training FOUR days this week, again at Level 2 OR Level 3. 
• You begin this week with a REST day, which follows a solid Day 7 training from Week 4.
• You’ll have an opportunity this week to put two straight days of training together at the end of the week. If you’re able to fit the second session in PRIOR to feeling any delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), you may find this is quite doable – and productive!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”

Week 6 

• The bar continues to rise! You’re training four days this week, now exclusively at Level 3.   
• If you need to stay at Level 2 for the time being, do NOT hesitate. The truth is that Level 3 is serious business. 60 to 90 seconds of time under load is no joke. 🙂
• You again begin this week with a REST day, which follows a solid weekend of focused training where you trained consecutively on Days 6 and 7!
• Remember that the goal is radiation of tension from within – slow rep speed – and TIME under load! Make the most of each day’s opportunity!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”

Week 7 

• This week you are training three days – resting four – and you have the choice of training at Level 3 or venturing to Level 4! The bar continues to be raised! 
• If you are bringing the intensity the way it is intended – and assuming you are doing other training in addition to this program – you will be very thankful for the extra rest days this week!
• Level 3 is serious – Level 4 is other-worldly. I recommend if you’re in doubt, stay at Level 3 and make the most of the opportunity!
• Remember that the goal is radiation of tension from within – slow rep speed – and TIME under load! Make the most of each day’s opportunity!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”

Week 8

• Three days of Level 4 training isn’t for the weak of heart or mind. This is serious training. If in doubt, stay at Level 3.   
• Remember that the goal is radiation of tension from within – slow rep speed – and TIME under load! Make the most of each day’s opportunity!
• If you need an extra day of rest, take it. Better to be fully rested so you can make the most of your training than to train “tired.”