Designing Your Own Integrative Training Program

We follow this simple template for all of our workouts: Warm up, Power, Strength, Cardio/Muscular Endurance, Flexibility

1 - Warm up your body without resistance (5 minutes): Start with dynamic joint mobility exercises such as rotations of the neck/spine and circles of the shoulders/wrists/knees/ankles. Move onto bodyweight compound movements with easy rep ranges such as 10 squats, 10 lunges/side, 10 pushups (kneeling or toes), 10 situps.

2 - Power focus (10-20 min):

Rep Range: Low [1-20 for explosive (rapid movement) kettlebell exercises, 1-6 reps for advanced exercises (such as double kettlebell lifts or Olympic Lifts)], 1-7 sets.

Recovery Time::30 to upwards of 2:00 depending on % of 1RM (1 rep max) used and goals

Exercises: Swings, Snatches, Jerks, Cleans. May be performed independently or in chains/complexes

Other Notes: Superset with other explosive movements such as plyos (jumps) if desired. See sample workout for examples.

3 - Strength (10-15 min):

rep range: moderate to low 1-8 reps, 1-5 sets

Recovery time::30 - 1:30 depending on goals and % of 1RM used

Exercises: Squats, Lunges, Presses, Rows, Pullups, Pushups, and all variations.

Notes: May be super setted or arranged in a circuit

4 - Cardio/Muscular Endurance (10-15 min):

Rep Range: high (8-30)

Recovery time::10 - 1:00 desired work:rest ratio

Exercises: any, using little or no weight. May be performed in interval style protocol such as HIIT, Tabata, or KJs VO2 max

5 - Flexibility (10-60 min):

Rep Range: 30 seconds or 5 slow, full breaths per stretch (or "pose")

Recovery time: none - creative yoga practitioners "flow" through stretches. Non yogis may simply switch stretches w/o rest

Exercises: Too many too list. Please reference "Sport Stretch" or a descriptive yoga book for a sequence best suited for your body. Stay tuned for our archive on our website.

Example Workout (approx. 45 minutes):

Power:

Swings super setted with Vertical Jumps, 3 sets of 20 swings then 6 Vertical Jumps

Snatch Ladder, 2 sets of up to 6 reps/side= 1 snatch per side, then 2 per side, up to 6 per side

Strength (upper body focus):

Double Military Press super setted with Double Bent Over Rows, 3 sets of 6 reps of each exercise back to back

Pushups super setted with Pullups, 3 sets of max reps of each (no failure)

Conditioning:

2 tabatas (2:1 work:rest ratio = 2 x 8 rounds of:20 max intensity at given exercise, then:10 rest) of Burpees

Flexibility (each 5 breaths):

Downward Dog, Standing Forward Fold, Wide Angle Forward Fold, Seated Twist, any Shoulder Stretch, Childs pose

Putting it together:

Create 3-5 workouts per week using this template. 3 workouts per week would be for a person who also trains in an additional sport/martial art/training style. 5 workouts for week for a stand-alone training regime that will get you in awesome shape. This program template will force you to be creative and have the flexibility to mix up your workouts and tailor it to meet your individual goals. You may also split up your focus throughout the week or add more emphasis to one type of training...maybe more conditioning or strength training to best meet your goals.

Danny Clark, RKC II