Workout library

Sessions you can drop into any week, filed by the adaptation they are trying to buy rather than the body part they use. The engine works from the same taxonomy, so anything you add from here gets periodized rather than bolted on.

Discipline
Goal
70 of 70 sessions

Zone 2 Long Run

Aerobic base
90 minRunBase phase
  1. 10 min build to Zone 2
  2. 70 min steady Zone 2, cadence ≥ 172
  3. 10 min easy

Why: Capillary density and fat oxidation. Every compromised run in a race is drawn out of this account.

Ski–Row–Bike Triple

Aerobic base
60 minErgBase phase
  1. 3 rounds, no rest between machines
  2. 8 min SkiErg Zone 2
  3. 8 min row Zone 2
  4. 4 min bike Zone 2

Why: Aerobic volume without adding bone load — the way to raise weekly hours when mileage is already capped.

Easy Run + Strides

Aerobic base
45 minRunBase phase
  1. 40 min Zone 2
  2. 6×20 s strides at mile effort
  3. full recovery between strides

Why: Keeps neuromuscular mechanics sharp inside a day that costs nothing.

Aerobic Sled Walk

Aerobic base
50 minHybridBase phase
  1. 8 rounds
  2. 400 m run Zone 2
  3. 25 m sled push, light
  4. 25 m sled pull, light

Why: Rehearses the transition at a cost low enough that it does not spend an intensity day.

Double Easy Day

Aerobic base
80 minRunBase phase
  1. AM — 40 min Zone 2
  2. PM — 40 min Zone 2, at least 6 h later

Why: Two easy runs add the same weekly mileage as one medium run at a fraction of the single-session injury cost.

Nasal-Breathing Row

Aerobic base
60 minErgBase phase
  1. 60 min continuous row
  2. nose-breathing only — drop the pace to keep it
  3. target 20–22 s/m

Why: A pace cap you cannot cheat. If you have to open your mouth, you were never in Zone 2.

Wall Ball & Run Alternation

Aerobic base
45 minHybridBase phase
  1. 6 rounds
  2. 400 m run Zone 2
  3. 20 wall balls, unbroken, easy tempo

Why: Builds wall-ball capacity in a fresh-legged state, so the skill is there before fatigue tests it.

Recovery Jog

Aerobic base
25 minRunBase phase
  1. 25 min very easy, Zone 1
  2. no watch pace targets
  3. stop if it stops feeling easy

Why: A legal session that adds frequency without adding load — the reason a hard week can still have seven days in it.

Loaded Carry Walk

Aerobic base
70 minHybridBase phase
  1. 70 min brisk walk
  2. 20 kg pack or two light farmers handles
  3. flat ground, Zone 1–2 only

Why: Time under load with almost no recovery cost — the cheapest way to toughen feet, calves and grip.

Machine-Only Aerobic Circuit

Aerobic base
50 minErgBase phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 500 m row
  3. 500 m ski
  4. 1 min easy bike
  5. no rest, Zone 2 throughout

Why: Aerobic work for an athlete who cannot run this week — injury, travel, or a leg day that went badly.

4×8 min Threshold

Lactate threshold
60 minRunBuild phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 4×8 min at threshold pace, RPE 7
  3. 2 min jog between
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: The highest-yield threshold dose: long enough to raise lactate clearance, short enough not to cost the week.

Compromised Threshold Blocks

Lactate threshold
55 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 4 rounds
  2. 1000 m run at threshold
  3. 20 wall balls
  4. 60 s rest

Why: Trains the pace you can actually hold after a station, which is the only pace that shows up on race day.

SkiErg Threshold Pyramid

Lactate threshold
40 minErgBuild phase
  1. 500 / 750 / 1000 / 750 / 500 m
  2. at 2 k pace + 8 s per 500
  3. equal work:rest

Why: Threshold work for the upper body — where HYROX bleeds time and running training never reaches.

20 min Tempo

Lactate threshold
45 minRunBuild phase
  1. 12 min warm-up
  2. 20 min unbroken at threshold
  3. 10 min cool-down

Why: One continuous block. The cleanest test of whether threshold pace has genuinely moved.

2×15 min Threshold

Lactate threshold
55 minRunPeak phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 2×15 min at threshold
  3. 3 min jog between
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: Longer reps than the 4×8 for the same total — the progression once 8-minute reps stop feeling like work.

Threshold Row 4×1000 m

Lactate threshold
40 minErgBuild phase
  1. 10 min warm-up
  2. 4×1000 m at 2 k pace + 6 s per 500
  3. 2 min rest
  4. 8 min cool-down

Why: The row is 1000 m in the race and almost nobody trains it at race distance. This does.

Cruise Intervals 6×1 km

Lactate threshold
55 minRunBuild phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 6×1 km at threshold
  3. 60 s jog between — deliberately short
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: Short recoveries keep lactate elevated across the whole set, so the clearance system never gets a break.

Sled Push Threshold Ladder

Lactate threshold
45 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 25 / 50 / 75 / 50 / 25 m sled push at race weight
  3. 800 m run at threshold after each
  4. 90 s rest

Why: The sled spikes your heart rate and then asks you to run. Training that sequence is the whole point of hybrid.

3×10 min Threshold off Wall Balls

Lactate threshold
60 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 3 rounds
  3. 30 wall balls, then 10 min run at threshold
  4. 3 min rest

Why: Wall balls come last in the race and wreck the legs. Running threshold straight off them is the closest thing to the real finish.

Progression Run to Threshold

Lactate threshold
50 minRunBase phase
  1. 15 min Zone 2
  2. 15 min marathon effort
  3. 15 min at threshold
  4. 5 min easy

Why: Teaches pacing discipline — you only reach the last block in shape if you were honest about the first.

5×3 min VO₂

VO₂ max
50 minRunPeak phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 5×3 min at 3 k effort
  3. 3 min jog between
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: Maximises time above 90% of VO₂ max — the rep length that gets there fastest and holds.

30/15s

VO₂ max
40 minRunPeak phase
  1. 2 sets of 12×(30 s hard / 15 s easy)
  2. 4 min between sets

Why: Accumulates VO₂ max time at a pace you can repeat, instead of one that falls apart by rep four.

8×500 m Row

VO₂ max
35 minErgPeak phase
  1. 10 min warm-up
  2. 8×500 m at 2 k pace
  3. 90 s rest
  4. 8 min cool-down

Why: The highest oxygen cost per minute of any station on the floor, and the cheapest place to find a minute.

Burpee Broad Jump Intervals

VO₂ max
30 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 6 rounds
  2. 15 burpee broad jumps
  3. 200 m run hard
  4. 90 s rest

Why: The worst power-to-oxygen economy on the floor. Train it at race intensity or it stays the gap.

6×800 m

VO₂ max
50 minRunPeak phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 6×800 m at 3–5 k effort
  3. 2:30 jog between
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: The classic, and still the best single predictor of whether your race pace is going to hold.

4×4 Norwegian

VO₂ max
45 minRunPeak phase
  1. 12 min warm-up
  2. 4×4 min at 90–95% max HR
  3. 3 min active recovery
  4. 8 min cool-down

Why: The most-studied VO₂ max protocol there is. Long reps, so heart rate actually reaches the target rather than chasing it.

Ski 10×250 m

VO₂ max
32 minErgPeak phase
  1. 8 min warm-up
  2. 10×250 m at 500 m PB pace + 3 s
  3. 60 s rest
  4. 6 min cool-down

Why: Short, sharp, and upper-body — the ski is the first station of the race, taken far too hard by almost everyone.

Assault Bike 8×40 s

VO₂ max
30 minErgPeak phase
  1. 8 min warm-up
  2. 8×40 s hard / 80 s easy
  3. hold watts within 5% across all eight
  4. 6 min cool-down

Why: Maximum cardiovascular stress with near-zero eccentric load — the VO₂ session to use when the legs are already beaten up.

Wall Ball / Run VO₂ Couplets

VO₂ max
35 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 15 wall balls unbroken
  3. 400 m run hard
  4. 2 min rest

Why: Two race elements at an intensity the race never quite reaches, so race pace feels like a gear down.

1-2-3-2-1 Ladder

VO₂ max
45 minRunPeak phase
  1. 15 min warm-up
  2. 1, 2, 3, 2, 1 min hard
  3. equal jog recovery after each
  4. 10 min cool-down

Why: The descending half is run on tired legs at the same target — which is where the adaptation actually is.

Long Run, Fast Finish

Running durability
100 minRunBuild phase
  1. 75 min Zone 2
  2. 20 min at marathon effort
  3. 5 min easy

Why: Teaches the legs to hold form after they are already tired — which is the definition of run 7.

Back-to-Back Run Days

Running durability
55 minRunBase phase
  1. Day 1 — 55 min Zone 2
  2. Day 2 — 55 min Zone 2, within 20 h

Why: Durability is a repeated-exposure adaptation. Two medium days beat one long one for tissue tolerance.

8×1 km Compromised

Running durability
60 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 8 rounds, continuous
  2. 1000 m at race pace
  3. 50 m sled push between

Why: The race's actual structure. Everything else is a component test; this is the system test.

Undulating Long Run

Running durability
80 minRunBuild phase
  1. 80 min rolling Zone 2
  2. 4×90 s controlled downhill
  3. at 25, 40, 55 and 70 min

Why: Eccentric loading builds tissue tolerance that flat running never touches, and never gets trained by accident.

Long Run off a Lift

Running durability
75 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 25 min heavy lower lift — squat or deadlift, 4×4
  2. then 50 min run Zone 2
  3. no more than 10 min between

Why: Running on pre-fatigued legs is the one stimulus that makes the last 1 km of a race feel like something you have done before.

Double Threshold Day

Running durability
90 minRunPeak phase
  1. AM — 5×6 min at threshold, 90 s jog
  2. PM — 4×6 min at threshold, 90 s jog
  3. at least 6 h apart

Why: Twice the threshold volume at half the per-session cost. Advanced only — it needs a base that can absorb it.

Sandbag Lunge Endurance + Run

Running durability
50 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 20 m sandbag lunge at race weight
  3. 600 m run at race pace
  4. 60 s rest

Why: The lunge is the station that ends races — it empties the quads right before the wall balls ask for them again.

Time-on-Feet Trail Session

Running durability
120 minRunBase phase
  1. 120 min on trail or hills
  2. run the flats and descents, hike the steep climbs
  3. Zone 1–2 throughout, no pace targets

Why: Two hours of load with a fraction of the impact of two hours of road running. Off-season durability, bought cheaply.

Descending Ladder Race Sim

Running durability
70 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 1000 m run + full station
  2. 800 m run + station
  3. 600 m + station
  4. 400 m + station
  5. stations in race order, no rest

Why: A full-race stimulus at two thirds of the cost — the way to rehearse the sequence without needing a week to recover.

Pre-Fatigued Easy Run

Running durability
55 minHybridBase phase
  1. 15 min continuous station work — ski, row, carries, easy
  2. then 35 min easy run
  3. keep the run genuinely easy

Why: Most compromised running is trained hard. Training it easy is how you build the volume of it that actually changes anything.

Posterior Chain Volume

Hypertrophy
60 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4×10 Romanian deadlift
  2. 4×12 hip thrust
  3. 3×15 leg curl
  4. 3×20 back extension

Why: More muscle in the posterior chain is more sled, permanently. The off-season is where this gets bought.

Quad Volume Block

Hypertrophy
55 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4×10 leg press
  2. 4×12 hack squat
  3. 3×15 leg extension
  4. 3×20 walking lunge

Why: The lunge and wall-ball zones are quad-limited well before they are lung-limited.

Upper Pull Volume

Hypertrophy
50 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4×10 chest-supported row
  2. 4×12 lat pulldown
  3. 3×15 rear delt fly
  4. 4×45 s grip hold

Why: Sled pull is a back-size problem wearing a technique problem's clothes.

Shoulder & Grip Accessory

Hypertrophy
40 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 4×12 lateral raise
  2. 4×12 DB shoulder press
  3. 3×15 upright row
  4. 4×40 s farmer hold

Why: Wall balls fail at the shoulder, not the legs. Everyone finds this out at rep 60.

Push Volume Day

Hypertrophy
50 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4×10 incline DB press
  2. 4×12 dip or machine press
  3. 3×15 cable fly
  4. 3×15 triceps pushdown

Why: The burpee broad jump is 80 push-ups in disguise, and pressing volume is what stops it degrading into a crawl.

Arm & Forearm Finisher

Hypertrophy
30 minLiftBase phase
  1. 3×12 barbell curl
  2. 3×12 hammer curl
  3. 3×15 overhead triceps extension
  4. 3×60 s bar hang

Why: Small muscles, disproportionate effect — the farmers carry and sled pull both end at the forearm.

Full-Body Hypertrophy Circuit

Hypertrophy
55 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4 rounds, 90 s rest between rounds
  2. 10 goblet squat
  3. 10 DB row each side
  4. 10 DB press
  5. 12 RDL

Why: Covers every pattern in one session — the right shape when training days are scarce and volume still has to land.

Calf & Achilles Resilience

Hypertrophy
25 minLiftBase phase
  1. 4×15 standing calf raise
  2. 4×15 seated calf raise
  3. 3×20 s slow eccentric drop
  4. 3×30 s single-leg balance

Why: The tissue that takes the most cycles and gets trained the least. Cheap insurance against the injury that ends a block.

Trunk & Anti-Rotation Volume

Hypertrophy
35 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 4×12 hanging leg raise
  2. 4×30 s Pallof press each side
  3. 3×20 weighted sit-up
  4. 3×45 s side plank each side

Why: The sandbag lunge and the carries are both trunk-limited — when the torso folds, the legs stop mattering.

Grip-Specific Volume

Hypertrophy
30 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 5×45 s heavy farmer hold
  2. 4×10 plate pinch carry, 20 m
  3. 3×15 wrist roller
  4. 3×max-effort bar hang

Why: Two stations are decided by grip, and grip is the one quality that responds fast enough to fix inside a single block.

Back Squat 5×3 @ 85%

Max strength
55 minLiftBase phase
  1. 5×3 back squat at 85%
  2. 3×5 Romanian deadlift
  3. 3×8 split squat
  4. 3×10 hanging knee raise

Why: Raises the force ceiling every sled metre is drawn from. Get strong first and the sled becomes an aerobic problem.

Heavy Pull Day

Max strength
50 minLiftBase phase
  1. 5×3 trap-bar deadlift at 85%
  2. 4×6 weighted pull-up
  3. 3×8 bent row
  4. 3×30 s farmer hold

Why: Sled pull and farmers carry are the same limitation twice: posterior chain and grip.

Overhead Strength

Max strength
45 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 5×3 push press at 85%
  2. 4×6 strict press
  3. 3×8 DB row
  4. 3×12 face pull

Why: Wall balls and the ski finish are shoulder-endurance events sitting on top of a strength base.

Front Squat Wave

Max strength
50 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 3 waves of 3 at 80%, 2 at 85%, 1 at 90%
  2. 3×8 walking lunge
  3. 3×12 calf raise

Why: Front-rack position transfers directly to the sandbag lunge, which fails at the torso long before the legs.

Deadlift Cluster Triples

Max strength
50 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 6 clusters of 3 at 87%
  2. 20 s between reps inside a cluster
  3. 3 min between clusters
  4. 3×10 glute bridge

Why: Intra-set rest keeps every rep near-maximal, so the whole set trains the top end instead of decaying into fatigue work.

Bench + Row Strength Superset

Max strength
45 minLiftBase phase
  1. 5×3 bench press at 85%, supersetted with
  2. 5×5 barbell row
  3. 3×8 incline DB press
  4. 3×12 band pull-apart

Why: Upper-body strength is the half of hybrid most people skip, and the half the burpee broad jump punishes.

Single-Leg Strength Block

Max strength
45 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 4×5 rear-foot-elevated split squat each side, heavy
  2. 4×6 single-leg RDL each side
  3. 3×8 step-up
  4. 3×30 s single-leg calf hold

Why: Running and lunging are both single-leg, and a bilateral squat will happily hide a 20% side-to-side difference.

Heavy Carry Complex

Max strength
40 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 20 m farmer carry, heavier than race weight
  3. 20 m front-rack carry
  4. 20 m overhead carry
  5. 2 min rest

Why: Carries are the one lift that trains grip, trunk and posture under the exact load shape the race uses.

Squat + Sled Contrast

Max strength
50 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 3 back squats at 85%
  3. rest 90 s
  4. 20 m heavy sled push
  5. rest 3 min

Why: Heavy squat then heavy sled, with real rest — the sled feels lighter afterwards, and that potentiation is the point.

Main Lift Day, Percentage Based

Max strength
55 minLiftBase phase
  1. Main lift — 5 at 75%, 3 at 85%, 1+ at 95%
  2. 5×10 same-pattern accessory at 50%
  3. 3×10 opposing pattern
  4. 3×15 trunk

Why: A repeatable weekly structure that progresses on its own, so strength keeps moving while attention is on the racing.

Trap-Bar Jump + Sled Sprint

Max power
40 minLiftPeak phase
  1. 6×3 trap-bar jump at 25% 1RM
  2. 6×15 m heavy sled sprint
  3. full recovery between everything

Why: Contraction speed — the quality the sled push is genuinely limited by once strength is adequate.

Olympic Complex

Max power
45 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 6×2 hang power clean at 75%
  2. 5×3 push jerk at 70%
  3. 4×5 box jump

Why: Rate of force development is the only strength quality that decays without direct work.

Broad Jump Cluster

Max power
30 minLiftPeak phase
  1. 8 sets of 3 broad jumps
  2. 90 s rest
  3. measure every jump
  4. stop the set when distance drops 5%

Why: Quality-capped by design. Power work ends when power ends, not when the clock says so.

Throw & Wall-Over Circuit

Max power
35 minHybridBuild phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 8 rotational throws each side
  3. 8 overhead throws
  4. 6 wall-over jumps
  5. 2 min rest

Why: The throw and wall-over zones in DEKA are pure elastic output — nothing else in the week trains them.

Contrast Squat Jumps

Max power
40 minLiftPeak phase
  1. 5 rounds
  2. 3 back squats at 85%
  3. rest 90 s
  4. 5 vertical jumps, maximal
  5. rest 3 min

Why: Heavy then explosive: the potentiation window after a near-maximal set is where the highest jumps of anyone's week happen.

Sled Sprint Repeats

Max power
30 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 10×15 m sled push, heavy
  2. walk back, then 2 min rest
  3. every rep flat out
  4. stop when a rep is 10% slower

Why: The sled push is a sprint, not a grind. Training it at grind pace is how people learn to grind it.

Kettlebell Swing Power Ladder

Max power
30 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 10 sets of 10 swings, heavy
  2. on the minute
  3. hip snap, not a squat
  4. stop if the bell stops floating

Why: High-velocity hip extension with almost no eccentric cost — power work that does not interfere with the running week.

Burpee Broad Jump, Max Distance

Max power
25 minHybridPeak phase
  1. 8 sets of 5 burpee broad jumps
  2. maximum distance per jump, not speed
  3. 2 min rest
  4. measure the set total

Why: Fewer, longer jumps is a strictly better race strategy than more short ones, and it has to be trained deliberately.

Push Press Speed Work

Max power
35 minLiftBuild phase
  1. 8×3 push press at 60%
  2. every rep maximal intent
  3. 45 s between sets
  4. 3×8 med-ball chest pass

Why: Light bar, maximal intent. Speed against a submaximal load is what teaches the nervous system to fire fast.

Depth Jump & Pogo Series

Max power
25 minLiftPeak phase
  1. 3×6 depth jump from 40 cm
  2. 3×20 pogo hops, minimal ground contact
  3. 3×10 single-leg bound each side
  4. full rest throughout

Why: Tendon stiffness — free running economy, and the adaptation that makes the eighth kilometre cost less than the first.