by Tyler Quinn
Ever wonder how the nasty workouts you do get created? Ever been fourteen minutes into an A20, feeling like you’re on the precipice of death and thought to yourself – why is this happening? The answer has to do with what we’ve learned over time about the way different workouts hit the body. Truthfully, I’ve gotten pretty good at anticipating the effect a workout is going to have – I KNOW what it’s going to feel like for you when you start a class and I manipulate each day to hit hard, and in the right ways.
But even after a decade of trying new things, writing a lot of really killer workouts (and a lot of not-so-killer workouts), one fact remains true – couplets and triplets are King. Simple is deadly. Less is more. Intensity is more important than volume.
We place an emphasis on workouts, or intervals, which group two or three complimentary movements together because of what we know the effect will be. By keeping things simple and by allowing athletes to focus only on one or two things at a time, we essentially clear the path for intensity. Every extra (and often unnecessary) turn in the road – be it a fancy rep scheme, a new twist on a classic movement etc. is really just a mental hurdle – often completely surmountable, but mildly distracting from the point of the workout. And this is why we generally aim to simplify our programming for at least 75% of the workouts we write.
Of course, twists and turns are fun and keep the experience upbeat and entertaining; a certain degree of creativity is always needed in any long-term program. But the relationships shared by thrusters and pull-ups, deadlifts and box jumps, swings and toes-to-bar are so damn consistent and have never let me down as a programmer. So onward we go, trying new things, having fun getting our butts kicked a hundred different ways, but always digging in deepest when a couplet or triplet is programmed – ever grateful for that special kind of exhaustion they provide.
Happy training!
Coach Tyler is a coach and founder of Alchemy and Union Fitness. In his spare time he enjoys working on his garden and jiu-jitsu.
