three strength programs for dads

01 · olympic power · sprinting · engine

power dad

for the dad who wants to stay fast and explosive.

power dad is built around the olympic lifts. two days a week you snatch and clean heavy, then work sub-max back-offs. no drill work eats your window. a third gym day covers presses, single-leg strength and ballistic power, and the fourth puts a heavy deadlift and the week's conditioning in one session.

outside the gym there is one speed day, where quality beats quantity and every rep gets a full rest, and one interval session on a bike, rower or road. every gym day caps at six blocks, so the session ends when your window does.

the week

• monpower a — snatchgym
• tuespeed dayoutside
• wedathletic strengthgym
• thuintervals — bike / row / runoutside
• frispeed + cleangym
• satpower + enginegym
• sunrestrest

to start, your

snatch · clean · back squat · front squat · bench press · deadlift · overhead press

02 · powerbuilding · athletic hypertrophy

dad built

for the dad who wants to look like he lifts and still move like an athlete.

dad built is powerbuilding. four gym days, two upper and two lower. each one opens with a single heavy top set off your tested max, then moves into the rep work that builds muscle.

the volume progresses on one plain rule: hold the weight until every set reaches the top of its rep range, then add load. two easy aerobic days, a walk, a ruck or an easy bike, keep your conditioning honest without eating your recovery.

the week

• monupper a — benchgym
• tuedad milesoutside
• wedlower a — squatgym
• thudad milesoutside
• friupper b — pressgym
• satlower b — hingegym
• sunrestrest

to start, your

back squat · bench press · deadlift · overhead press

03 · strength · endurance · conditioning

hybrid dad

for the dad who wants a real engine without losing his strength.

hybrid dad builds a serious aerobic base and keeps your strength in place. two short lifting days hold the squat, press and hinge, at low volume on purpose so your legs are there for the aerobic work.

the rest of the week is aerobic work: intervals for the hard effort, tempo at comfortably hard, easy zone 2 with core work, and a long session that grows across the block. your run paces come from your 5k time, and the block ends with a 5k time trial.

the week

• monstrength agym
• tuerun intervalsoutside
• wedeasy z2 + coreoutside
• thustrength bgym
• fritempooutside
• satlong sessionoutside
• sunrestrest

to start, your

back squat · bench press · deadlift · 5k time