In-Person and Online Seminar with
PAVEL Tsatsouline, FABIO Zonin, HECTOR Gutierrez Jr.
Get ready for heavy learning.
You will leave Programming Demystified with an arsenal of plug-and-play strength and muscle hypertrophy plans, barbell and kettlebell—some classic, others radical, all proven. And a brain crammed with the knowledge of universal programming principles and methods that flow from them.
We will kick off with an overview of the relevant laws of biology and patterns of adaptation—many either not found in Western textbooks or buried deep—followed by practical applications, both simple and foolproof and highly sophisticated.
The seminar covers both the traditional progressive overload and variable overload from Plan Strong™. Of course, there is no way we can teach you the entire Plan Strong™ system during a seminar jam packed with other knowledge—but we will show you simple ways to apply it if you are not a competitive lifter. Enter Plan Strong™ Tactical. It applies select elements of the Soviet weightlifting training methodology to highly kinetic environments. Walk away with:
- Plan Strong™ Tactical template. Developed for military and first responders, it works just as well for parents of young children, entrepreneurs, and anyone else who faces unpredictable schedules and high physical and/or psychological demands. Applicable to barbells, kettlebells, and bodyweight.
- Mat Strong protocol based on the above template. Originally designed for grapplers, this protocol delivers for everyone. A flexible 16-week program of kettlebell presses and squats, it will take you through five phases (strength, strength endurance, hypertrophy, maximal strength, and power endurance) towards a much more impressive you.
- Always Be Ready algorithm. In case civilization is temporary®, you need this program, a single kettlebell, and your bodyweight. Behold several of StrongFirst’s favorite programming tactics—Plan Strong™, GTG, the York Barbell weekly template—play together like a strength orchestra. A great example of professional programming in action.
- Plan Strong™ algorithm 1118. We worked on it and tested it for years and it has proven to deliver over and over for intermediate strength athletes with no need to peak on a given day… Choose two barbell lifts… Plug in your numbers… Roll a die several times… Factor in your recent and upcoming physical and psychological demands… Print out your perfect plan for the day… Follow it and keep getting stronger…
- Built Strong RND algorithm. The same idea as 1118—only for maximizing muscle mass. Plug your numbers into a sophisticated spreadsheet, do what it tells you, eat, and grow…
A few more examples of plug-and-play templates and protocols:
- StrongFirst plan 414+. A case study into expert programming, combining the best of the East and the West, this plan and its variations build serious kettlebell press and weighted pullup strength. A lady military presses 44kg… A 180-pound gent presses a pair of “Beasts”… Add your own story of strength…
- Hypertrophy plan 701A. A Plan Strong™ based double kettlebell complex that delivers.
- PTP 2.1 and Reload 2.0. Updated versions of platform tested barbell cycles.
- Barbell Rite of Passage—how to apply the classic kettlebell military press protocol to barbell with great results.
- 2 Soviet “Easy Mass” methods. They are so radical that they fly in the face of everything Western scientists and gym bros hold dear.
- HYP 12 hypertrophy training method driven by acute supercompensation. Soviet ingenuity + Italian creativity = some serious muscle mass. Everyone who tested the plan got bigger and stronger.
And if you want to know how to design plans of your own, here is a small slice of what you will learn:
- Why Soviet medical doctors and sports scientists rejected Selye’s stress model for athletic training as pathological (pathology studies disease; it literally means “the study of suffering)—and an alternative “anti-stress” model for strength and health.
- There are many types of progression: linear, wave, step, variable, non-linear, auto-regulating. Which one is the right choice for you?
- The 10 training load parameters you must consider in programming. In addition to the obvious ones like volume and intensity, there are “specificity,” “novelty,” “preceding load,” “following load”…
- Understand why a successful training system must have a limited number of variables and a given number of constants—and how systems as diverse as Westside Barbell and Boris Sheyko’s do it.
- How very different training systems succeed despite seeming contradictions. And why systems usually cannot be mixed—while select components may be borrowed.
- Resolve the age old conflict between the need of doing the same to make gains and to change in order not to stagnate.
- An unexpected look at training machines: Why they might belong in an advanced athlete’s arsenal and why beginners should avoid them like the plague.
- The most effective and safest way to get super strong with negatives.
- Forced reps are stupid—unless you do them this way.
- What did a great coach mean when he said that perfect technique prevents you from getting stronger?
- The easiest way to improve your lifting technique—by doing nothing.
- The history of reps—how the strength elite tried it all over a century until hitting the jackpot.
- How to customize your rep schemes to boost performance and accelerate recovery.
- Ladders 201. There is so much more to know about ladders—and how to customize them for strength, size, or both.
- StrongFirst E1RM formula, a foolproof algorithm to estimate your 1RM based on two RMs. (Unlike those worthless RM to 1RM conversion tables, our algorithm based on a lost Soviet weightlifting innovation is highly reliable E1RM.)
- RE (relative effort) and ARE (average relative effort)—tracking these overlooked training parameters will take the effectiveness of any training plan to the next level.
- The pros and cons of different training frequency: From training a lift once a week to training it throughout the day every day, plus everything in between.
- How to train up to seven days a week without overtraining.
- Touch upon the complicated relationships between different strength qualities (absolute strength, speed-strength, etc.) and how they affect programming choices.
- Deconflict qualities that mix as well as oil and water such as absolute strength and aerobic endurance. Learn how to juggle them within a day, a week, and longer periods.
- How to navigate the “Performance Progression Pyramid” so you know when and how to train for strength, strength endurance, hypertrophy, maximal strength, and power endurance.
- A proven framework to train according to your lifestyle and all the stresses which come along with it.
- Resolve the controversial topic of lifting speed once and for all. Ditto for exercise variety.
- Conjugate training—what does it really mean?
- The science and art of rest periods—far more nuanced than the same old stuff permeating the industry.
- How the outcome of a training session is dramatically affected by the sessions before and after it. Your decisions can amplify the desired adaptations—or ruin them.
- An overview of the main methods for neural strength and hypertrophy training—plus a deep dive into the most effective ones.
- How much weight to add and how often—key decisions that demand some knowledge of biology.
- Markedly improve the results of existing strength plans such as the Fighter Pullup Program by introducing elements of powerlifting style cycling.
- What is right and wrong with “daily undulating periodization”—how to make it all right.
- Go beyond progressive overload. For advanced athletes only:a revolutionary progression that flies in the face of convention. Developed for Soviet jumpers and later adopted by top weightlifters, it increases both volume and intensity through different length waves. The gains are extraordinary. (This tactic can be used within both progressive overload and Plan Strong™ type programming.)
- Seamlessly fit 4-6-week programs together for maximal gains and minimal losses.
- A grad course in peaking—a short term performance spike leading up to the competition or the PR day.
- Build your multi-month “big cycle” like a pro.
- Foolproof weekly training templates.
- The art and science of light and medium days.
- Serial-interval method for size and strength. The best of both worlds through knowledge of biochemistry.
- And much, much more…
Finally, the instructors will tackle case studies—and you may be “volunteered” to join them.
Programming is a science, a craft, and an art. Watch Pavel, Fabio, and Hector do what they do best—and be on your way to becoming a Maestro of Programming yourself.
