Training Profiles

Age & Stage

Kids

16 & under · Athletic Foundations

What makes this group different

Neural, not hormonal. Before and around puberty most gains come from coordination, motor-unit recruitment and skill — not muscle cross-section.
Growth plates and apophyses are the weak link. Bone ends and tendon attachment sites remodel faster than they tolerate repetitive high load.
Peak height velocity scrambles coordination. Limb length changes faster than the motor map updates, so technique temporarily regresses.
Early specialisation raises injury and burnout risk more than it raises ceiling.

Training priorities

Movement literacy before load: squat, hinge, push, pull, brace, land, skip, throw.
Bodyweight strength and hanging — build relative strength first.
Low-volume, high-quality jumping and landing (quality over height).
Play-based conditioning; keep sessions short and varied.

Start here — articles

1.1 Introduction to Athletic Performance 1.3 Biomechanics of Human Movement 3.1 Introduction to Plyometrics 3.3 Landing Mechanics and Force Absorption 4.1 Flexibility vs Mobility in Athletic Performance

Key exercises 12

Push-Up Goblet Squat Dead Hang Bear Crawl A-Skip Pogo Hops Box Jump Single-Leg Balance Hold Jump Rope Medicine Ball Chest Pass Front Plank Inverted Row

Load is a reward for technique, never a shortcut to it.

Age & Stage

Youth

16–20 · Build the Engine

What makes this group different

Post-PHV the hormonal environment finally supports real hypertrophy — this is the highest-return window of a training life.
Tendon and connective tissue adapt more slowly than muscle, so strength can outrun the structures that carry it.
Training age is low, so almost any well-run programme works — which is exactly why habits formed now matter most.
Sleep and energy availability are the two most common limiters, not programme design.

Training priorities

Learn the main barbell patterns properly and add load slowly and consistently.
Accumulate hypertrophy volume — muscle built now is easy to keep later.
Sprint and jump weekly so speed qualities develop alongside size.
Build a recovery routine before you need one.

Start here — articles

2.1 Principles of Strength Training 2.4 Hypertrophy and Muscle Growth 3.4 Sprint Mechanics and Maximum Velocity 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation 1.2 Human Anatomy for Athletes

Key exercises 10

Goblet Squat Trap Bar Deadlift Chin-Up Barbell Bent-Over Row Romanian Deadlift Dumbbell Step-Up Hill Sprint Box Jump Farmer’s Carry Barbell Bench Press

Consistency for three years beats intensity for three months.

Experience

Beginners

0–12 months training · The First 12 Weeks

What makes this group different

The first 6–8 weeks are mostly neural: better recruitment, timing and inter-muscular coordination, with little visible size change.
Work capacity is the real bottleneck — you fatigue before you accumulate a useful stimulus.
Soreness is high early because eccentric damage is novel; it drops sharply once the repeated-bout effect kicks in.
Technique is fragile under fatigue, so the last sets of a session are where habits are made or broken.

Training priorities

Three full-body sessions per week, 6–8 movements, 2–3 sets each.
Leave 2–3 reps in reserve on almost everything.
Prioritise machines, dumbbells and bodyweight before loaded barbells.
Add one small thing each week — reps, load or a set — never all three.

Start here — articles

1.1 Introduction to Athletic Performance 2.1 Principles of Strength Training 1.4 Exercise Physiology and Energy Systems 4.1 Flexibility vs Mobility in Athletic Performance 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation

Key exercises 10

Goblet Squat Dumbbell Step-Up Push-Up Inverted Row Lat Pulldown Glute Bridge Front Plank Dead Bug Walking Lunge Farmer’s Carry

Your job in month one is to show up and finish sessions feeling like you could have done more.

Experience

Intermediate

1–3 years training · Break the Plateau

What makes this group different

Linear progression is dead. Adaptation now needs planned variation in volume, intensity and exercise selection.
Weak links surface — usually posterior chain, single-leg capacity, or overhead position.
Recovery becomes a programming variable rather than an afterthought.
Rate of force development, not just maximal force, starts to separate performance outcomes.

Training priorities

Run structured blocks: accumulate, intensify, deload.
Add a genuine power day (jumps, throws, or a light Olympic derivative).
Fix asymmetries with unilateral work rather than ignoring them.
Track something — loads, bar speed, jump height — so decisions stop being guesses.

Start here — articles

2.2 Maximum Strength Development 2.5 Power Development and Explosive Strength 3.9 Reactive Strength and Elastic Qualities 4.2 The Joint-by-Joint Approach to Movement 2.3 Relative Strength and Power-to-Weight Ratio

Key exercises 10

Barbell Back Squat Conventional Deadlift Barbell Bench Press Barbell Overhead Press Pull-Up Bulgarian Split Squat Power Clean Kettlebell Swing Nordic Hamstring Curl Box Jump

Plateaus are almost never a motivation problem. They are a structure problem.

Experience

Advanced

3+ years training · Peak & Specialise

What makes this group different

The stimulus–recovery–adaptation window is short and narrow: too little does nothing, slightly too much costs weeks.
Gains come from technical refinement, rate coding and elastic qualities more than new tissue.
Fatigue masks fitness — peaking is largely the art of removing fatigue without removing adaptation.
Injury history now dictates exercise selection as much as goals do.

Training priorities

Autoregulate with RPE or velocity; fixed percentages age badly at this level.
Train the specific expression: heavy, fast, or elastic — rarely all three in the same week.
Use accommodating resistance, tempo and pauses to change the stimulus without changing the lift.
Plan deloads before you need them.

Start here — articles

2.3 Relative Strength and Power-to-Weight Ratio 2.5 Power Development and Explosive Strength 3.9 Reactive Strength and Elastic Qualities 1.5 The Nervous System and Athletic Performance 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation

Key exercises 10

Clean and Jerk Snatch Split Jerk Overhead Squat Pause Back Squat Banded Speed Deadlift Depth Jump Single-Leg Depth Drop Flying Sprint Barbell Complex

At this level the programme is mostly about what you leave out.

Age & Stage

Seniors

60+ · Sarcopenia, Bone & Balance

What makes this group different

Sarcopenia costs roughly 1–2% of muscle mass per year after 50, and it is biased toward the fast type II fibres that produce power and catch falls.
Power declines faster than strength. Losing the ability to produce force quickly is what turns a stumble into a fall.
Tendon stiffness and proprioceptive acuity both drop, so balance and joint position sense need explicit training.
Anabolic resistance means older muscle needs a larger protein dose and a higher relative training intensity to respond at all.
Falling oestrogen or testosterone reduces bone density — loading is the only signal that reliably slows it.

Training priorities

Train hard enough to matter: 2–3 sets near effort, 2–3 times a week. Under-dosing is the main error.
Include a fast, light "power" set — intent to move quickly, not maximum load.
Balance and single-leg work every session, ideally with an unstable or reaching component.
Loaded carries and impact within tolerance for bone.

Start here — articles

1.2 Human Anatomy for Athletes 1.6 Fascia and Connective Tissue 2.1 Principles of Strength Training 4.3 The Foot and Ankle Complex 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation

Key exercises 12

Goblet Squat Dumbbell Step-Up Glute Bridge Single-Leg Balance Hold Y-Balance Reach Calf Raise Single-Leg Calf Raise Farmer’s Carry Dead Hang Bird Dog Pogo Hops Wall Sit

The goal is not to look trained. It is to still be able to get off the floor at 85.

Occupation

Construction & Trades

physical occupations · Built for the Site

What makes this group different

Occupational load is high-volume, low-intensity and unplanned — the opposite of a training stimulus, and it still costs recovery.
Cumulative spinal compression from repeated bending and awkward lifting is the dominant long-term risk.
Overhead work loads the rotator cuff and cervical spine in a shortened, poorly perfused position.
Grip and forearm fatigue accumulate across a shift and quietly reduce everything else you can do.

Training priorities

Train strength qualities the job never provides: heavy, low-rep, well-braced lifting.
Build anti-rotation and anti-lateral-flexion core capacity for one-sided carrying.
Own overhead range and cuff endurance so ceiling work stops being a risk.
Keep total weekly volume modest — the job is already the volume.

Start here — articles

4.5 The Hip 4.6 The Shoulder Complex 4.2 The Joint-by-Joint Approach to Movement 1.6 Fascia and Connective Tissue 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation

Key exercises 12

Trap Bar Deadlift Suitcase Carry Front Rack Carry Sandbag Bear Hug Carry Half-Kneeling Pallof Press Side Plank Cable Face Pull Band Shoulder Pass-Through Wrist Roller Copenhagen Plank 45-Degree Back Extension Half-Kneeling Overhead Press

You do not need more work. You need work your job does not give you.

Occupation

Corporate Professionals

desk-based · Desk-Bound Reset

What makes this group different

Eight to ten seated hours a day shortens hip flexors, stiffens the thoracic spine and switches off gluteal and deep neck flexor activity.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis — not the gym session — accounts for most of the daily energy gap.
Chronic low-grade stress elevates cortisol, blunts recovery and preferentially degrades sleep quality.
Time, not knowledge, is the binding constraint: the programme has to survive a bad week.

Training priorities

Three 45-minute full-body sessions beat five aspirational ones.
Open the front of the hip and the top of the thoracic spine before you load anything.
Pull twice for every push to offset the seated posture.
Walk. Ten to twelve thousand steps does more for body composition than any finisher.

Start here — articles

4.1 Flexibility vs Mobility in Athletic Performance 4.2 The Joint-by-Joint Approach to Movement 4.6 The Shoulder Complex 1.7 Recovery Science and Adaptation 5.1 The Psychology Behind Peak Performance

Key exercises 12

90/90 Hip Switch Couch Stretch Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch Foam Roller Thoracic Extension Quadruped Thoracic Rotation Wall Slide Goblet Squat Romanian Deadlift Inverted Row Dead Hang Farmer’s Carry Cat-Camel

The best programme is the one that still happens during a bad quarter.

Sport

Athletes

field & court sport · Speed, Power, Resilience

What makes this group different

Field sport is repeated acceleration, deceleration and change of direction — braking forces routinely exceed propulsive ones.
Most non-contact injuries happen during high-speed running or rapid deceleration, not during lifting.
In-season the goal is maintenance with minimum fatigue cost; two short sessions preserve most of the off-season gain.
Sprinting is both the stimulus and the exposure — athletes who never sprint in training get injured sprinting in competition.

Training priorities

Expose to maximum velocity weekly, even in-season.
Train deceleration and lateral braking deliberately, not as a by-product.
Keep a heavy strength minimum and a fast power minimum year-round.
Protect the hamstring and groin with eccentric and adductor-specific work.

Start here — articles

3.4 Sprint Mechanics and Maximum Velocity 3.6 Acceleration 3.7 Deceleration 3.10 Agility and Change of Direction 3.8 Jump Training and Vertical Power

Key exercises 12

Hill Sprint Flying Sprint Resisted Sprint A-Skip Backward Deceleration Run Skater Bound Box Jump Trap Bar Jump Nordic Hamstring Curl Copenhagen Plank Single-Leg Depth Drop Sled Push

Availability is the best ability. Train the brakes as hard as the engine.

Sport

Fighter-Specific Athletes

combat sport · Rounds, Clinch, Impact

What makes this group different

Combat sport is repeat-effort: alactic bursts layered onto a high glycolytic and aerobic base, with incomplete recovery between them.
Power is expressed rotationally through the hip–trunk–shoulder sequence, not vertically through a bar.
Grip, neck and isometric trunk endurance decide clinch and grappling exchanges more than one-rep maxes do.
Weight cutting compresses the training week and degrades everything above if it is not planned around.