Barbell Club – April 2019

April is the third month of the first 5-month cycle of 2019.

April Overview

April continues the prep for GVT but switches to focus on the main lifts rather than the accessories. It also returns to a more equal mix of upper and lower exercises.

Days 1 and 2 will hit you hard. Day 3 is the easier of these three main sessions, and day 4 continues with remedial, abs, and conditioning. You do not need to do all of day 4’s programme if you have covered these in other classes such as CrossFit and Metcon. Just pick the parts that are absent from your other classes and add these to the end of the other BBC days. 

The 8×8 (Gironda method) is an introduction to higher reps in the compound exercises. There is only a 30-second rest to lean towards body composition (fat burning). This has been programmed in this month so that you become accustomed to higher reps without burning yourselves out prior to the GVT – the 30 seconds rest should attract a weight of only around 50%. (Don’t be fooled by this. It still totally sucks).

Be mindful that the GVT (10×10) next month is the main focus of this cycle. This is where you should peak with energy and load in order to gain the most out of these five months. There will be much more rest so that you can add more load. Therefore, as tempting as it may be to add more weight for the 8×8, do not do so to the point where you need to take more than the 30 seconds rest. Have patience in the process and all will work out.

A Reminder of the 5-month Overview

To prepare for the demand of GVT the preparatory months have been programmed like so: 

February – general prep, a mix but predominantly upper body, focus on accessory exercises

March – general prep, a mix but predominantly lower body, focus on accessory exercises

April – building volume with Gironda’s 8×8, upper and lower mix, focus on the main lifts, short rest, light-medium load

May – GVT 10×10, focus on a single main lift per session, longer rest, heavier load

June – 5×5 with chains or bands, focus on speed – this is not a maximal 5 rep load

(To avoid overload, you will not be completing 10×10 for every main lift in May. This will be split between May and June).

April Programme

The full training programme, warm-ups, 5-month overview, and sessions days can be downloaded here. Everyone should read this.

Barbell Club Programme – April 2019

For those people who like to record weights in an excel spreadsheet (rather than the old school paper notebook!), you can download a summarised document here. This does not contain the full programme detail but does provide a succinct electronic mechanism for keeping a log.

Barbell Club 2019 – Personal Weights Log 

Good luck. Enjoy. And do come and see me if you have any questions x

Jenna