OFF SEASON — 9 WEEKS · UPPERCLASSMEN
A low rep program. That is the whole point.
Almost every program written for a high school athlete lives in sets of eight to twelve. This one does not. The main lifts here run in singles, doubles, triples, fours, fives and sixes, at weights that mean something, and every other decision in the program follows from that.
Nine weeks, three 3-week waves, five days a week, 57 pages, every session written out.
Why low reps. A set of ten starts easy. The first six or seven reps are handled by your smallest, most fatigue-resistant muscle fibres, and the big, fast ones — the ones that sprint, jump and grow the most — only show up at the very end when you’re already tired. You’re using fatigue to do recruitment’s job. A heavy set of three skips the line. The load is high enough on rep one that the big fibres have no choice but to work, and you get the part of the set that matters without buying eight reps of junk volume to reach it.
Who it’s for. Upperclassmen who already own the lifts, have trained through a full year, and have handled real weight. This is deliberately not a beginner program and the book says so on the page. An athlete still learning to squat belongs in the underclassman year first — this sits on top of it rather than replacing it.
Five days on a body part split. Lower Body · Chest & Triceps · Back & Biceps · Shoulders & Triceps · Lower Body.
Every session opens with power. A jump, a throw or an Olympic variation, done fresh with full rest, before anything else. That’s why this is a program for athletes and not a bodybuilding split with a barbell in it.
Four tiers, in order. Power & Pump → Primary Strength (low reps, heavy, every rep in a row, finishing on a top set) → Secondary Strength (dumbbell or single-arm, moderate reps) → Accessories (arms, rear delts, mid traps, calves, trunk — higher reps, close to failure, the tissue that keeps shoulders and elbows healthy through a season).
You’re told where to start. Every barbell lift gives an opening percentage of your max — 6s around 65, 5s at 70, 4s at 75, 3s at 80, 2s at 85, singles at 90. First set only, and it’s a recommendation, not a law. If it moves fast, climb.
And how to run the set. Top sets, prep sets instead of warm up sets, reps in a row, flex sets, and MAX sets where you record exactly what you got.
Two pages for every session. A printable rack card with the whole week and boxes for every weight, and day pages carrying a coaching note on every exercise.
Sessions take about 75 minutes.
Why it’s worth owning. Nine weeks is the biggest uninterrupted block an upperclassman gets, and this is the version that actually moves numbers in front of college coaches. Heavy where it counts, high rep where it belongs, power on every single day, and a reason behind every line.
This block is weeks 13 to 21 of The Training Year (Upperclassmen). Sold on its own for the athlete or coach who only needs the off season.
