Your primary training: progressive strength programming
Never lifted before? Don’t stress
If you’ve never stepped into a weights area, touched a barbell, or even know what gym equipment looks like…relax. Your first few weeks are about figuring out where you’re at. We’ll start super light (often bodyweight only), assess how you move, and make sure you’re set up properly. No one’s judging. Everyone started somewhere, and we’ve got your back.
Think of it like a pool: we’ll start in the shallow end, maybe just dipping your toes. Then we’ll wade into waist-high water. By the time you’re swimming in the deep end, you won’t even notice, you’ll feel confident because we’ve prepped you perfectly. We’ll never let you get out of your depth, physically or mentally. We promise.
For those of you who’ve trained before
Whether you’ve been lifting for years or just dabbled here and there, chances are you’ve picked up some compensatory movement patterns along the way. We all do it, your body is smart and will find a way to get the job done, even if it means recruiting the wrong muscles or loading structures that shouldn’t be doing the heavy lifting.
Maybe your lower back takes over because your glutes aren’t firing. Maybe your traps are doing all the work because your lats have clocked off. Maybe you’ve got one side that’s significantly stronger because of an old injury, a structural quirk, or just years of favouring it.
You might lift less weight initially than you’re used to while we sort this out. That’s not a step backwards, it’s setting you up to lift heavier, safer, and for longer down the track.
This is where our approach makes a difference. We’re not just throwing you into a program and hoping for the best. We assess how you move, identify what’s compensating for what, and build your training to address those imbalances. The warm-up and activation work is not a filler, it’s teaching your body to recruit the right muscles so you can lift heavier, move better, and stay out of pain.
Think of it like Professor Stuart McGill’s tent pole analogy: your body is the tent, held upright by multiple guy-wires (muscles) pulling from different directions. If one wire is too tight (overactive) and another is too slack (underactive or weak), the whole structure gets pulled out of alignment. Our job is to find the tight wires, ‘release them’, strengthen the slack ones, and get everything working in balance again.
Every session starts with our warm-up
It’s 15 minutes of activation, stability, mobility (where appropriate), and core work that gets your body ready to lift safely. When you’re new, this routine alone might feel like a workout, that’s completely normal. Hip, ankle, pelvis, and spine stability, glute activation, shoulder prep, balance work, and core engagement. It’s not optional, but it’s also not torture.
The more you do it, the better you’ll feel and the faster you’ll progress.
How the training works
We program in 4 or 5-week blocks using what’s called an Accumulation/Intensification model. (Fitness nerd translation: we build volume for a few weeks, then go heavier to build max strength, then start a new block.)
For those who don’t care about the science: you’ll lift weights that challenge you but don’t crush you. We’ll add reps or weight as you get stronger, and every month or so, we change things up, so your body keeps adapting.
What you’ll do
Squats. Bends. Pushes. Pulls. Carries. Both single-arm and single-leg variations, and bilateral movements (using both arms and legs). The big, effective movements that build real strength alongside isolation exercises for smaller muscle groups. We use bodyweight, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, and cables.
Your program is written for YOUR body, your injury history, your experience level, your goals. You might be doing the same exercise as the person next to you, but with different weight, different reps, or a modified version that works for you.
Day 1 vs Day 2
You train twice a week, and both days hit your whole body
- Day 1: Usually hip/hamstring-focused lower body + vertical push/pull + accessories
- Day 2: Usually knee/quad-focused lower body + horizontal push/pull + accessories
We like to switch the order too, every block is different, so you and your body never get bored. We make sure you’re covering everything across your two sessions.
Session length: 60 minutes (including warm-up)
