As mentioned earlier, there are 5 athletic levels assigned in the RX Barbell program. They are Beginner, Elementary, Pre-intermediate, Intermediate, and Upper-intermediate. As you already know, the purpose of this program is to get you to the point where you can RX the barbell portion of most standard Cross-Training workouts. For the most part, this will be accomplished as you progress into the intermediate and upper-intermediate movement levels and therefore specific programming for advanced and elite strength training is purposefully omitted.
This program is designed so that the more advanced an individual is with their barbell strength the more complex the programming becomes. The complexity is multi-faceted and revolves around movement complexity, number of movements prescribed, intensity, and methodology of weight progressions.
To illustrate this point, take a look at the table below. You’ll notice that as an individual gets stronger the more complex movements are introduced in their programming.
| Levels | Beginner | Elementary | Pre-Inter | Inter | Upper-Inter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Deadlift | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Press | yes | yes | |||
| Bench | yes | yes | |||
| Power Clean | yes | yes | |||
| Push Press | yes | yes | |||
| Push Jerk | yes | yes | |||
| Front Squat | yes | yes | yes | ||
| Overhead Squat | yes | yes | |||
| Clean | yes | yes | |||
| Power Snatch | yes | yes |
Step 3: Pick your template
Unlike most programs where there is a set amount of days to work out, the RX program allows you to adjust according to what works for you. Depending on your level, this can range from 2 days a week to 6 days a week.
You may have noticed that you have movements that are in different levels from your test week. For example, a sample athlete may have a beginner squat, beginner deadlift, elementary press, and pre-intermediate bench press. The break down of strength with stronger pressing muscles and weaker squat/deadlift muscles is fairly common among men and for women will frequently find the opposite proportions of strength.
So the question begs, how do we go about picking a template level? The general recommendation is to start with your weakest movement of the three. So with the sample athlete from the previous paragraph, we would have him pick one of the Beginner templates below. We want an athlete to have a balanced level of strength and so we highly suggest picking your lowest level movement and picking a template from that section.
Once you’ve determined your template levels, the next question that begs is, which cycle should they choose once they have identified their template level? Before picking, something to consider with this is that a 4-day cycle doesn’t necessarily need to be completed in 1 week. You could do 3 workouts 1 week and push the fourth to the next week. What you’ll want to focus on is how to work the barbell strength training to fit in around your current Cross-Training classes. This mostly comes down to how much time you would like to spend in the gym. If you just want to come in 20 minutes before class to do your weightlifting then you’ll want to pick a template that only has 1 movement per day. On the other hand, if you pick a template that has 2-3 movements you’ll either need to come in an hour early or have a weightlifting-only day. The choice is yours. Feel free to adjust along the way as your needs and schedule change.
Once you pick your template please mark this lesson as complete and go to Program Design 3.
(Note: You’ll be referring back to this page frequently over the course of the program)
Beginner Templates
4 Day Beginner Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B | Workout C | Workout D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | Bench Press | Deadlift | Press |
3 Day Beginner Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B | Workout c |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Bench Press | Deadlift |
| Press |
2 Day Beginner Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B |
|---|---|
| Squat | Deadlift |
| Press | Bench Press |
Elementary Templates
5 Day Elementary Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B | Workout C | Workout D | Workout E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | Bench Press | Deadlift | Press | Power Clean |
4 Day Elementary Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B | Workout C | Workout D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Squat | Bench Press | Deadlift | Power Clean |
| Press |
3 Day Elementary Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B | Workout C |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Bench Press | Deadlift |
| Press | Power Clean |
2 Day Elementary Cycle
| Workout A | Workout B |
|---|---|
| Squat | Deadlift |
| Press | Bench Press |
| Power Clean |
Pre-Intermediate Templates – top ↑
Squat, Push Press, Deadlift, Front Squat, Power Clean
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”4 Day Pre-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C, Workout D
Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, Power Clean
,,,Push Press
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”3 Day Pre-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C
Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift
Push Press, Power Clean
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”2 Day Pre-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B
Squat, Deadlift
Push Press, Front Squat
Power Clean,
[/tabl]
Intermediate Templates – top ↑
Squat, Push Press / Push Jerk, Front Squat, Deadlift, OH Squat, Clean
,,,,,Power Snatch
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”5 Day Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C, Workout D, Workout E
Squat, Push Press / Push Jerk, Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean
,,,, Power Snatch
,,,, OH Squat
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”4 Day Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C, Workout D
Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean
, Push Press / Push Jerk,, Power Snatch
,,, OH Squat
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”3 Day Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C
Squat, Front Squat, Clean
Deadlift, Push Press / Push Jerk, Power Snatch
,, OH Squat
[/tabl]
Upper-Intermediate Templates
Squat, Push Jerk, Front Squat, Deadlift, OH Squat, Clean
,,,,,Power Snatch
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”5 Day Upper-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C, Workout D, Workout E
Squat, Push Jerk, Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean
,,,, Power Snatch
,,,, OH Squat
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”4 Day Upper-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C, Workout D
Squat, Front Squat, Deadlift, Clean
,Push Jerk,, Power Snatch
,,, OH Squat
[/tabl] [tabl class=”table-condensed” caption=”3 Day Upper-Intermediate Cycle” width=”100%” colalign=”center|center|center|center|center|center”] Workout A, Workout B, Workout C
Squat, Front Squat, Clean
Deadlift, Push Press / Push Jerk, Power Snatch
,, OH Squat
[/tabl]