Two Easy Ways to Run a Lifting Session In Class

So you’ve got two training pieces to get through today – one is a lift and the other is a metcon. There isn’t any crossover between the equipment you need for the lift and the workout, so you need to account for some transition/set up time. How do you keep the class on schedule while allotting enough time for both pieces?

Lift

Back Squat 7×2

Here are two quick ways to give everyone sufficient time for their lifting while leaving plenty of time for the rest of your class.

• Time Cap:  “Ok class, you have 20 minutes to warm up your back squat and execute your 7 sets.” You can then set the clock and allow athletes to work on their own time, which is good if you have athletes at both ends of the skill spectrum – advanced athletes who take a little longer to build to their working weights or beginners who need more attention and more repetitions. I recommend having athletes of similar strength levels (and height) partner up in order to ensure rest between sets and opportunities for partners to help correct one another.

• EMOM:  Give the group 5-6 minutes to warm up to their first working set, and then have the whole class squat together every X number of minutes. In this workout, having athletes perform a set every 2 minutes would be a decent plan, completing the squats in about 14 minutes. This option is good for larger classes or for gyms with less than adequate rack space, as it enables the coach to see and correct more athletes while also forcing athletes to rest more than they might otherwise. Again, you can have athletes get in groups of 2-4 and have them squat an equal intervals (i.e. athlete 1 squats at the top of the minute, then athletes 2, 3, and 4 squat 30 seconds apart. This puts each athlete back under the bar every 2 minutes while minimizing the amount of space and equipment required.

Let us know how you run your lifting sessions in the comments!

Adapted from “Logistics – Have You Thought About Everything?” by Matt Sherburne