Method
How we measure, and what we do with the numbers
A block is a set of tests, a plan, and two dates when those tests are repeated under the same conditions. This page is the protocol: what we collect, how we write it down, and where the method stops.
First visit
Assessment, 75 minutes
The assessment is a working session, not a tour. You should arrive in training clothes, having eaten as you would before any other hour of exercise. If you have a medical condition, bring written clearance from your doctor. We coach exercise; we do not diagnose or treat.
| Minutes | Block of work | What is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 | History and the week you actually have | Training age, injuries with clearance, diary constraints, devices you already use for pulse and steps. |
| 10–25 | Movement screen | Squat, hinge, push, pull, gait. Notes on range and which patterns we will not load yet. |
| 25–45 | Five baseline tests | Loads, times or counts, plus the RPE of each test, under the same clock we will use at week six. |
| 45–60 | Composition and girths | Agreed sites, same tape, same stance. A composition estimate used as a band, not a weekly score. |
| 60–75 | Outline conversation | Proposed frequency, format, and the twelve-week shape. You leave with the sheet the same day. |
If a test cannot be completed, we write the reason and substitute a regression that we can repeat. A missing number is still a number: it tells us the starting picture is lower than the test assumed. We do not invent a score to make the table look complete.
Week 0
Five baseline tests
The battery is the same across formats. Loads and heights are scaled. Remote clients receive substitutions in writing (a 2 km row may become a 2 km bike if that is the machine in the hotel). The point is repeatability, not a universal ranking.
| Test | What it shows | How we record it |
|---|---|---|
| Goblet squat 8RM | Lower-body strength through a pattern we can coach in this room. | Heaviest load for eight clean repetitions, depth noted, RPE noted. |
| Dead-hang | Grip and trunk endurance on a timed hold. | Seconds to a controlled drop, same bar diameter where possible. |
| 2 km row | Work capacity on a machine with a comparable damper setting. | Time, average split, and damper. Bike substitution if no rower. |
| Sit-to-stand, 30 seconds | Repeatable lower-body power from a known chair height. | Count, chair height in cm, arms-free or assisted. |
| Farmer or suitcase carry, 40 m | Loaded gait and the ability to keep a brace while walking. | Load per hand, distance, any stops. |
Additional tests are added when the block needs them: a continuous run time for a return-to-running profile, a packed walk for a trek, a single-leg stance for the over-55 block. They follow the same rule. If we cannot repeat it at week six under similar conditions, it does not belong in the week-0 table as a headline metric.
Mid-point
Week 6 re-test
Week six repeats the baseline battery. We use the same machines, the same chair height, the same tape sites, and as far as possible the same time of day. A test done after a night shift is marked as such; we do not compare it silently with a week-0 test done after a rest day.
We treat a metric as a signal to rebuild when it sits outside the planned band and the log shows the sessions were actually completed. A stall after four missed weeks is a diary problem. A stall after ten completed sessions is a programme problem. In the second case we change the lift, the frequency, or the conditioning. We do not add a motivational speech to the same outline.
If numbers have moved as planned, the second half of the block keeps its shape, with ordinary 3:1 progression. If they have moved far past the band, we raise the remaining targets in writing so week twelve is still a test rather than a victory lap. Either way, you leave week six with a table that has three columns filled: week 0, week 6, and a revised week-12 band.
Progression
Load management
The default week pattern is three progression weeks and one lighter week. Load on the main lifts usually climbs by a small, dated step when the previous top set landed at RPE 7 or below. If the top set landed at 9, we hold the load. If sleep for the previous three nights is well below the assessment baseline, or if a stressful work stretch is already visible in resting heart rate, we cut the day’s working sets rather than “see how it feels” under a heavy bar.
RPE is taught in week 1 so that week 4 is not the first time we ask for a number. Remote clients send a short clip and an RPE; we do not guess from a smiling thumbnail. Deload weeks keep frequency and cut volume or load, because disappearing for seven days is how people lose the habit the block was designed to build.
The file
Your written record
You receive a PDF table of every test (week 0, fortnightly notes, week 6, week 12), a session log with loads and RPE, and short technique notes. The file is yours. We do not lock it behind a portal, and we do not keep it as a marketing asset. If you leave at week eight, you still receive everything recorded up to that date.
The contact form on this site does not store submissions in a database; it is used to prepare a reply. Training records from a paid block are a different artefact, issued to you as files. If you want them deleted from our working copies after the block, write to [email protected] and we will confirm when that is done.
Limits
Where the method stops
Nutrition stays at the level of general habits: protein at meals, a regular eating window, enough food to recover from the sessions we write. We do not issue clinical meal plans, calorie prescriptions as treatment, or supplement protocols. We coach exercise; we do not diagnose or treat. Clients with medical conditions train with clearance from their doctor.
We do not run rehabilitation without a referring clinician. A painful knee, a postnatal symptom the doctor asked you to watch, or a change in blood pressure is a reason to stop the pattern and seek advice, not a reason for us to invent a new diagnosis on the floor. The method measures training. It is not a medical service.
Next step
See the method on a sheet
The assessment is how the protocol starts. You leave with week-0 numbers and a written outline. Book a 75-minute slot and decide afterwards whether a block is useful.