Preparatory Phase

The preparatory phase can last at least two to four weeks. During this time we are preparing our bodies for heavier lifting later this winter. Just like bicycling, consistency is the most important thing here. Two to three sessions a week is optimal. We want to work on our mobility in every session. If you found tight areas from the mobility assessments then work on those parts of your body every time. Remember to check here for some ideas on how to do that. Check out this exercise library if you need ideas of what strength exercises to do. These are just a couple basic exercises. If you want to and can safely do a different exercise please feel free. Choose one exercise that you can safely do from each type of motion - push, pull, hip, knee, and core. Try to do 3 sets of 15-20 repetitions of each movement. Light weight and even body weight is 100% fine to do when you’re first starting. Remember we are not looking to crush weights this month, we are only preparing our body to crush weights next month.

Save a copy of this Google sheet for an easy way to track your exercises, sets, reps, and rest intervals.

One way to organize your workout would be like this.

Push - hip - push - hip - push - hip

Pull - knee - pull - knee - pull - knee

Core - mobility - core - mobility - core - mobility

You can also just do all six of them in a row - push, hip, pull, knee, core, mobility and then repeat that two more times through. There is no wrong way to do this especially in the preparatory phase. The key here is movement.

Hopefully over the next two to four weeks you have eight to ten days where you did your five basic strength exercises and you improved your mobility. With a few weeks of practice under your belt it will be safer to move onto some more vigorous strength training.