Organizing a Training Week

Organizing a training week using primary, secondary, and tertiary categories allows us to prioritize training sessions in terms of how fatigue affects performance.

For primary sessions we want to come in as fresh as possible. For example, I might program a rest day before a primary session or a light bench day before a primary squat session.

Secondary and tertiary days allow us to accrue volume and skill practice, but we don’t expect performance to be highest on these days due to less recovery.

The athlete’s goals must also be considered in the organization of the training week. For example, a powerlifter might want to train deadlift and bench in a fatigued state in order to better predict meet day performance, whereas someone with general strength goals might want to feel fresh for each of their compound movements.