Farmer Mode

You need more work capacity. This is the bottom line. No, your 3/4 day powerlifting/bodybuilding/calisthenics split is not going to get you there. Yes, you need to do dedicated conditioning work. No, it doesn’t have to involve wasting away on the treadmill. Farmer Mode is designed to supplement your strength and hypertrophy training with movements that actually make you more capable, athletic, and useful. Skip the treadmill and carry weights for distance, drag sleds for time, and become what evolution intended for you. Be warned that progressing with the barbell and this program at the same time will be difficult if you are in a caloric deficit or otherwise not on top of recovery, but in the long run, increasing your work capacity will pay off not only in the gym but for your health in general. The program introduces full body functional movements slowly, as people are often not used to this level of conditioning and time under tension (5 minute+ carries, for example). Volume is cycled down in week four to make room for additional exercises and to shed accumulated stress. The RPE on all exercises is kept LOW as to minimize interference with regular weight training. As a rule of thumb, if the RPE starts creeping up and you don’t have a deload the next week in your ordinary program, STOP and take a breather before continuing the set. The exercise selection focuses on the foundations of human movement - walking, carrying, throwing. Things that we are supposed to be doing but aren’t in today’s world. Light weights are used to make it harder to stay upright, increase cardiovascular burden, and strengthen movement patterns that are often ignored in normal training. Rucking and sled work make up the main drivers of cardiovascular and muscular conditioning improvement. Weighted carries assist in reinforcing posture and target grip strength, a major indicator for overall health. Throws and lunges round out the program by introducing more full body and unilateral movement. In concert, these exercises with improve physical resiliency in several dimensions without sacrificing too much room for strength gains. Thanks, and enjoy!