Block Structure

A training block is a defined period (typically 4–8 weeks) with a specific adaptation goal. Structuring training in blocks allows you to build one quality on top of another rather than chasing all qualities simultaneously.

The Case for Blocks

Training simultaneously for maximum strength, maximum muscle, and maximum endurance produces suboptimal results in all three. The interference effect — where endurance training blunts hypertrophy, and maximal strength work competes with metabolic conditioning — is well-documented.

A programme that tries to do everything at once usually does nothing well. Blocks resolve this by sequencing priorities.

Block Types

Hypertrophy block (base)

Goal: Build muscle tissue that will later be converted to strength.

• Volume: High (15–25 sets per muscle group per week)
• Intensity: Moderate (60–75% 1RM)
• Rep range: 6–15
• Duration: 4–8 weeks

This block builds the structural base — more contractile proteins, more connective tissue resilience, larger cross-sectional area.

Strength block (build)

Goal: Express the hypertrophy gained as raw strength.

• Volume: Moderate (10–15 sets per muscle group per week)
• Intensity: High (75–88% 1RM)
• Rep range: 3–6
• Duration: 4–6 weeks

Neural adaptations — improved motor unit recruitment, better inter-muscular coordination — take place here. The muscle built in the hypertrophy block gets better at producing force.

Peaking block (express)

Goal: Maximise performance at a specific date.

• Volume: Low (6–10 sets per muscle group per week)
• Intensity: Very high (85–97% 1RM)
• Rep range: 1–3
• Duration: 2–4 weeks

Fatigue drops, motor patterns sharpen, and the athlete expresses the full extent of their current capacity.

Annual planning example

A simple annual structure for a competitive powerlifter:

Within-block progression

Each block should have internal progression — not just a fixed intensity for the whole duration. A typical pattern:

Week 1: 70% 1RM, moderate volume  ← introduction
Week 2: 73% 1RM, volume increases ← accumulation
Week 3: 76% 1RM, volume peaks     ← overreach
Week 4: 65% 1RM, volume halves    ← deload/transition

The slight overreach in week 3, followed by the deload, produces a supercompensation effect — fitness peaks just as fatigue clears.

Common mistakes

• Too many blocks — switching block focus every 2–3 weeks doesn’t allow adaptation to take hold
• Ignoring deloads — skipping the deload between blocks compounds fatigue
• No assessment — test your lifts between blocks to verify the block achieved its purpose