The hour on the calendar is 60 minutes. Five of those are the warm-up. Fifty are the lifting. The last five are shoes and the walk out. If you start late, drop the carry. Do not drop the warm-up, and do not stay for a seventh set.
At Division Athletics (DVSN) in Singapore, the strength class is a 14-week loop with three blocks: hypertrophy, then strength, then performance. A class is 60 minutes. Hypertrophy is the block that feels like stamina: more reps, shorter rests, you breathe. Strength is heavier and slower. Performance is the phase that is easy to forget the name of. It is speed. Same kinds of lifts, moved faster, with the load a bit lighter. It is not a third month of grinding heavier.1
They also run a separate conditioning class, 45 minutes, on its own 14-week clock: seven weeks they call in-season, built around fitness tests, then seven weeks off-season for skills and variety. A third option, hybrid, is strength, then a skill, then a short conditioning finisher.1 A visitor write-up also describes an easy deload week inside the strength cycle. The public program page lists the three blocks and does not name that easy week.2
Steal the order: more reps, then heavier, then faster, then an easy week. Leave their weekly calendar. They split upper and lower across four days and add extra full-body days. You already run and play tennis. Two gym mornings is the dose that fits. Do not add their test workouts or a metcon finisher on top of a long run.
Their “in-season” is a conditioning-class label. Yours is different. A keep month is any month when the long run is building or tennis is the hard part of the week. In a keep month the gym holds what you have. It does not try to build. One hard session a week can hold strength for many weeks if the weight stays challenging. Two short sessions is the plan here, because the legs also have to run.34
Tuesday is always session A. The second gym morning is session B, on the day that does not have tennis that evening. That week stays as written in the training calendar. This page only changes what happens inside the hour.
| Situation | Do this |
|---|---|
| Build month, Tuesday | Full session A for the block you are in |
| Build month, second gym day, no long run tomorrow | Full session B for that same block |
| Saturday is a long run | Short session B, even in a build month |
| Long-run build, or a heavy tennis month | Short A and short B all month. Hold the weights. |
| Week 12 | Easy week. Two sets, then leave. |
| Low back is doing the work | Stop the hinge. Keep the press or the row, and the carry. The mat work stays on the low-back page. |
Run this when running and tennis are the easier part of the week. Same two sessions every week. Only the reps, the rest, and the intent change. When you finish week 12, either start again at week 1 or switch the next month to the short hour if a race or a tennis block is coming.
| Weeks | Name | What it should feel like | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Stamina | More reps. A pump. You breathe. This is their hypertrophy block. | 8–12 | About 60–90 seconds |
| 5–8 | Strength | Heavier. Slower. The main lift is not paired with another hard move. | 4–6 | About 2 minutes |
| 9–11 | Speed | Same lifts. Move them up fast. Weight comes down. If the bar slows, it is too heavy. | 3–5, fast up | About 2 minutes |
| 12 | Easy | Half the sets. Leave by minute 30. The public DVSN page does not name this week. A visitor described one, and a short unload is the sensible end of a build. | Stop early | Normal |
How to add weight inside a block. The first numbers are in starting weights.
The 4 / 4 / 3 / 1 split is an adaptation of their three public blocks plus an easy week. It is a sensible way to spend 12 weeks. It is not a claim that this exact split beat every other split in a trial. Indicated
You weigh 55 kg. In April 2025 the best conventional deadlift was 100 kg for one rep. The gym has not been consistent since then. Tennis and running have kept the legs working, so this is not a from-zero start. It is a long break from the barbell.
People who stop lifting lose strength, and the loss grows with time. The drop in the kind of strength you use for sets of 8 is clearer after about 8 weeks off. A one-rep max drops more clearly after about 16 weeks.8 Eighteen months is past both. The 100 kg number is a previous best. It is not a weight to put on the bar, and it is not a target for this 12-week cycle.
The Romanian deadlift is also a different lift. It is a slower hinge for several reps, and the low back stays under load longer than it does in one heavy conventional pull. Do not take half of 100 and call that the work set.
Use the numbers below for the first stamina session. Stop each set with about three reps left. If you hit the top of the range with reps still in the tank, and the next morning is normal, take one jump the next gym day. Never two jumps in one session. If the next morning is worse, repeat the same weight. Each move’s picture and cues are in how the moves look.
| Move | First session | One jump |
|---|---|---|
| Goblet squat | 8 kg dumbbell | +2 kg |
| Safety-bar squat | Empty bar, usually 15–20 kg | +2.5 kg |
| Dumbbell press | 4 kg each hand | +2 kg each hand |
| Romanian deadlift | Empty bar, 20 kg | +2.5 kg |
| Farmer carry | 10 kg each hand | +2 kg each hand |
| Split squat | Body weight | then 4 kg each hand, then +2 kg |
| Row | 8 kg each hand | +2 kg each hand |
| Back extension | Body weight | then hug a 2.5 kg plate |
| Single-leg hinge | Body weight | then 4 kg in one hand, then +2 kg |
| Suitcase carry | 8 kg | +2 kg |
If the empty bar for 10 Romanian deadlift reps feels like a warm-up and the low back is quiet the next morning, the next gym day is 30 kg. After that, only +2.5 kg when the rule above is met. A place you might land by the end of the stamina month is somewhere around 40 kg. That is a checkpoint, not a goal.
On a machine press or machine row, pick the pin where 12 reps leave about three in reserve. Write that pin down. Add one pin on the same rule. If the gym’s smallest plate is 2.5 kg a side, a bar jump is 5 kg. Stay at the current weight for another week rather than taking a jump that big.
Same sequence in every block. Set a timer. When it hits five minutes, start the first work set.
Hands slide down the thighs on the hinge, ribs stacked over the pelvis, same idea as the bodyweight hinge on the low-back page.
Light band, arms straight, squeeze the shoulder blades. No band at the gym: 10 slow arm circles each way.
First gym morning of the week. A superset here means one exercise, then the other, then rest. Pair a hard lift with a small move that does not load the same legs. Never pair the squat with the deadlift.
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–16 | Goblet squat, 4 × 8–10. Rest 90 seconds. Last set: about two reps left. |
| 16–30 | Dumbbell press, 3 × 8–12, superset with 12 band pull-aparts. Rest 60 seconds after the pair. |
| 30–42 | Romanian deadlift, 3 × 8–10. Rest 90 seconds. Ribs down. If the low back takes over, shorten the range. |
| 42–50 | Farmer carry, 4 walks of 20–30 m. Walk. Do not turn it into a run. |
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–8 | Two light squat ramp-up sets. These count inside the 50 minutes. |
| 8–26 | Squat, 4 × 5. Rest about 2 minutes. Leave about two reps. |
| 26–40 | Press, 4 × 5. Rest about 2 minutes. Pull-aparts during the rest are fine. They are not a second workout. |
| 40–48 | Romanian deadlift, 3 × 5. Rest about 2 minutes. |
| 48–50 | One or two heavier farmer carries. Then leave. |
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–6 | Two light squat ramps, stand up fast, sit down slow. |
| 6–24 | Squat, 4 × 3. Explode up, lower under control. Rest 2 minutes. No bounce out of the bottom. No jump if the low back has been sore. |
| 24–38 | Press, 4 × 3, fast up. Rest 2 minutes. |
| 38–48 | Romanian deadlift, 3 × 4. Snap the hips up. Do not bounce the weight off the floor. |
| 48–50 | One short carry. Leave. |
Second gym morning. If that morning is Friday and Saturday is a long run, skip this full version and use the short hour.
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–18 | Rear-foot split squat, 3 × 8 each leg. Rest 75 seconds. Knee tracks over the mid-foot. |
| 18–32 | Chest-supported row, 3 × 8–12, superset with a dead bug, 6 each side. Rest 60 seconds after the pair. |
| 32–44 | Back extension or single-leg Romanian deadlift, 3 × 8. Rest 90 seconds. Hinge from the hips. |
| 44–50 | Suitcase carry, 3 × 20 m each side. Side plank 20 seconds each side only if time is left. |
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–8 | Two light split-squat ramps each leg. |
| 8–26 | Split squat, 4 × 5 each leg. Rest about 90 seconds between legs, and a full 2 minutes before you start the next round if the legs are cooked. Drop to 3 × 5 if you cannot hit both legs inside this window. |
| 26–40 | Row, 4 × 5. Rest about 2 minutes. |
| 40–48 | Back extension or single-leg Romanian deadlift, 3 × 6. |
| 48–50 | Suitcase carry, one walk each side. Leave. |
| Clock | Work |
|---|---|
| 0–6 | Light split-squat ramps, stand up fast. |
| 6–24 | Split squat, 3 × 3 each leg. Lighter than the strength block. Fast up, quiet knee. |
| 24–38 | Row, 4 × 3, fast pull. Rest 2 minutes. |
| 38–48 | Light hinge, 3 × 4, snap up. Back extension is the fallback if a single-leg deadlift feels sloppy. |
| 48–50 | One suitcase carry each side. Leave. |
Use this for a keep month, for week 12, and for any Friday before a Saturday long run. Same exercises as the strength block. Two work sets only. Keep the weight heavy enough that the last reps are honest, and stop with about three reps left. Expect to finish around 30–35 minutes, warm-up included. The empty time is recovery. Do not fill it.
| Short A | Short B | |
|---|---|---|
| Main | Squat, 2 × 5 | Split squat, 2 × 5 each leg |
| Upper | Press, 2 × 5 | Row, 2 × 5 |
| Hinge | Romanian deadlift, 2 × 5 | Back extension or single-leg hinge, 2 × 6 |
| Carry | Farmer, 2 walks | Suitcase, 1 walk each side |
Week 12 uses those same two sets, but stop at four reps even if you could do more.
In professional soccer players, one strength session a week for 12 in-season weeks held squat strength and sprint speed. Training only every other week did not.4 A review of the smallest dose that still holds strength found that, in younger adults, one session a week and even one hard set can be enough for many weeks, as long as the weight stays heavy. The same review says there is not enough data to treat that as a rule for athletes.3 In people who already lift, doing the work more often does not clearly build more strength over a couple of months.5 So two short days is enough to keep. It is not a reason to add a third day.
The clocks are a plan so the hour ends. They are not a lab measurement. If a pair runs long, drop the last set of the carry or the last set of the hinge. Do not borrow time from tomorrow’s run.
Tap a name in the plan and you land here. The clocks stay short on purpose. Pictures are teaching drawings. Where a drawing is slightly off, the written cue wins. Coral is the pelvis. Teal is the low back or the ribs.
Elbow on the floor beside the front ankle, then one arm reaches up. The back knee stays down.
Safety-bar version: same shape, bar on the shoulders instead of a dumbbell at the chest. The warm-up squats are this shape with no weight.
One dumbbell in each hand. A machine press is the same job if the bench is taken.
Same hinge as the low-back page. The empty bar is the gym version. This is not a conventional deadlift from the floor.
Back toes stay on the bench. Front knee travels over the mid-foot. Torso stays tall.
Chest on the pad, nose toward the floor. A cable row is fine if this bench is taken. Keep the chest supported so the low back does not do the pull.
Full cues are on the low-back page. Here it is the easy pair with the row, not a heavy lift.
Coral is the pelvis. Teal is the low back. Hips stay square while the free leg goes back.
Only if the carry finishes early. Full cues are on the low-back page. Read it as a forearm support, not a front plank.
This is the warm-up hinge. The loaded version is the Romanian deadlift. Full cues are on the low-back page.
Hands start in front of the chest, then pull wide until the band is tight. No band: 10 slow arm circles each way.
Retrieved October 2026. Tiers: established means the finding is solid for the claim beside it. Indicated means useful and not settled. The phase split on this page is a practical adaptation, marked indicated above.