Welcome to Voi Chien

The first segment in the video above addresses some specifics about Voi Chien, give it a watch. If you are unfamiliar with our programs make sure you read through the information below to ensure you are executing the program as intended!

Program Execution

Your program  is designed with 3-6 training sessions  per week, each taking an hour or less to complete in most cases.

It’s not mandatory for you to do all of the sessions in a single week. For some athletes (older athletes or those that are training another discipline) 3-4 sessions per week will be more appropriate than 5-6 sessions. Do the number of sessions per week appropriate for you and your individual ability and activity level.

The key idea is to follow the sessions in order.  Keep in mind that if you train at a lower frequency, then consequently, the program will take longer to complete.

Assessments

Some programs  start and/or end with an assessment. It’s important to note that assessments are done at much higher intensities than training circuits.

If you are just getting back into training, then be conservative with your initial assessment to prevent injuring yourself before you start training. If there is an end of program assessment your body is much more acclimated to the work and you’ll be able to push closer to your limits more safely. Your goal while assessing is to put forth an effort that most accurately represents your ability but doesn’t injure you.

Session Structure

Every session will start out with a warm-up. The purpose of a warm-up is to 1) increase your core body temperature (make you start sweating!), 2) lubricate your joints, and 3) increase heart rate and muscle activation (CNS activity).This means you should start with light weight and easy intensity and work up over the course of the prescribed rounds to moderate intensity. Don’t turn the warm-up into a training circuit by going too heavy or too hard!

Although we often account for it, sometimes you’ll need additional warm up rounds or exercises. This may come in the form of 10 minutes of soft tissue work before the prescribed warm up, or it can be additional sets of a heavy barbell movement before starting a training circuit. You are free to do any additional warm-up necessary to execute the training circuits as prescribed.

Each circuit is labeled by the type of attribute you are training. You will execute that circuit in its entirety before moving onto the next one. Sometimes you will see an “A” and a “B” circuit. When you see this it means that you will do “A” until completion then move onto “B.” It’s not a “choose one” design.

Loading

We prescribe loading (weight) a few ways.

For newer athletes and general (or “hybrid”) programs, you will see “DBD” which stands for “difficult but doable.” This type of loading allows you to choose a weight based on how you feel that day. It does not correlate to a specific percentage of your one rep max (1RM). It simply means we want you to choose a load that allows for near-perfect technique that is challenging.  It usually takes a few rounds to figure out what this load is, especially on non-traditional exercises.

In our more advanced programs, we prescribe a percentage of 1RM or a range of percentages (65-80% 1RM). Do your best to stay within these ranges. If you simply can’t do the work at the prescribed loading, drop to a percentage you can. If the work feels easy, remember that the numbers will most likely progress over time, and so will become harder – don’t rush the process.

For Work Capacity efforts, we will often prescribe a set load for male / female athletes. It will look something like this: 35/25lbs. When we assign loading like this it means that unless you have an injury in that area of the body we want you to use that loading. These prescriptions are based off of working with thousands of athletes over the past 12 years. If for some reason you simply cannot do that load then scale down as needed.

Bodyweight exercises don’t have an external load. A pull up or jump lunge can be very different for a 150 lb. person and a 275 lb. person. Since we cannot simply remove bodyweight you’ll need to scale the movement to an easier variation or do fewer reps.

Pace

Pace, or intensity, is specific to our conditioning circuits.

For aerobic capacity, your pace should be easy to moderate. Many people struggle with what this means and are accustomed to working much harder than our desired pace here. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to breathe through your nose the entire time and speak in full sentences.

For work capacity circuits, your pace will be as hard a pace as you can sustain for the specific effort. Your output should be consistent round after round or minute after minute with a little to spare for the final portion of the effort.

Equipment

We do our best to design our programs with equipment that is common in most gyms. If you are training at home you may be missing certain things that a gym will normally have. This usually includes: sandbags, sleds, rowers, tires, ski ergs, and bikes.

To convert single modes we have a Single Mode Conversion Chart. In regards to substituting specific exercises you can reference our Exercise Matrix

Final Notes

Purchasing the program is oftentimes the easiest step. Your primary goal is to complete this program within a week or two of its intended duration.  We’ll check in with you in a few weeks to make sure you’re on track. 

If you have questions about any part of this program, contact me at Coach@atomic-athlete.com 

– Coach