Frameworks Episode 28 Recap: The Meso: Short-Term Program Design
Frameworks with Carl Hardwick | CoachRx Podcast Network
Welcome back to Frameworks. This is a place for coaches who want more than just reps and sets , we dig into the principles, philosophy, and stories that help you coach with clarity, design with purpose, and keep chasing mastery.
This episode is Part 2 of our Smarter Program Design series.
If you missed Part 1 – The Macro, go back and start there. It lays the foundation for long-term planning, defining your client’s story, building direction, and thinking in seasons instead of weeks.
Now, we move one layer deeper: the Meso, or short-term planning.
This is where your story becomes a strategy. Where long-term vision turns into tangible, trackable progress.
Anchor
If the macro gives your program direction, the meso gives it movement.
This is the layer where you design short-term structure, usually 4–8 weeks at a time and bring your seasonal themes to life.
Get this layer right, and you stop guessing at progressions. You start designing them.
Frameworks
1. Understand Cycle Purpose and Progression
Every training cycle has a job to do.
It’s a focused period of specific stress and adaptation, your bridge between long-term goals and daily sessions.
At OPEX, we think in three primary cycle types that give structure to every environment:
Accumulation
Your base-building phase.
Here you’re teaching movement, building capacity, and laying the foundation for intensity later.
Resistance:
High volume, lower intensity
Motor control, hypertrophy, and structural balance
Build tissue tolerance and coordination
Aerobics:
Longer, slower MAP work (MAP 9–7)
Emphasize repeatability, rhythm, and control
This phase isn’t about load, it’s about learning. Clients develop confidence and consistency.
Intensification
Once the base is built, you can raise the ceiling.
Now you increase intensity and lower total volume to express strength, power, or anaerobic tolerance.
Resistance:
Lower volume, higher intensity
Focus on load, neural drive, and contraction speed
5-3-1 or 6-4-2 progressions
Aerobics:
Shorter, faster MAP work (MAP 6–2)
Higher effort, full recovery between bouts
Deload or Transition
Adaptation only happens when recovery is built in.
Between major accumulation or intensification phases, plan transition blocks to lower fatigue, restore tissue quality, and reset readiness.
Inside CoachRx, label each cycle by adaptation goal , Accumulation 1, Intensification 1, Deload and include brief notes on the theme, volume, and progression.
That rhythm, build → express → recover → repeat is the backbone of sustainable progress.
2. Design the Short-Term Plan
Each environment has its own focus, but the process stays consistent:
you’re aligning cycle design with training age, goals, and capacity.
OPEX Gain – Resistance Training
Choose split based on training age:
Full-body → beginner
Upper/Lower → intermediate
Isolated pattern days → advanced
Define contraction focus:
Motor Control → Strength Endurance → Max Contraction
Map this into Cycle Notes for seamless weekly design.
OPEX Sustain – Energy System Development
Accumulation = higher MAPs (9–7) for aerobic base.
Intensification = lower MAPs (6–2) for power and expression.
Plan aerobic recovery around anaerobic days.
OPEX Pain – Anaerobics
Highest-stress work, use with restraint.
Short cycles, focused effort, long recovery.
Never overload in accumulation phases; always follow with regeneration.
3. The Principle of Continuity
Mesocycles don’t end , they blend.
Each new phase should begin where the last one left off.
You can build that continuity inside CoachRx by:
Duplicating the previous cycle and adjusting key variables (volume, rest, intensity).
Reviewing notes before writing the next cycle.
Tagging priorities that roll forward into weekly sessions.
When done right, clients never feel like they’re starting over, just evolving.
That’s progression with purpose.
Application
Here’s your Meso Design Checklist:
Define your cycle’s adaptation goal (accumulate, intensify, deload).
Align volume and intensity with training age.
Build your weekly split around contraction focus.
Add clear notes inside CoachRx for seamless micro design.
Review, progress, repeat.
Close
The Meso Layer is where direction turns into movement.
It’s how you bring long-term plans to life, one purposeful cycle at a time.
When you master this layer, your programming gains flow, clarity, and compounding results. You stop reinventing the wheel and start refining your craft.
Next week, we’ll move one level deeper: the Micro Layer, where we’ll talk about daily design; exercise selection, tempo, rest, and how to make every session connect to your bigger plan.
Listen to Episode 28 Now
▶️ Watch on YouTube
🎧 Listen on Spotify
📖 Catch up on past episodes + blog recaps
Have questions? DM Carl on Instagram @hardwickcarl
Frameworks is part of the CoachRx Podcast Network, your hub for principled, purpose-driven coaching conversations.
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