Program Design

Free Program: 12/8/4 Wave Load

CoachRx Team·July 19, 2023·2 min read

Wave loading is a program design tool for intermediate to advanced clients who want to increase their strength and who have experience lifting heavier loads. It can help overcome plateaus by helping prep the nervous system to fire more efficiently.

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With our Coach Like the Pros experience you can access 20+ program templates inside the CoachRx Programs Index. And we’ve just added a new template: 12/8/4 Wave Load.

We all know how those early days of training can bring easy strength increases. Newbie gains are a walk in the park, right? But then, boom! A few years in the dreaded plateau hits, and it becomes a real struggle to help your clients continue to increase their strength.

We've got a secret program design weapon for you: wave loading. This advanced technique can be a game-changer to break through those pesky plateaus so your clients keep making progress.

12/8/4 Wave Load Program Breakdown

The 12/8/4 Wave Load Program is a wave load program that fits well in an accumulation phase. This is a 3-day Full Body Resistance (FBR) split with 1 wave load, compound, priority exercise per day.

Wave loading is a beneficial method to take advantage of the post activation activation (PAP) phenomenon. PAP is a temporary enhancement of muscle contractile performance that can occur following a high-intensity exercise. In practice, repeating the 12/8/4 the second wave will allow for increased loads relative to the first.

Daily Plan

  • Monday: Squat, bend, push (horizontal), calves, pull (elbow flexion)
  • Wednesday: Push (horizontal), squat, pull (horizontal), bend, push (elbow extension)
  • Friday: Bend, lunge, pull (vertical), squat, pull (scaps)

Who is Wave Loading For?

Training Age = Intermediate - Advanced
Wave loading is appropriate for more advanced clients who want to increase their strength and who have experience lifting heavier loads. It’s essential that they have gained motor control in each movement pattern and are not limited by movement efficiency. It’s a training tool that can help overcome plateaus by helping prep the nervous system to fire more efficiently.

Access the Program

With Coach Like the Pros, not only will you be able to explore and assign 20+ programs, including this e, for yourself, you’ll also get to test out the CoachRx systems that make for a plug-and-play program design experience.

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CoachRx TeamCoachRxWritten by the coaches and educators behind CoachRx and the OPEX Method, drawing on client programs we design and review every week.

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