Hey folks!
I’m excited to announce we now offer subscriptions to daily online programming from NorCal Strength & Conditioning. I’ll get to the specific programs in a moment but first I want to give you a little background in what has been a multi-year process.
We opened NorCal in 2004 with the hopes of helping as many people as possible with their training and nutrition (with a bit of lifestyle modification thrown in as the real glue to the program). We’ve had great success on a local level, and have managed to help a number of individuals and gyms via consulting and remote coaching. That has been incredibly rewarding however we have received visitors to the gym from quite a number of countries and a deluge of interest in things ranging form an affiliation with NorCal to a franchise. We have looked at all of these ideas and weighed their relative merits. What we decided to focus on is making our methodology as broadly available as possible. Over the past few years we have searched for the best way to provide online access to our programming. We have looked at platforms that not only disseminate our programming in an easy to use format, but also something that provides great measures of accountability and progress. About 8 months ago I was approached by the folks at Train Heroic about the potential of integrating our methodology with their amazing user interface and coaching platform.
It was an easy sell. Train Heroic was exactly what we were looking for.
Train Heroic combines all the options we felt were necessary to present an outstanding product (the NorCal Method) to a global client base. All in one easy to use platform. Looking back at some of our early ideas is a bit humbling. The best I can describe them is “quaint.” We were never too jazzed about the idea of just sending out programming documents without any sort of how-to, accountability or social cohesion. Train Heroic links every exercise in the program to a video from our movement library. It allows us to add descriptions and instructions to the movements, exercises, and workouts. It also has some pretty neat social media components that provide “team” members community to keep each other motivated and accountable. From the coaching side, it provides us with sophisticated analytics that make it easier for us to monitor folks progress and stay more connected to our team members.
Over the last 11 years at NorCal, we’ve honed and developed our training methods to provide our clients with the results they seek in as efficient, safe, and fun a way as possible. It’s our hope that you will find this online version of the NorCal method equally valuable.
Via our organization page on Train Heroic, you will have the ability to select from a number of teams that provide programming options for every fitness level. Check out our team descriptions to get a better idea of what’s right for you. BTW: Sign up now to lock in these introductory rates.
Team:
Low Intensity
Price: $20/ month, $200/ year
Description:
Low Intensity Basics is our program for individuals that would like to focus on movement quality over movement quantity with a more relaxed time component. This hour long, three day per week program incorporates strength and skill progressions of a variety of exercises with mobility work and lower intensity, moderate paced conditioning workouts. Low Intensity Basics is appropriate for those with a beginner/ intermediate level fitness that would like to improve their movement quality and capacity. This program would also work well for more advanced fitness levels as a recovery day workout.
Team:
Beginning Strength & Conditioning
Price: $20/ month, $200/ year
Description:
Beginning Strength & Conditioning is our program for individuals that are new to a fitness program. This hour long, 3 day per week program (plus 1 optional day of active recovery) incorporates strength and skill progressions appropriate to beginners, followed by conditioning workouts of varying lengths of moderate to high intensity, rounded out with brief recovery work and stretching at the end. Our beginner strength progressions start without loading and eventually progress to increase loading and technical difficulty once your capacity to perform a given number of quality repetitions at a set weight has been met.
Team:
Intermediate Strength & Conditioning
Price: $20/ month, $200/ year
Description:
Intermediate Strength & Conditioning is an hour long, four day per week program that incorporates strength and skill progressions followed by conditioning workouts of varying lengths of moderate to high intensity, rounded out with brief recovery work and stretching at the end. Intermediate level fitness standards indicate a strength capacity that is appropriate for loading beyond bodyweight and a movement capacity that is mostly free of limitations (ie: can squat past parallel, arms comfortably reach directly overhead with straight elbows). Intermediate progressions continue to increase loading and technical difficulty while introducing more complex movements such as cleans, plyometrics, and inversions.
Team:
Advanced Strength & Conditioning
Price: $25/ month, $250/ year
Description:
Advanced Strength & Conditioning is our program for individuals of a more competitive fitness level and higher technical competency. This hour-plus long, five day per week program incorporates strength and skill progressions with coupled mobility, extensive core work, challenging conditioning workouts, with cool down and recovery. Strength cycles incorporate traditional barbell and dumbbell lifts, Olympic weightlifting, and bodyweight gymnastic strength training. The conditioning workouts vary in length and format, and contain more variety, heavier loading, and greater technical challenge than our intermediate conditioning workouts.
Team:
Bodyweight Anywhere: 20 Minutes or Less
Price: $15/ month, $150/ year
Description:
Bodyweight Anywhere: 20 Minutes or Less is our program designed for both travelers and homebodies without access to gym equipment. These are moderate to high intensity conditioning workouts that can be finished in under 20 minutes, using basic bodyweight exercises. This program is a great way to get your workout out of the way without the hassle of having to even leave your living room.
Questions?
I’m getting better at anticipating questions from folks and hopefully I’ll address those here:
Can I get a discount if I sign-up for multiple programs?
Currently, no. These programs are designed to be “plenty” as stand-alone training. One of the interesting jobs we have as coaches is trying to keep people from bouncing around programs, hybridizing programs and worst of all ADDING programs together. We get emails from folks who are doing Wendler’s “531” in the morning, CF Endurance in the afternoon, and Starting Strength in the evening. With alternating sundays “off” where folks just do a “recovery run and some skill work.” There are lots of great approaches to training. Almost all of these approaches are made worthless when added together in a slapdash fashion. The only argument I might find compelling is if someone is signed up for say Intermediate S&C but they also travel frequently and would like to incorporate the BodyWeight Anywhere program. If we get a lot of feedback with interest in something like this, that’s as far as I’d go. AND I’d need a decent amount of convincing even that was a good idea. The programs have a lot of thought put into them. I’m not going to let someone scuttle their progress due to training ADHD.
The future
In addition to the above offerings we are working on a comprehensive nutrition program to compliment your training. That is a few months down the road but we are excited to add that to the NorCal offerings. I will also be poking around all the NorCal teams and offering advice and support where and when I think it may be helpful.
Is there any discount for fellow professionals in works?
Kurt-
The main discount we are looking at currently is for multiple family members who want in the program. Let me run this up the flag pole and see what I get back.
Sounds good. Congratulations on the program and keep up the great podcasts.
So, I’m very interested and also very new to crossfit type workouts. How would you go about teaching me proper form online? Just curious. TIA
Hannah- There WILL be an opportunity for folks to upload videos of current form which will allow for technique suggestions. I do not believe that is live as of yet but I’ll update when that is available.
What do I do if I don’t have access to a full fletched gym or the room for a barbell and squatstands? I have got a yogamat, pullupbar and kettlebells…
Can I still make use of the programs, other than the bodyweight one?
That’s a great question. Let me run this by the coaches and see what they recommend. Might be a good idea for us to list a minimum gear requirement for the various programs.
That would be great!
Rene,
The Bodyweight Anywhere and Low Intensity Basics is a good one to roll out with for limited equipment availability as KBs can sub in pretty easy for dumbbells and barbells in those programs.
Similar question that Rene’ had, what level would work at a place like Planet Fitness with dumbbells, Smith Machine (they prob don’t like me doing toes to bar on this, but it’s all I got), and such?
Thanks for rolling this out!
The NorCal coaches who developed the various templates will get on this so we have solid answers.
Craig,
The Low Intensity Basics program is a great one to do in most gyms. The beginning, intermediate, and advanced will require a little bit more variety of equipment and space for some of the conditioning segments.
Seriously interested. If I sign up, how soon does the program start?
I believe immediately!
Sandy, It starts immediately. You will see the beginning of each cycle right when you sign up. They are currently set up for specific dates (the cycle is currently running), but you could start right at the beginning of the cycle and ignore the dates.
Robb,
What program would you reccomendations for someone training bjj?
SAM! I’m working on a training update that will tackle this. But for me (43 YO has-been) the intermediate program is PLENTY. Especially if I am rolling quite consistently. I do sometimes substitute a low intensity cardio day if i am trashed.
How many workouts per week is the body weight anywhere program?
Hello Jody,
The Bodyweight anywhere program is a 4 Day a week program. Let me know if you have any further questions.
I have the same question as others. I have basic gym equipment such as weights and treadmill at home. I would like to know what else I need. Thanks.
Rita,
Equipment suggestions would be based of the program you want to follow. Bodyweight Anywhere program does not require any equipment other than your body to perform the work required in most cases.
If you are going to try the Low Intensity Basics program your equipment list could look like this:
-gymnastics rings (not required and sub moves are available)
-dumbbells ranging from 5 lbs – 35 lbs
-medball (can be a slam ball, wall ball, etc)
-plates ranging from 2.5 lbs – 25 lbs(used for some light mobility drills or light weighted exercises)
-a yoga mat
Would I need experience in O-lifting to do the intermediate program? I train in a globe gym. Thanks.
Alex,
There is little to no O-lifting currently in the intermediate program (time to time there could be some minor dumbbell olympic lifts like Snatches and Cleans, they are much easier to learn and we have videos that will accompany the programming that you can watch to teach yourself the movements). Our advanced programming will have Olympic weight lifts in the programming.
Excited to try one of your programs. I do not have any gym equipment, yet, but I’m planning on purchasing some weights. Do you have any suggestions?
Vidivir,
Equipment suggestions would be based of the program you want to follow. Bodyweight Anywhere program does not require any equipment other than your body to perform the work required in most cases.
If you are going to try the Low Intensity Basics program your equipment list could look like this:
-gymnastics rings (not required and sub moves are available)
-dumbbells ranging from 5 lbs – 35 lbs
-medball (can be a slam ball, wall ball, etc)
-plates ranging from 2.5 lbs – 25 lbs(used for some light mobility drills or light weighted exercises)
-a yoga mat
i’m interested but I think you need to provide more context around the programs. They should include descriptions of the movements, sample days, end goals, etc. is this really just Crossfit wods ? If so, I’m not interested. Unlike Glassman I believe in periodization. I’m not a big Oly fan so how much Oly lifting does each team program do? This is the sort of info that will help potential subscribers decide if it’s right for them. Good luck.
Great feedback Tim, the coaches are on it. As an aside: It’s NOT CrossFit.
Hi Tim!
Thank you for the feedback regarding the descriptions for the program offerings. We are in process of updating some of the club descriptions to be more specific, however listing specific movements can be a bit challenging due to the volume of movements in our catalog. That being said, I can definitely give you a better idea of what the programs entail.
Each program works toward progressions that would channel an individual through the clubs to their desired level of difficulty. In the Low Intensity program the focus is on very basic body weight movements, leading up to some very moderately weighted dumbbell exercises. This program has a huge focus on proper mechanics and developing midline strength and mobility in order to move on to more difficult clubs. There is no time component for this club.
The Beginning S&C club works body weight exercises, DB exercises and very basic barbell movements like a low bar backsquat. The cycle follows a periodized block for strength, and has a few very basic gymnastics precursors. In addition it has a large focus on developing midline strength, more advanced mobility, and more challenging conditioning with a time component.
The Intermediate club is where you will get into more focused strength based programming. Higher volume and periodization for multiple barbell lifts, however there is no barbell Olympic lifting. There a few Oly based technique movements to give folks some exposure to Olympic lifting, but te focus on on the Classic lifts, accessory work and gymnastics. There is a much bigger emphasis on gymnastics movement progressions, although the scope of the movements is rather small for each cycle in order to get a large amount of stimulus for each movement. The conditioning portion of the day’s include more advanced neurologically demanding stuff along with more challenging strength based exercises like pull-ups and ring dips.
The Advanced program so where you would see things like Cleans, Snatches, and lots of barbell accessory work. Higher volume squats and variations of squats. Conditioning will include higher lever gymnastics movements compared to the intermediate club, and the frequency of training would be much higher.
In regard to CrossFit, I can assure you that we have a much different philosophy for training. Movement mechanics and mobility lay the foundation, followed by proper progressions. We do the stuff that is hard regularly so you actually get better. We firmly believe that following a reasonable amount of training to become proficient in skills, get strong and fit without burning out or getting crushed is the only way to go. Hope that helps! Please let us know of you have any other questions!
Robb,
I travel 4 days a week as an airline pilot. My current plan is to continue Wendler’s “531” or Outlaw Barbell while home in my garage CrossFit style gym (usually three workouts in three strait days) and do something like Bodyweight Anywhere/Metcons on the road. I also looked into Gymnastics Bodies after your podcast for the “on the road” portion of my training. I would be very interested in some sort of hybrid programming as my challenging lifestyle makes it difficult to stay in a good programming cycle. Most hotel gyms have dumbbells but pull up bars and rings are hard to come by. Please let me know if adding the Bodyweight Anywhere to some sort of Oly lifting program makes sense at all.
I am also an airline pilot and would be very interested if this could be run as an addition to my existing two times per week crossfit whilst on the road or if there could be a hybrid option
Hello Brent and Rob!
Thanks for the questions, I’d be happy to give you both some more info. The body weight anywhere program would be a great addition for on the road time as far as getting in some conditioning. The program will physically demanding, but not technically demanding. The program incorporates some gymnastics based midline exercises, but nothing that is very technical. Hope that helps, please let us know if you have any other questions!
Is there flexibility on upgrading/downgrading based unknown ability or the program being too easy/too hard?
Reason: I’ve been weighlifting (barbells and dumbbells) for 3 years, but my weight numbers are not great due to a neurologically compromised right leg/shoulder/arm/hand. I think I’d fit in the intermediate category, but what are your thoughts?
By “unknown ability” I mean not knowing your metrics for categorizing myself in your programs.
Will get a coach on this!
Hi! Any follow up to my and others’ questions here? Would love to start the program 🙂
Chris-
I’ll ping the coaches
Hey Chris!
Thanks for your patience. It does sound like you would be a good fit for the intermediate program based on your experience. Of course, listening to your body and knowing what works for you is the best way to succeed, but not having great weight numbers shouldn’t be a limiting factor in the program at all. That being said if you sign up for the program and realize that a different program would be a better fit, email the support team at [email protected] and they can change switch your club membership. Thanks again for your patience and please let us know if you have any other questions!
Great news! Thanks 🙂
Hi Rob and Team!
I had been treated earlier this year for lattice degeneration on both eyes and have been advised by my doctor not to lift weights or engage in similar intense activities (I also used to be a dragon boat paddler) to avoid any buildup in my eye pressure. I had found it very challenging to maintain the same fitness level as I had in past after removing bodyweight training and dragonboat paddling and switching to swimming and running. I was wondering if I could still benefit from the bodyweight program being offered – will I have access to a customized training plan that takes my eye condition into consideration? I have tried searching long and hard for exercises for people with eye pressure problems (ex. Glaucoma) but mostly find only cardio-related activities being suggested.
Thanks in advance!
JC-
In researching lattice degeneration there does seem to be some linkage to insulin resistance. Have you tinkered with a lower carb eating program to see if it has any benefits?
As to the training: It seems like ANY activity that requires some kind of tensing, pressurization etc will be problematic. It SEEMS like if there is an IR issue here addressing that may open up your training options…but this is at best a guess.
Thanks for the response Rob! I’ve been hovering around 70-80% paleo though not necessarily low-carb, I’ll try to readjust and see how everything feels afterwards. As for training, guess I’ll have to get creative and research further on what my options are.
Just wondering if there was any progress being made into the comprehensive nutrition program mentioned above.
Hey Robb,
We are thinking of using the program, can you tell us is the nutrition components is included in the S&C program. For Example Monday I have to a S&C set and my three meals for the day are mapped out?
I do not believe that these cover nutrition as well, I think that they only cover the training aspect.