Which Fitness Program Is Right for You?

Health

If You Want to Become All-Around Fit…

Atomic Athlete

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If you’re looking to achieve all-around fitness this year, you can’t go wrong with Atomic Athlete. Founded by Jake Saenz and Tod Moore (check out my podcast with them), Atomic Athlete’s goal is to make people who are “harder to kill.” Atomic’s main offering is their Hybrid Programming. It combines strength and aerobic conditioning in intense, hour-long workouts that you do five times a week. You’ll be doing squats, shoulder presses, bench presses, and various Olympic lifts along with bodyweight exercises like push-ups and pull-ups. For the conditioning portion, you’ll be doing a lot of sprints, sandbag work, kettlebells, and sled pushes.

While the Hybrid program looks a lot like CrossFit, it’s a lot less random and more programmed. The workouts are designed weeks in advance and structured into periodic cycles with specific goals in mind — there’s a real method to their madness. I followed the Atomic Athlete Hybrid program back in 2014 and saw excellent results with it. My conditioning was at its peak when I was following it, and I turned in my best performance at Conquer the Gauntlet.

Another benefit of the Atomic Athlete Hybrid program is the variety they build into it. It was always fun to see what we’d be working on with each new cycle. You definitely won’t get bored with it.

Besides the Hybrid program, Atomic Athlete also offers programs geared towards strength, endurance, and getting ready for military service.

The downside is that the workouts do require a bit of speciality equipment like sandbags, sleds, and kettlebells. Most gyms have them these days, but if yours doesn’t you’ll need to adjust the workouts (Atomic offers alternatives if you’re missing a piece of equipment). The workouts also absolutely smoke you, which is a pro or con depending on your taste, and tolerance for feeling beat during the day.

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