Get Swole, Sister: Strength, Conditioning, and Nutrition for Women

22 May 2022 Off By admin

EDITOR’S NOTE: Christy Baroni and Jenna Torres, collectively known as the Swole Sisters, coach at Conviction Training Facility on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Their Swole Sisters program was created to help women break out of boring, ineffective weight loss routines and get strong, confident, and, in a word, swole.

To learn more about Christy and Jenna and for more information, read (and watch) our introduction to the Swole Sisters and their nutrition and training philosophy.

A Message to Women Wanting Something Better for Their Body

What you are about to embark on is a six-week strength and conditioning program designed by women, for women, with the specific purpose of building lean muscle mass, losing fat, and becoming a Swole Sister.

The Swole Sister program is actually two programs – a nutrition program and a strength and conditioning program – that coincide with each other. One does not exist without the other.

The Strength and Conditioning Program

This program is set up by week and by day. Your rest days are on Wednesday and Sunday. Block out sixty to 75 minutes for the Monday and Saturday workouts.

Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday should take no more than an hour. Monday and Saturday workouts take priority over the other days. Make sure these workouts get done.

Monday and Saturday focus on the clean and jerk, which is one of the Olympic lifts. The idea behind Swole Sisters is to use Olympic weightlifting to build lean muscle mass and lose fat.

With that in mind, we want you to spend as much time under the barbell as possible to become confident and comfortable moving weight. For this reason, we focus only on the clean and jerk during this six-week series.

When looking at this program it is important to take it one day and one piece at a time. Programs can seem overwhelming and confusing when looked at as a whole. When we take it piece by piece, it is more easily managed.

If there is a movement you do not understand, don’t worry. There are links to movements and technique tips throughout the program.

If you are worried about how much weight you will have to lift in this program, you can relax.

The weight is scaled for you using percentages. Conditioning is scalable as well. If you are unable to safely perform a movement with the weight suggested, do not hesitate to drop the weight. You will see scaling suggestions throughout the program.

The Shankle Complex is used as a test at the beginning and end of the program. Although we do not believe in any one specific way of coaching weightlifting, Donny Shankle is the person who helped us understand how these movements should feel.

Why We Use the Shankle Complex

We highly respect Donny Shankle as an athlete and coach (and he is very swole).

For building lean muscle, performing higher reps at a medium load is most effective.

Before you start any of your workouts get your body ready. Suggestions for mobilizing and warming up are listed in the program. Spend about ten minutes on this.

Lastly – don’t forget to have fun! This program is a commitment. It will take time, and it will take effort. If it is not fun, though, you are missing a piece of this program.

Start this program with a friend (preferably one with the same availability as you) Train together as often as possible. This will help not only with accountability, but also with keeping the program fun!

Downloads for this program

Swole Sisters Suggested Mobility

10 wrist circles in each direction (both wrists)
10 ankle circles in each direction (both ankles)
10 high kicks per leg
10 side kicks per leg
Hips from Plank
Samson stretch
10 arm circles forward (both arms at the same time)
10 arm circles backwards (both arms at the same time)
Tricep stretch
5 torso twist (each direction)
3 4-point squat

Suggested Warm Up

5 behind-the-neck strict press
3 hang power cleans (empty barbell)
3 front squats (empty barbell)
3 clean deadlift (empty barbell)
3 cleans (empty barbell)
5 strict pull ups or ring rows
500m row, 400m run, or 3 minutes of jump rope

Week 4: The Fruits of Your Labor

This is the best week of the whole program. You will enjoy visible results in the next seven days. I’m assuming you have been dialed in to your daily nutrition habits and you got through week three without punching anyone? Or maybe you did punch someone. No judgment either way.

There is a whole movement starting that runs counter to what you see in magazines and on TV. She’s the confident girl. Not perfect by any stretch, but so in love with her contributions to this world that her imperfections are celebrated right along with her accomplishments. This is the Swole Movement, and you are part of it.

So go post your pics to Instagram, #swolesisters! Show us your best. We want to see you having fun, food prepping, and enjoying your new found swoledom.

Week 4 Training Sessions

Be sure to scroll down for instructional videos at the end of each week’s programming.

Monday

Strength

EMOM clean and jerk. Go off your 1RM from Saturday of week 1.

1 rep @70% for 5 Minutes
1 rep @75% for 5 Minutes
1 rep @80% for 5 Minutes

then
ADD 5% each minute thereafter until you miss (you should get 16-21 reps)
There is no rest between percentages. This ends up being a 15-21 minute EMOM. Do not exceed 21 Minutes.

Conditioning

4x200m sprints, rest :30 between efforts

If your time drops more than 3 seconds, then 1:00 before the next sprint.

Accessory work
5 rounds for QUALITY

12 weighted good mornings with 5lbs more than last week
16 leg lifts

Tuesday

Strength

Take 15-20 minutes to complete:

Strict press: 8-8-8-8

Warm up to 70% of your 1RM strict press then start your first set of strict presses. Try to move up in weight each set. Each set should be challenging, but done with great technique.

Conditioning

8 Tabata rounds of each movement:

pull ups
5 front squat to press with 65lbs
double unders
sit ups

*Record your total reps of each movement

Scaling options for pull ups

ring rows
negative pull ups

Scaling options for double unders

10 double unders or double under attempts
50 single jump rope jumps

Wednesday

Rest and mobilize ankles, calves, hips, hamstrings, T-spine, and shoulders

Thursday

Strength

Take 15-20 minutes to complete:

Push press: 8-8-8-8

Warm up to 70% of your 1RM push press then start your first set of push presses. Try to move up in weight each set. Each set should be challenging, but done with great technique.

Conditioning

3 rounds

500m row
rest 1:00
20 dumbbell bench press (10-25lbs)
rest :30
10 over-the-bench burpees
rest 1:00

Scaling options for over the bench burpees

Jump on the bench and then step over
Step on to the bench and then step over
Jump or step over your dumbbells

Friday

Strength

Take 15-20 minutes to complete:
Back squat: 8-8-8-8

Warm up to 70% of your 1RM back squat, then start your first set of squats. Try to move up in weight each set. Each set should be challenging, but done with great technique.

Conditioning
5 rounds for time and reps:

:30 max overhead walking lunges with 25lbs
200m sprint
Rest 1:00

Scale weight is needed or hold a PVC pipe overhead.

Saturday

Strength

15 minutes to build up to a heavy hang power clean to overhead

1 clean deadlift+3 hang clean pull]

3 sets @ 93%
2 sets @ 97%
1 set @ 102%

Percentages are based on your best clean.

10 minutes to a heavy single: behind-the-neck push press
then

3 [email protected]% of the day’s heavy single behind-the-neck push press

Conditioning

Prowler push – 10x30m (35lbs on each side)

Rest :60 between rounds

Options if you don’t have a prowler:
1. Push a car. You MUST do this with a friend. Put the car in neutral. One person has to be in the driver seat steering the car and braking when needed while the other person pushes.

2. 10 rounds

3. 6 rounds

Accessory work

4 rounds for QUALITY, not time

25 sit ups
15 super womans

Swole Demonstration Videos

Week 4

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

CategoryEXERCISES FITNESS WORKOUTS

Tagsworkouts