The six jobs of a functional-fitness week

A good functional-fitness week isn't a pile of hard workouts. It's six jobs, each with a place, sequenced so they build on each other instead of cannibalizing each other.

Here's the shape - and why the order matters as much as the contents.

The six, in order

Strength: squat, press, pull, hinge on percentage schemes off your tested 1RMs - the base under everything. Gymnastics and skill: muscle-up, handstand push-up, toes-to-bar progressions, trained on a fresh nervous system, not buried in fatigue. Metcons: mixed-modal conditioning across time domains, scaled to where your mechanics hold.

The engine: monostructural aerobic work that powers recovery between efforts and wins the long pieces. Accessory: targeted work for the weak links your logs actually expose. Active recovery: deliberate low-intensity days, banked into the week so intensity lands where it counts.

Sequencing is the secret

Heavy nervous-system work stays off your highest-skill days so each is done fresh. The engine day doesn't sabotage the strength day. Recovery is placed, not hoped for.

Random hard work makes you tired. Sequenced work makes you better - the difference is a program, not a grind.