State of MADness: 2024 Program Design

Written by Kristi Wass

December 27, 2023

Strength, structure, and accountability continue to define the value of MADabolic’s world-class programming. The MADabolic Training System will emphasize strength and structure through five areas of progression in 2024:

  1. TECHNIQUE: our baseline movement patterns prioritize fundamental movement quality and serve as the building blocks of the progression you’ll sustain on our training floor.
  2. REPETITION: repetition of these baseline movement patterns accelerates and sustains the process of progression.
  3. VARIED INTENSITY: we introduce varied intensities as the critical complement to repetition, which systematically challenges our baseline movement through a wide range of energy systems.
  4. MACRO + MESO + MICRO PROGRAMMING: our signature 52-week macro approach consists of four 12-weekmesocycles. Each mesocycle then breaks down into six 2-week microcycles (marked by a dominant intensity). This signature design can accommodate a wide variety of schedules without compromising the ability to naturally increase clients’ load, volume, and intensity to meet their specific fitness level and speed of progression.
  5. RECOVERY: recovery is a celebrated and mandatory component of the MADabolic program…not an afterthought. Our 4x/week training protocol allows for lifestyle customization, is driven by a sustainable workload, and is supported by active recovery and scheduled rest.


One thing’s for certain: no other group fitness franchise on the market applies this degree purposeful top-down program design. It remains THE primary MADabolic differentiator and directly feeds the unstoppable results our members nationwide can’t stop talking about.

SIGNATURE INTERVAL BREAKDOWN


THE ‘M’ STANDS FOR MOMENTUM 

An energetic fusion of athleticism and endurance. Respect the build as your trainer leads you through a gradual progression in pace and intensity. Though a 2:1 work-to-rest ratio is consistent from start to finish, momentum intervals are designed to peak in the final minutes. Expect a dynamic combination of athletic lifts, paired with plyometrics, and multi-directional agility that will bring out your inner athlete.

  • The Focus: Athleticism & Endurance
  • The Pace : 70 -> 80 -> 90%
  • The Ratio: 2:1 Work to Rest
  • The Goal: A gradual build in pace & intensity
  • The Feel: Energetic

THE ‘A’ STANDS FOR ANAEROBIC

An intense exhibition of speed and power. This is the difference between “exercising” and “training.” Driven by a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio, expect a consistent assortment of heavy and explosive baseline movement patterns paired with cardiovascular sprints that will send your beats per minute into overdrive.

  • The Focus: Speed & Power
  • The Pace: 100%
  • The Ratio: 1:1 Work to Rest
  • The Goal: An All-Out Max Effort
  • The Feel: Intense

THE ‘D’ STANDS FOR DURABILITY

A grueling display of stability and stamina. While this is often the missing link to most conditioning products, time under tension has always been a defining element of our programming. Expect a gritty selection of weighted carries, primal crawling patterns, and unilateral stability work that will force a slower, methodical grind to match a lengthier 3:1 work-to-rest period.

  • The Focus: Stability & Stamina
  • The Pace: 80%
  • The Ratio: 3:1 Work to Rest
  • The Goal: A Steady Grind.
  • The Feel: Grueling

GAME DAYS & DELOAD WEEKS

Deload Week occurs every 13th week to cap off the previous 12 weeks of strength-bias training. Throughout the week, you won’t see weights on the floor, and you’ll work at a consistent 70% pace. Primal athleticism, agility, bodyweight movements, cardio, and striking are all at play during this uniquely- and thoughtfully programmed week. Deload week helps prevent overtraining and offers the body and mind necessary rest. The result — you’ll return refreshed and ready to maximize your progress over the next 12-week cycle. 

Game Days have returned to our schedule for 2024. This performance-driven event allows you to set a personal benchmark to assess individual growth over time. Through a series of physical efforts, we measure strength, power, athleticism, and endurance. Think about this as a semi-annual report card to help measure and track your ongoing progress with us. Game Day will hit on the Saturday of Deload Week in Q1 and Q3. On the Saturday of Q2 and Q4 Deload Week, we will host a “Game Day Prep” interval-driven workout to do just that: prep for Game Day.

THE HOW-TO:

The ideal weekly schedule to deliver optimal results consists of 4x MADabolic intervals per week. The basic equation and best advice we can give you is to commit to a consistent four-day/week schedule with us.

Weekly Targets:

  • 4x MADabolic Intervals (Per Week)
  • 2x Passion-Driven Workouts -or- Active Rest Days (Per Week)
  • 1x Day Off (Per Week)

Complementary Movement:

  • Passion-Driven Workouts = Yoga, Cycle, LSD Cardio, Barre, Pilates
  • Active Rest Day = Easy Movement with No Agenda (Ex. Golf, Hiking)
  • Day Off = Complete Rest

Ideal MAD Training Splits:

  • Monday / Tuesday / Thursday / Saturday
  • Tuesday / Wednesday / Friday / Sunday
  • Tuesday / Wednesday / Thursday / Friday (no weekends)

Once you commit to your ideal weekly schedule, stick to it 90% of the time in 2024, and the proprietary program design will take care of itself. Do this, and we promise you results — which you can directly measure through Game Day!

We also realize that schedules and family dynamics differ for everyone. For those who cannot commit to this exact regimen, shoot for a consistent weekly schedule, ideally hitting all three (Momentum, Anaerobic, And Durability) themed intervals per week.  Do this, and you will still largely benefit from a scaled-down version of our 4x/week recommendation.

And for those of you who leverage MADabolic to complement your primary fitness discipline (i.e., distance running, power yoga, competitive cycling, etc.), we highly encourage choosing a consistent 2x day per week (ex Monday/Thursday) with us into your weekly training schedule to support some serious performance improvements!

Regardless of the scenario, the most important thing is that you commit to a consistent and sustainable schedule. Remember… routine is NOT the enemy!

TIER STANDARDS

Our proprietary TIER system provides a baseline set of standards tailored to each client’s progress and athletic journey. These standards focus exclusively on the daily cardiovascular efforts independently controlled by our Concept2 machines: the RowERG, the BikeERG, and the SkiERG.

  • T1 = supports “Entry Level” strength and conditioning numbers
  • T2 = supports “Intermediate Level” strength and conditioning numbers
  • T3 = supports “Experienced Level” strength and conditioning numbers
  • T4 = supports “Advanced Level” strength and conditioning numbers
  • TT = supports “Competitive Athlete Level” strength and conditioning numbers

SUPPORT

We realize this can be a little overwhelming. If you are in any way confused, please reach out to your local community leader for a more detailed explanation. They are well-trained in all of our systems and will be more than happy to help you design an ideal schedule to complement your athletic lifestyle.

SUMMARY

No fads or gimmicks; we simply execute what works. Our signature strength-driven approach presents a challenging-meets-accessible environment unique to each client.

Furthermore, our exclusive interpretation of pace and intensity is unrivaled in our market, and the results scream for themselves: so come channel your inner athlete and see what it’s like to train at the industry’s only Strength-Driven Interval Training franchise.

Brandon Cullen, Co-Founder / Chief Concept Officer

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