Back in April, I told you that I was embarking on a 25-week program in preparation for a Spartan Race Super 10k. I dubbed this plan "Project Hoplite" and it covers many aspects of physical success done in a progressive manner. My "why" boils down to a belief in the value of doing hard things. For my family, it's important that I'm seen as an example, particularly for my son to see an active dad who puts in hard work. I want my coworkers to respect my discipline and ability to put in serious effort. As for myself, I want to be as mentally and physically capable as possible, despite not being as young as I once was. For everyone else, I want to be perceived as physically capable (if not dangerous). That's a conversation for another day, though.



I've completed the first six-week block of training. This week is an "easy week" of reduced training load before going into the next six-week block. As promised, I wanted to give you an update on how training has gone so far and any lessons learned.





























A Short Review of the Training



The overall plan is 25 weeks long. It's comprised of several six-week blocks that progress from general strength and conditioning to sport-specific training for the obstacle course race. I officially started the plan on May 5th, 2025.



The first and second blocks look more or less the same. I believe consistency on your lifts is important to actually drive adaptation and see progress. Rather than going entirely on my own for the programming, I've been blending three different programs from different coaches.



My StrengthLog App's depiction of weekly work report



Strength Work



First is Tactical Barbell's "Fighter" template, a minimalist program based on barbells (duh, it's in the name). These workouts consist of flat bench presses, squats, weighted chin ups, and I've also added in weighted dips. These are the "A" workouts, and they're pure strength work.



Next is Geoff Neupert's "Giant X" program, which is a double kettlebell clean and press density system. Every session is 30 minutes, and the goal is completing as many times through the prescribed "ladder" as you can with good technique and a controlled heart rate within that time. A ladder is some varying number of repetitions done sequentially.



For example, a 2/3/5 ladder means you do two repetitions, take a short break,