Hey Reader,
How did 25.2 go for you?
As we wrap up the 2025 CrossFit Open this week I am reminded of how much engine work is truly needed to compete.
Everyone loves to lift heavy in isolation but when it comes down to it CrossFit is a work-capacity sport.
You need to be strong and conditioned.
A big part of developing work capacity is training appropriately for where you are currently at in your training life cycle.
The training life cycle is the lifespan of your training age from a beginner to a grandmaster.
We'll dive more into it below but where you sit in your life cycle dictates the best training program for you to maximize your potential and avoid training setbacks.
Keep reading to determine the best training program based on your training age.
This Week's Training
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Day 1 - 3/10/2025
Option 1:
Redo 25.2
Option 2:
A) Clean - 2 reps every 2 min x 5 min - building but no more than 87.5%
B) Back Squat - 20X1; Build to a tough 3 for the day (5-7 sets)
C) Metcon
3 Rounds for Time
20/18 Cal Assault Bike
15 Power Cleans 95/65#
10 Burpee Over Bar
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Be sure to snap a pic of your training and tag @WillMurtagh_DPT on social!
Deep Dive
The Best Training Program for You Based on Your Training Age
Your training success isn’t just about how hard you work but how you train.
The concept of training age plays a huge role in determining the best approach for your workouts.
Unlike chronological age, which is simply the number of years you’ve been alive, training age reflects your total training time and years of training experience in the gym.
If you skip foundational phases or train beyond your recovery capabilities, you’re likely to hit plateaus, experience burnout, or suffer injuries.
All of which lead to poor progress towards your fitness goals and missing the mark as far as building the body you want and reaching your maximum physical potential.
Below we'll break down the best training program for you based on your training age, ensuring that you maximize progress while staying strong and pain-free.
The Training Lifecycle
Beginner (~500 Sessions)
When you're new to the gym, your body is highly responsive to training.
You may see quick improvements in strength, endurance, and movement efficiency, but these adaptations depend on a structured and progressive approach.
Many beginners make the mistake of jumping into heavy lifting and high-intensity workouts before mastering basic movement patterns, which limits long-term potential.
Beginners simply don't have the nervous system to express heavy loads and high intensity.
Your primary focus at this stage should be movement quality.
Training sessions should revolve around full-body workouts to maximize frequency and reinforce technique (motor control).
Foundational patterns like squatting, hinging, pressing, pulling, and carrying should become second nature before adding intensity.
Aerobic work and full-body resistance training help build general work capacity while keeping the work you do in the gym within your current capabilities.
If you know a new CrossFitter who never seems to get a good workout in the metcon this is why.
They are rushing the process and aren't able to dig deep into their system like older clients.
Intermediate (~1000 Sessions)
As you accumulate years of training experience, your body becomes more developed (from a nervous system and muscle mass standpoint), and your training sessions need to reflect that.
By this point, you’ve developed solid movement efficiency and a stronger work capacity, but maximizing your progress is still an ongoing process.
Progressing further at this stage requires a more targeted approach to strength and energy system development.
Instead of full-body workouts, you’ll benefit from a split training plan, such as upper/lower or push/pull sessions, allowing for more focused and intense strength work while managing recovery.
The change from full body to split training happens because you can now lift heavier loads and the extra recovery day to day is warranted.
Progressive training methods like linear periodization help improve absolute strength, while aerobic and anaerobic conditioning build work capacity.
This is also the stage where you should begin incorporating more advanced movements, such as kipping, barbell cycling, and gymnastics skills, but only if your movement quality allows for it.
Advanced (~2,000-5,000 Sessions)
At this stage, your years of training experience have built a high level of strength, skill, and energy system efficiency.
While progress is still possible, gains require a more precise approach to stress and recovery.
Advanced athletes can dig so far into their nervous system that they can give everything they have to a single lift.
​Think about how systemically taxing squatting 500 pounds or performing Fran in under 2 minutes would feel like.
You would need to carefully manage what you do the rest of the day/week to avoid over-training.
For training days, single-movement training days, such as squat day, deadlift day, or bench press day, allow for focused strength development while managing fatigue.
Your metcons can now blend cyclical, gymnastics, and weightlifting elements to maximize your fitness across a wide variety of work and time domains.
Outside of actual training recovery strategies such as proper nutrition, sleep, and mobility work are no longer optional.
If you want to stay in the gym operating on al cylinders every bit of recover is needed between sessions.
Managing total training volume while increasing specificity and intensity ensures that each training session has a clear purpose, optimizing performance while minimizing injury risk.
Master (~5,000+ Sessions)
With a high level of experience, you are still capable of strong performances, but recovery demands increase.
Joint health, mobility, and smart training progressions become even more critical.
You may have bean to feel this stage after about 35 years of age where you still have some juice left as far as performance but you notice you don't recover quite like you used to.
A split-body training plan, such as upper/lower or push/pull, helps in this stage to balance recovery and workload.
Your metcons can emphasize cyclical and gymnastic movements over heavy barbell cycling to reduce joint stress while maintaining work capacity.
But, with smart pacing and intent, you can continue to include cyclical, gymnastics, and weights in metcons.
If you have previous or current injuries prioritize joint-friendly strength work, mobility drills, and recovery methods like extended warm-ups, aerobic base maintenance, and active recovery sessions to extend training longevity.
Grandmaster (~500+ Sessions)
At this stage, recovery time increases significantly, and the risk of injury and joint pain rises if volume and intensity are not adjusted properly.
Muscle mass and strength decline with age, but a well-structured training regimen can slow or even prevent age-related muscle loss.
The best way to maintain long-term fitness is to prioritize movement efficiency and joint health over max-effort training.
Full-body workouts will provide enough frequency to maintain strength without generating excessive fatigue.
Your metcons should emphasize cyclical movements like rowing, biking, and ski erg instead of high-impact exercises.
Strength work should focus on maintaining a full range of motion, and functional patterns, to promote joint health long term.
Lowering overall training volume while maintaining frequency allows you to preserve movement proficiency without overloading the body.
Why Your Training Age Matters
The best way to make progress in the gym is to train with purpose, but many athletes fail to recognize that training success depends on timing and progression.
Your body adapts based on experience, not just effort, and failing to train according to your training age can lead to setbacks and poor progress.
Beginners often make the mistake of jumping into heavy lifting, one-rep max attempts, and high-intensity metcons before their bodies have developed the necessary movement efficiency, muscle strength, and nervous system coordination.
This prevents them from building a solid foundation to do so later in their training life.
Intermediate and advanced lifters sometimes push too much volume, ignoring the increased recovery time needed as their nervous system takes on greater demands.
For masters and grandmasters, the biggest challenge is training in a way that maintains their hard-earned gains over their lifetime without overloading the body.
Whether you’re a young athlete building strength for the first time or an experienced lifter adapting your training regimen for longevity, understanding your training age is the key to long-term success.
Wrapping Up on Training Age
There’s no shortcut to long-term progress—only the right approach for your training age.
Strength, endurance, and skill development all follow a natural progression, and recognizing where you are in the training lifecycle helps you make smarter decisions.
By aligning your training with your experience level, you can maximize gains, avoid unnecessary injuries, and stay in the game for years to come.
The goal isn’t just to train hard—it’s to train effectively, with every session moving you closer to peak performance, healthy, and pain-free.
I have made many of the mistakes I mentioned above and my goal for this post is to help you avoid doing the same.
If you found this helpful and would like me to design your training program based on where you currently sit in your training lifecycle please don't hesitate to reach out.
​CLICK HERE to schedule a risk-free consultation!
This Week's Blog Post
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The 5 Best Adidas Shoes For CrossFit Training in 2025
This article will help you find the best Adidas shoes for your CrossFit workouts. We’ll break down the specific features of top picks, showing you how each one supports key aspects of your training.
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When you're ready, here's how I can help you
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Book your free consultation - (Click Here)
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A 1:1 movement screen to identify the root cause of your aches and pains.
This movement screen is the exact same one performed in my 1:1 Pain-Free Performance Program.
Book a virtual movement screen, and If we decide to work together to fix what we find, your movement screen is 100% free!
If not, you’ll have the answers you need to reach your goals.
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Purchase a Joint Protocol
Start one of my 6-week joint protocols.
These programs are designed to build joint mobility, stability, and resilience so you can feel confident in their ability to handle your training.
They are based on CrossFit's most commonly injured joints (shoulder, lower back, hip, knee, and ankle).
Purchase a Joint Protocol Today! (Click Here)
Talk to you soon, Reader
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Dr. Will Murtagh, PT, DPT, MS, CSCS, CISSN
Physical Therapist | Remote Fitness Coach
P.S. My 1:1 Coaching service is CLOSING for the next 12 weeks on 3/10!
To get in before it does, click the link below.
​Click here for a free consultation on how to train-pain free and look and perform better in under 12 weeks.
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