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The systems used in strength training today were built through decades of coaching, research, experimentation, and education.

In this episode, the KILO Crew traces the people and resources that most shaped their understanding of programming, periodization, strength development, power, and coaching.

Stéphane explains how Charles Poliquin first expanded his view beyond bodybuilding and introduced a more technical approach to exercise selection, tempo, loading, and nervous system development.

The conversation then moves through Ian King’s systematic thinking, Joe DeFranco’s ability to blend training philosophies, Larry Vinette’s role as a true mentor, and the foundational work of authors and researchers including Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Yuri Verkhoshansky, Mel Siff, Mike Stone, Tudor Bompa, Carmelo Bosco, Dan Baker, William Kraemer, Steven Fleck, and many others.

They also discuss why understanding research requires more than reading an abstract, how trusted educators can help coaches interpret science, and the importance of knowing where the principles behind modern strength training came from.

The episode closes with an important distinction: the KILO system is not presented as the only successful approach to training. It is a connected framework built from established principles, years of application, and a clear understanding of how the pieces fit together.

Know where the ideas came from, then learn how to apply them.

RECOMMENDED READING

12 Essential Books That Shaped Our Strength Training Philosophy, read the full article ⁠here⁠.

Science and Practice of Strength Training

Vladimir Zatsiorsky, William Kraemer and Andrew Fry

Supertraining

Yuri Verkhoshansky and Mel Siff

Poliquin Principles

Charles Poliquin

Strength and Power in Sport

Paavo Komi

The Physiology of Training

Gregory Whyte and Neil Spurway

Strength and Conditioning: Biological Principles and Practical Applications

Marco Cardinale, Robert Newton and Kazunori Nosaka

Strength and Conditioning in Sports: From Science to Practice

Michael Stone, Timothy Suchomel, W. Hornsby and John Wagle

Periodization of Strength Training for Sports

Tudor Bompa and Carlo Buzzichelli

Scientific Foundations and Practical Applications of Periodization

G. Gregory Haff

How to Write Strength Training Programs

Ian King

Fitness and Strength Training for All Sports

Jurgen Hartmann

Developing the Athlete: An Applied Sport Science Roadmap for Optimizing Performance

William J. Kraemer, Nicholas Ratamess and Thomas Newman

0:00 Introduction OGs of strength training

1:07 Charles Poliquin the foundational influence

6:56 Ian King

18:29 Joe DeFranco

20:09 Eric Cressey and Christian Thibaudeau

22:15 Larry Vinette

26:09 Gilles Cometti and Supertraining

27:38 Science and Practice by Zatsiorsky

30:10 Mike Stone 

36:04 Schmidtbleicher and German research

38:12 Bompa 

39:19 Carmelo Bosco

40:28 Dan Baker and the Australian research boom

42:27 Scandinavian researchers and conditioning science

43:46 How to actually approach research today

52:08 Closing thoughts and recommended reading

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In this Rapid Fire Q&A episode, the KILO Crew breaks down several programming questions that strength coaches and personal trainers run into with real clients.

The episode starts with a practical coaching problem: how to fit remedial, accessory, and supportive work into a 40-minute full-body session for a beginner who trains three days per week. From there, the conversation moves into session structure, exercise pairing, training economy, warm-up integration, and how to decide what belongs in the program when time is limited.

The crew also discusses when a client actually needs more direct isolation work versus when they simply need better execution and more time under the bar with compound lifts. That leads into a deeper discussion on functional hypertrophy for body recomposition, why it works well under a moderate deficit, and how the right training structure can support both hypertrophy and strength retention.

The episode also covers ascending and descending mesocycle loading, when each strategy makes sense, why they are not beginner tools, and how they can be used to organize fatigue, volume, and strength expression across a phase. Finally, Pauric explains the difference between acute and chronic training load, and when those metrics become useful for coaches managing mixed-modality athletes.

This episode is about making better programming decisions, not adding more exercises for the sake of it.

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Hybrid training is everywhere right now.

From HYROX and run clubs to recreational sports, Pilates, conditioning, mobility work, and strength training, more general population clients are adding multiple training modalities into their week.

But more training does not automatically mean better results.

In this episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew breaks down how coaches should think about programming for hybrid clients who want to build strength, improve conditioning, move better, and still recover.

We discuss why recovery capacity has to guide the program, how parallel emphasis differs from pure parallel training, when strength work should shift to maintenance, and why simply adding more volume can quickly become a problem.

Steph and Pauric also explain how to adjust strength training when cardio, running, sport, mobility, or fat loss are part of the goal, including when to use full-body training, upper/lower splits, buffers, zone two work, higher-intensity conditioning, and mobility exposure.

The big takeaway: cardio does not kill your gains. Poor programming, poor load management, and ignoring recovery do.

If you coach clients who lift, run, play sports, take classes, or want to feel athletic again, this episode will help you make smarter decisions with program design and periodization.

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Progressive Anatomical Adaptation Blocks, or PAABs, are among the most misunderstood components of the KILO system.

In this episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew breaks down what PAAB actually is, how it differs from structural balance, and why it should be viewed as strength preparation rather than simply rehab or remedial training.

Steph and Pauric explain the difference between building strength ratios and preparing the joints, tissues, and movement patterns required for harder training later on. They cover when a client may need PAAB, when it may not be the best use of time, and why strong trainees, athletes, beginners, and beat-up lifters can all benefit from it in different ways.

The conversation also walks through how PAAB sessions are structured, why the work is organized around joints and tissues, and how longer time under tension, slower tempos, eccentrics, isometrics, and controlled ranges of motion help build the foundation for future strength training.

This is not about keeping clients in low-level corrective work forever.

It is about knowing when to prepare the body, how to progress that preparation, and when to move on to more advanced strength work.

PAAB is the foundation that lets better training happen next.

0:00 Introduction to PAAB

1:41 Origins of structural balance

4:51 Structural balance vs anatomical adaptation

6:56 What PAAB actually is

11:53 When a client needs PAAB

14:06 PAAB session structure walkthrough

21:16 Building joint work capacity

27:52 Specialty methods

34:23 Why PAAB blocks are six weeks

38:08 How long to stay on PAAB

45:17 Progressive shoulder rehab example

47:55 MAP assessment and PAAB

49:15 Importance of lower back training

54:58 Explaining PAAB to clients

56:23 Wrap up and final thoughts

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In this Rapid Fire Q&A episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew works through a wide range of programming questions that strength coaches and personal trainers run into when building real programs for real clients.

The conversation starts with whether different body parts can be trained for different goals within the same macrocycle, and why the answer depends on how far apart those goals are, the client’s limitations, and the recovery cost of the overall plan.

From there, the crew discusses why KILO has moved away from certain older testing models, including maximal strength deficit testing, and how assessment should evolve as coaching systems improve.

The episode also covers how bench angle changes triceps extension variations, why seated, standing, lying, and kneeling leg curls should be viewed more as programming variations than strict progressions, and why limiting lifts do not automatically belong on the first training day of the week.

Later, the discussion moves into neck training, conditioning across different macrocycle goals, nutrition adjustments around conditioning sessions, and the difference between relative strength ratios and strength ratios.

This episode is a reminder that good programming is not about memorizing rules. It is about understanding the principles well enough to know when a rule applies, when it does not, and what changes downstream when you adjust it.

Better coaching starts with better decision-making.

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In this Rapid Fire Q&A episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew tackles a wide range of coaching questions around specificity, strength reserve, long-term planning, and how to make better training decisions when the answer is not obvious.

The episode opens with a discussion on preparing for HYROX and other strength endurance events, including why most athletes should spend more time building a strength reserve before rushing into highly specific work.

From there, the conversation moves into lower body hypertrophy for speed athletes, examining when full range knee-dominant work is useful, when it may need to be reduced, and why the demands of a pure sprinter are not the same as those of a team sport athlete.

The crew also breaks down how to think about hypertrophy-focused years versus maximal strength-focused years, especially when applying concepts from specialization courses. They cover heavy inertia work for maximal strength, how rep ranges depend on range of motion and time under tension, and why percentage-based answers often fall short.

The episode closes with practical guidance on returning high-training-age athletes after injury and choosing between rapid eccentrics, overcoming isometrics, inertia, and more traditional contrast methods during peaking phases.

For coaches, this episode is a reminder that the best training decisions come from understanding principles, not copying methods.

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Exercise selection is never just about choosing what “works” a muscle. Every exercise comes with a recovery cost, and smart programming depends on knowing when that cost is worth paying.

In this episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO team breaks down how recovery demand changes based on exercise selection, load potential, range of motion, stability, strength curve, muscle length, proximity to failure, and weekly training structure. A squat and a wrist curl do not ask the same thing from the body, but the same principle applies when comparing a leg press to a step-up, a good morning to a deadlift, or a seated leg curl to a standing leg curl. 

The discussion moves beyond simple “hard versus easy” exercise choices and into the coaching decisions that actually shape a program. Where does the exercise sit in the session? What else is trained that week? Is the goal to drive adaptation, manage fatigue, peak a lift, or support another modality like sprinting, conditioning, or sport practice? 

This episode is for trainers and strength coaches who want to stop treating recovery as something that happens after training and start seeing it as something built into the program from the beginning.

Better exercise selection means better fatigue management. Better fatigue management means better training.

Stay Connected with KILO: 

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In this follow-up episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew continues the sports performance conversation by moving from off-season structure into the decisions coaches have to make as the season gets closer.

The episode starts with a student question on tapering, and whether athletes need a formal taper at the end of the off-season or if the reduction in training volume happens naturally once preseason and in-season demands begin. From there, Steph, Pauric, and Kelsey break down the difference between a true taper, a descending mesocycle load, and the shift from off-season development to preseason performance.

They also discuss how to reduce fatigue without detraining the athlete, why maintenance loads matter, and why not every phase of training needs to be a stimulating load. The conversation then moves into power development, including the practical differences between starting strength, explosive strength, and reactive strength, and why most athletes need to earn the right to train higher-level power qualities.

The episode also covers how KILO uses plyometric warm-ups to build tissue quality, foot strength, reactive ability, and progressive exposure to higher-impact work without turning every session into a full plyometric day.

Finally, the crew discusses in-season programming, where the goal shifts from building qualities to maintaining strength, power, mobility, and tissue integrity without interfering with sport performance.

The closer the season gets, the more precise the coaching decisions need to become.

0:00 Introduction

0:22 Listener Q&A: Tapering in Off-Season Programming

3:20 Taper vs. In-Season Training Reduction (Clarification)

17:55 Maintaining Fitness Without Detraining (Zatsiorsky's Fitness-Fatigue Paradigm)

18:13 Starting, Explosive & Reactive Strength Explained

28:42 Plyometric Warmup Protocol

39:14 In-Season Programming

42:32 Using Assessments In-Season

52:20 Final Thoughts & Resources

Stay Connected with KILO: 

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In this episode of Between 2 Racks, the KILO Crew breaks down sports performance training through the lens of off-season program design, and why coaches often rush toward specificity before building the qualities that actually support performance.

The conversation starts with one of the most common mistakes coaches make when they only have 8 to 12 weeks with an athlete: skipping the general preparation phase. From there, the episode clarifies the difference between GPP and SPP, how those phases shift depending on timeline and training age, and why “general” training is not the same thing as random training.

Pauric, Steph, and Kelsey also discuss why simply getting athletes stronger is not a complete strategy. Strength matters, but so do rate of force development, tissue tolerance, joint integrity, movement quality, and the athlete’s ability to express force within the time constraints of sport. They cover practical standards like strength reserve, the role of relative strength, when hypertrophy helps or hurts, and why volume has to drop as athletes get closer to the season.

The episode also tackles one of the most misused phrases in performance training: sport-specific. The weight room should support the athlete’s ability to perform, not imitate the sport poorly.

For coaches working with athletes, this episode is a reminder that better off-season training comes from understanding principles, not chasing drills.

Build the qualities first. Specificity only works when the base can support it.

0:00 Sports Performance Training
1:19 Biggest programming mistakes with 8-12 week timelines
2:40 GPP vs SPP explained (general vs specific preparation phases)
8:54 Why just getting stronger isn't a complete off-season strategy
12:59 Assessing a new athlete: what to look for before programming
21:47 Strength reserve: what it is and why it matters
27:59 When to convert strength into power (the 2x bodyweight squat standard)
30:47 Does the strength standard apply to both male and female athletes?
33:39 Tissue tolerance and joint integrity in off-season training
36:31 When hypertrophy helps vs. when it becomes a distraction
44:33 Why training volume must drop as the season approaches
47:38 Why "sport-specific" training is often misused in the weight room
51:08 Wrap-up / closing notes

Stay Connected with KILO: 

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In this Rapid Fire Q&A, we focus on one of the most important coaching skills, adjusting the plan without losing the structure.

We start by breaking down how to train around injuries, including how to maintain upper body progression while modifying lower body work, and how to continue driving hypertrophy when certain movements are limited. We also discuss how to approach pain within training, from modifying range of motion and exercise selection to gradually rebuilding load tolerance over time.

From there, we dive into long-term programming decisions, including how to integrate KILO specializations into a periodized model. We cover where fat loss, hypertrophy, strength, and power blocks should sit within a training year, and when it makes sense to deviate from the plan based on the client’s current needs.

We also address common programming questions, including how to manage setbacks like illness, how to adjust loading without restarting a phase, and how to think through progression when conditions aren’t ideal.

This episode is not about perfect programming. It’s about making better decisions when variables change.

Because the best coaches don’t just follow the plan, they know how to adjust it.

0:00 Intro

0:22 Upper Lower Split with Knee Constraint

7:05 Shoulder Pain During Flies

12:22 Integrating Kilo Specializations into Long-Term Periodization

24:20 Training Mitochondrial Development for Off-Season

28:53 Tackling Lateral Elbow Pain

33:45 Effective Pre-Workout Supplements

40:33 Managing Missed Training from Illness Mid-Macrocycle

44:08 Should Specializations Match the Macrocycle Goal

Stay Connected with KILO: 

Have a question? ⁠Submit it for a Rapid Fire episode⁠.

Learn more at ⁠trainkilo.com⁠

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