Welcome to Week 1 of Hercules!
“Forged Through Labor. Defined by Power.”
This 8-week cycle is built to develop raw strength, barbell proficiency, and bodyweight control by progressing from the technical foundations we built in the Achilles cycle. Structured into two progressive 4-week blocks—with a deload at the end of each Hercules is designed to push athletes toward new levels of performance while allowing time to recover and adapt.
We finish with a full test week (October 6–12) to express our development, followed by a transition week (October 13–19) before entering our pre-Open phase with the Artemis cycle.
This week is all about building strength and sustaining it under fatigue. We’ll open with heavy back squats into strict pulling volume, then shift to push press power work paired with a skill‐based EMOM. Mid‐week brings heavy power clean focus leading straight into a fast‐paced burpee‐barbell test, followed by Thursday’s grind of repeatable run/row intervals. Friday leans into hinge strength with deadlifts before an upper‐body strict strength blend, and we finish off the week by honoring HM3 Maxton Soviak with the hero workout “Maxton”. Expect consistent barbell touch‐points, mixed‐modal repeatability, and accessory work that keeps posture, grip, and midline strength progressing.
Join us on Saturday, August 16 as we honor Navy Corpsman Maxton Soviak, 22, who was among the 13 U.S. service members killed during the attack outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021. We will not charge a drop-in fee for this workout, but we do ask that you consider donating to maxtonsoviak.org.
