Potentia – Power
Virtus – Strength
Celeritas – Speed
At this point, most of my training consists solely of 3.5.9 Protocol-based training, which is all about that potentia, virtus and celeritas (why I like Latin phrases).
The training scheme of Power, Strength and Speed is unmatched and just makes sense. It combines HIIT (high intensity interval training), MISS (Moderate Intensity Steady State) and traditional training.
How it makes sense:
Train with a little heavier overload for 3 reps, plus add your usual go-to weights for 5 reps, then add the lighter weight for 9 reps. Three rounds of that will yield 51 meaningful reps.
As far as overload training, you typically would only do this if you are trying to find a max weight for 1, 2 or 3 reps. That’s it. And the sole training session is devoted to that. I am a huge proponent for max-rep discoveries, but you can also include a variation of it in your everyday training too. That’s the POWER part!!
Couple the 3 Power reps with 5 reps of a weight that you traditionally would do. This is the STRENGTH part. Pretty straightforward. You’re doing what you’ve always done, just less reps. Yes, LESS reps!
Finally, round out the training with 9 reps of a lighter weight (not light weight, a lighter weight). This is the SPEED part. This isn’t the sloppy, lax part, this is the speed part. There’s a difference.
Three rounds of all the above, back to back to back, with as little rest as possible, but as much as necessary (more on “rest” can be found in the FAQ).
At the end of your diligent and focused training, your heart rate is up, you’ve (actually) sweat a lot and you did more meaningful reps with different purposes than you would have any other way.
So, if you’ve bought into the whole 3.5.9 Protocol craze, welcome to the party.
If you’re still in discovery mode, that’s okay. Everything has a process and we are all on different journeys, but get with the program!
It’s easy to implement and easier to remember:
3 reps for POWER
5 reps for STRENGTH
9 reps for SPEED
…Or should I say, 3 reps for Potentia, 5 reps for Virtus, 9 reps for Celeritas
Video of The359Protocol explained
Article on General Physical Preparedness
