December 28, 2025 //
Graham King //
Programming //
11 min read
AMPLIFY: The 2026 Annual Plan outlines Urban Athletic Club’s year-long approach to strength, conditioning, and athletic development. Built on General Physical Preparedness and the Level Method, it explains how we train the everyday athlete with clarity and intention. This plan provides transparency into our coaching philosophy, programming structure, and long-term focus on sustainable results.
AMPLIFY: The 2026 Annual Plan outlines how we train at Urban Athletic Club—and why. This document provides a transparent look at our year-long approach to strength, conditioning, athletic development, and community. It’s designed to give members clarity, help prospective members understand our philosophy, and ensure consistency across coaching and programming.
You can read the full plan below or download the PDF to review at your own pace.
To amplify means to make what already works even louder, stronger, and clearer
This year is about strengthening what already makes Urban Athletic Club exceptional — starting with the member experience, extending through staff development, and shaping how we show up across Washington, DC.
By bringing greater clarity and intention to everything we do, we elevate the experience inside the gym and expand our impact beyond it.
Amplify is a commitment to refinement, consistency, and meaningful progress.
We are amplifying:
Our coaching
Our programming
Our community
Our impact
Everything we do in 2026 flows from this idea.
Training the Everyday Athlete
Strength and conditioning for real life
At Urban Athletic Club, we consider every member an athlete—not because everyone competes, but because everyone uses their body every day. Athleticism isn’t reserved for professionals; it’s required for real life.
Urban Athletic Club is a Strength and Conditioning gym built on General Physical Preparedness principles, designed to develop functional strength, coordination, and athleticism that transfers beyond the gym walls.
We train people to be capable — in sport, in work, and in life.
We train:
Strength and conditioning that supports real movement
Athleticism that carries into everyday tasks
Members with demanding careers and full lives
People who want to move well, feel strong, and stay healthy long term
We train the everyday athlete — people who want their bodies to support their lives, not limit them.
Level Method
How we individualize group training
At Urban Athletic Club, we use the Level Method to individualize group training with clarity and intention. Since 2016, over 1,000 gyms worldwide have used the Level Method to coach athletes of all abilities more effectively. We are the only gym in DC that fully implements the Level Method.
The Level Method is built on three core principles:
ASSESS— Establish a clear baseline
Through structured athletic assessments, we evaluate strength, movement quality, and conditioning to determine each athlete’s current Level. This creates clarity, shared language, and direction from day one.
ADDRESS—Training matched to where you are
Your Level guides movement selection, loading, and complexity, so each session targets your current needs while reinforcing your strengths—whether you’re training in group classes or on your own.
PROGRESS —Improvement through consistency
As performance improves, key capacities are reassessed, and Levels update accordingly. Advancement is objective and earned, providing clear milestones and focus for what comes next.
Why This Matters
The Assess → Address → Progress cycle:
Supports beginners without holding back experienced athletes
Makes scaling and progression clear and objective
Removes comparison and ego from training
Builds confidence, consistency, and long-term development
This system allows us to deliver high-level group training while still honoring the individual—so everyone can train together, appropriately and effectively.
“LIT” PHILOSOPHY
How we design workouts with intention
Our programming is guided by the Level Method LIT Philosophy—Levels, Intent, Themes—which ensures systematic, personalized progress for all athletes in a group setting.
Levels
Workouts are adapted to athletes’ fitness levels, providing safe, effective scaling. This precision helps athletes progress through tailored movements and workouts.
Intent
Workouts have clear purpose, focusing on specific energy systems, progressions, and skills. These intentional designs ensure predictable adaptations and measurable results, helping athletes feel and perform their best.
Themes
By rotating through themes like Strength Progressions, Energy Systems, Virtuosity, Fun/Cool, we ensure no aspect of fitness is overlooked.
Why We Plan the Entire Year
Our 2026 program is built as a complete annual system, not a collection of random workouts.
We plan the year because structure:
Prevents burnout and overuse
Ensures balanced development
Creates consistency
Allows freedom inside clear boundaries
We’ve thought through what we’re training, why we’re training it, and how it progresses over time.
Finally, we program so our athletes can focus on showing up and training.
Strength is the foundation that supports everything else we do.
At Urban Athletic Club, strength training isn’t about chasing numbers or lifting heavy for its own sake. It’s about building capacity—the ability to handle load, manage stress, and move confidently through life.
Each month, our Strength Progressions are built around:
One primary lift
One secondary lift
One tertiary lift
These lifts remain consistent over 4 weeks so athletes can actually adapt and improve. Strength is developed progressively through changes in volume, intensity, and intent—not constant variation.
This approach allows athletes to build:
Muscle and joint resilience
Better movement under load
Confidence in fundamental patterns
Strength that supports athleticism and conditioning
Simply put: strong people move better, recover better, and stay capable longer.
For the everyday athlete, strength enables everything else—conditioning, athletic movement, skill work—to be effective and sustainable.
2 | Energy Systems
Conditioning at UAC is intentional. Well-rounded athletes need the ability to handle different types of fatigue—days when breathing is the limiting factor and days when muscles fatigue before the lungs do. By training both, athletes build resilience, versatility, and confidence across all types of effort, not just the ones they’re naturally good at.
Most workouts blend both systems, but each month leans approximately 70/30 toward one emphasis, so nothing is neglected.
3 | Virtuosity
Virtuosity is about mastery, not intensity. Skill development makes training more engaging by giving the work purpose and confidence in the effort. You don’t just work out and go home — you leave Urban Athletic Club knowing how to move, train, and apply what you’ve learned long after the clock stops.
Each month emphasizes one tool category:
Gymnastics
Barbell
Kettlebells
Dumbbells
This focus shows up in Warm-ups, Skill work, Accessories, and Workouts.
Over time, athletes build confidence and competence with every tool we use.
4 | Athletic Development
Athleticism doesn’t happen by accident—it’s trained deliberately.
At Urban Athletic Club, athletic development is a dedicated and protected part of the program, not something tacked on at the end of a workout. These sessions are designed to build real-world athletic ability, helping members move with greater power, control, and confidence in everyday life.
This approach develops true athletic ability, including:
Power and explosiveness
Balance and coordination
Speed and control
Confidence in movement
Most importantly, athletic work at UAC is coached, scaled, and progressed, allowing members to build athleticism safely and sustainably over time.
Weekly Athletic Progressions
Each week includes a specific athletic focus, rotating monthly to ensure balanced development without unnecessary fatigue or risk.
Week 1: Plyometrics
We train the ability to absorb and produce force quickly through jumping and landing mechanics. The focus is elasticity, coordination, and joint resilience—not fatigue.
Week 2: Carries, Pulls, & Pushes
Carrying, pulling, and pushing build real-world strength and durability. These movements reinforce posture, trunk stability, grip strength, and the ability to move well under load—skills that translate directly to daily life.
Week 3: Speed
Speed is a skill that requires intention. We emphasize quality, appropriate rest, and coaching so members can move fast without unnecessary risk.
Week 4: Agility & Change of Direction
Agility training develops coordination, awareness, and control. These movements challenge balance, reaction time, and body control while reinforcing athletic confidence.
By rotating these elements weekly, we keep training dynamic, engaging, and transferable to everyday life. This is how we help members move better, feel more capable, and stay athletic for the long run.
5 | Fun & Cool Workouts
Training should be effective—but it should also be engaging, memorable, and shared.
At Urban Athletic Club, our “Fun & Cool” workouts follow a three-month rotating structure that brings variety and energy to the training floor while staying grounded in purpose and intent. Rather than inserting novelty at random, we intentionally cycle through three familiar styles:
CrossFit® Games–inspired workouts
Urban Athletic Club staples
Classic Benchmark workouts
Each style appears for a full month before rotating, allowing athletes to fully experience that training “flavor” without it becoming overwhelming or repetitive.
6 | Assessments
Assessments at Urban Athletic Club are designed to support your progress—not define you. They provide context for your training, reinforce your intent, and help us make informed decisions about next steps.
Here’s what to expect:
15 total assessments covering strength, conditioning, movement quality, athletic capacity, and body composition
Each assessment is completed twice over the course of the year, allowing you to see meaningful change over time
Assessments are planned and intentional, not random or excessive
Results help guide coaching focus and individual progressions
Testing emphasizes awareness and improvement, not comparison or pressure
As part of this process, we also use InBody scans to track body composition over time. These scans provide objective insight into changes in lean mass and body fat, helping round out the picture of progress alongside performance and movement assessments.
What assessments are not:
They are not constant max-effort days
They are not competitions
They are not the definition of your success
Instead, assessments exist to:
Track progress in a clear, objective way
Reinforce long-term development
Keep training aligned with your goals
Support consistency and confidence
By limiting assessments to what matters most and spacing them appropriately throughout the year, we ensure testing remains useful, informative, and aligned with sustainable progress.
Amplify: Beyond the Training Floor
In 2026, AMPLIFY extends beyond training—it shapes how we support members, develop coaches, and engage with our community.
Member Experience
Clearer communication and defined monthly intent
A smoother journey from onboarding onward
Quarterly Goal Reviews to maintain focus and direction
Results-Driven & Goal-Oriented
Structured progressions are built into the annual plan
Greater emphasis on strength and performance data
Repeatable testing that supports long-term development
Nutrition Coaching
Launch of Urban Athletic Club Nutrition Coaching
Support for health, recovery, and performance beyond the gym
Facility Improvements
Upgrades to improve training flow and comfort
Additional equipment and improved storage
Community Impact
Urban Athletic Club: On Location initiatives
Monthly community classes
A stronger presence across Washington, DC
Specialty Programming
Select, coach-led specialty programs throughout the year
Event-specific training, focused strength cycles, and limited-run classes
Designed to complement the annual plan—not replace it
AMPLIFY is about strengthening the system, supporting the people within it, and continuing to grow with intention.
The Big Picture
The 2026 Urban Athletic Club training system is designed to help you:
Get stronger
Move better
Breathe better
Stay athletic
Train consistently for years — not just months
It is built with intention and proven through consistency.
