September Training: Skill, Strength & A Bigger Engine

September starts a new four-week training cycle at Urban Athletic Club. This month, we’re placing emphasis on Clean skill development, strength, and building a bigger engine.

We’ll take time to develop and perfect the Clean, build pulling strength, start a new eight-week Engine progression, and continue to develop the muscular endurance that carries over to HYROX, sports, and everyday life.

As always, the goal isn’t to throw a bunch of hard workouts at you. Every day has a purpose, every week builds on the last, and we measure our progress along the way.

Strength 1: Learning the Clean

This month, our first strength day is all about the Clean.

The Clean is different from a squat, deadlift, or bench press. Strength matters, but so do timing, coordination, speed, positioning, and power. That means simply adding more weight isn’t necessarily the best way to get better. Slow is smooth; smooth is fast.

We’re going to practice before we load.

Each week will begin with dedicated skill work. We’ll use PVC pipes and empty barbells to break the Clean into manageable pieces—learning the hang position, finding the power position, extending, pulling under the bar, and establishing a strong receiving position.

Then we’ll put those pieces together.

As the month progresses, we’ll move from the Hang Power Clean toward the full Clean, gradually adding complexity and load as technique improves.

After the teaching portion, we’ll use shorter EMOM-style strength work to give you repeated opportunities to practice the movement under load without turning the session into a conditioning session.

Move better first. Then get stronger.

Strength 2: Building a Stronger Back

Our second strength day shifts our attention to pulling strength with two foundational movements:

Bent-Over Rows and Pendlay Rows.

We’ll train both throughout the four-week cycle.

The Bent-Over Row teaches you to maintain your hinge and trunk position while producing force. The Pendlay Row starts each repetition from the floor, allowing us to develop a stronger, more explosive pull.

Our progression moves from higher-volume sets toward heavier strength work:

Week 1: 10s and 8s
Week 2: 8s and 6s
Week 3: 6s and 4s
Week 4: 5s and 3s

We’ll gradually increase weight while keeping position and movement quality the priority.

Engine: An 8-Week Progression Begins

September also starts a new eight-week Engine progression.

Engine training is primarily about your cardiorespiratory system—your ability to move, breathe, recover, and repeatedly produce work.

We’ll begin with shorter work intervals of around two minutes, followed by short recovery periods. Over the next eight weeks, those work periods will gradually get longer, eventually reaching approximately eight minutes of sustained work.

There’s a reason for the progression.

Instead of making every Engine workout “as hard as possible,” we’re gradually increasing the amount of work your aerobic system can handle.

You’ll see plenty of running, rowing, skiing, and biking, with enough variation to keep things interesting while still developing something measurable.

The goal: build a bigger engine.

Endurance: Where Cardio Meets Muscular Endurance

Our Endurance training has a different purpose.

While Engine focuses primarily on cardiorespiratory fitness, Endurance combines that cardio demand with muscular endurance.

Expect longer four- to eight-minute working blocks mixed with movements such as sled pushes and pulls, lunges, wall balls, burpees, carries, and cardio.

This is also where you’ll see more of HYROX-focused exercises.

Your lungs might be ready to keep going, but can your legs keep producing force? Can you maintain your wall balls after running? Can you keep moving a sled with an elevated heart rate?

That’s the quality we’re developing.

Fridays & Saturdays: Putting It Together

Friday brings Strength + Engine together.

Saturday combines Strength + Endurance, often through partner training.

These sessions give us an opportunity to combine the individual qualities we’ve trained throughout the week.

Strength. Power. Cardio. Muscular endurance. Athletic movement.

It’s not just about doing more. It’s about becoming more capable across all of them.

Sunday: Build the Base

Sunday remains our Zone 2 + Recovery day.

We’ll keep the intensity controlled, accumulate aerobic work, and incorporate mobility and recovery.

Going harder isn’t always the answer. Easier aerobic work helps build the foundation that allows you to recover faster and perform better as the week progresses and intensity increases.

September Level Method Assessments

We’ll also continue our Level Method assessments this month, with September focusing on:

Weightlifting + Kettlebell

These assessments give us objective information about your current capabilities and help us better prescribe your training.

They’re not about comparing yourself to the person next to you. They’re about establishing where you are today and giving us something we can measure again in the future.

Assess. Train. Measure. Refine. Repeat.

That’s how we know whether the program is working.

Your September Training Week

Here’s how the pieces fit together:

Monday: Clean Skill + Strength
Tuesday: Engine / HYROX
Wednesday: Row Strength
Thursday: Endurance / HYROX
Friday: Strength + Engine
Saturday: Strength + Endurance / Partner Training
Sunday: Zone 2 + Recovery

Labor Day Week: We’re making one adjustment for the holiday. Monday and Friday switch: Strength + Engine on Monday, and Clean Skill + Strength on Friday. After Labor Day week, we’ll return to the regular September schedule.

Skill. Strength. Engine. Endurance.

September is a good example of what our programming at Urban Athletic Club is designed to do.

We’re not just trying to make you tired.

We’re teaching skills, developing strength, building your aerobic engine, improving muscular endurance, and measuring your progress.

You don’t have to be an Olympic weightlifter to learn the Clean. You don’t have to be racing HYROX to benefit from sleds, carries, running, and endurance training. And you don’t have to be the strongest or fastest person in the room.

Show up. Learn. Train. Get better.

We’ll take care of the progression.