This program is intended for flyers with 0-18 months of dedicated strength training experience.
IMPORTANT: To learn about each of the exercises listed below, watch the video above as we break down each of these.
The primary goal is full body muscle and strength gain, emphasizing shoulder strength and a bias towards movements that translate well to partner acrobatics. It’s intended to complement your acrobatic practice with two weekly sessions.
To minimize disruption to your regular training, avoid exceeding two days per week and ease into the routine using the progression below. Exercise demos are available in the video at the top of this page. Timestamps for each exercise are marked as chapters.
Aiming for Super Sets
Each day includes 6 exercises organized into 3 supersets. Perform the two paired exercises back-to-back with minimal rest between them for each superset. After completing both exercises, rest as needed before repeating. This format is designed to save time while keeping the workout effective.
Set Progressions
Start with 2 sets of each exercise. If you experience no soreness two days after a workout, add one set to each exercise in a superset of your choice the next time you perform that day’s routine. Aim to reach 3 sets for all exercises before moving to 4 sets, with a maximum of 4 sets per exercise in this program. For most people, 3 sets per exercise will be sufficient, while 4+ sets may challenge recovery capacity.
Warming Up
Begin each session with a few minutes of general movement to warm your body—light cardio, a dynamic warmup, or some targeted mobility work. Before each exercise, perform 1-2 warm-up sets with lighter weights to prepare the specific muscles and movements. Something like a set of 10 with half your working weight and then a set of 5 with 70% of your working weight is a good rule of thumb. Exercises later in the workout, particularly those that use muscles you’ve already trained, may require little or no warmup.
Measuring Weights & Reps
Weight/reps: This program uses Reps In Reserve (RIR), meaning you should stop the prescribed number of reps before reaching failure. For instance, if you could max out at 10 reps, stop at 8 to leave 2 RIR. This approach helps reduce fatigue and ensures consistency with set/rep goals. We recommend occasionally performing the last set to failure to ensure your RIR estimations are accurate. For example, if you stopped at 8 reps in all your sets but could reach 12 reps on a failure set, you were off by 2 reps when estimating RIR.
When working within a rep range (e.g., 8–10 reps), use the same weight until you can achieve the top end of the range with 2 RIR across all sets. Then, increase the weight to target the lower end of the range with 2 RIR. If weight increments don’t allow for precise adjustments, widening the range by 1–2 reps is okay.
Day 1
A1: Incline Dumbbell Press (or Deficit Pushup)
Dumbbell variation
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
Deficit pushups:
Range of motion is critical, can be done on the knees as necessary
8-20 rep range, sets should be done with 2 RIR, last set to failure
A2: Dumbbell RDL (or Banded Good Morning)
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
B1: Dumbbell Step Up
12-15 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
B2: Cable Flexion Row (or Dumbbell Row)
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
C1: Dumbbell Overhead Press
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
C2: Leg Raise Variation
5-8 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
Day 2
A1: High Bar Squat (or Goblet Squat)
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
A2: Dumbbell Overhead Press
8-10 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
B1: Dumbbell Pullover (or Cable Pullover)
12-15 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
B2: Seated Incline Dumbbell Front Raise
12-15 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure
C1: Suitcase Carry
Sets should be done with 5 seconds in reserve, last set to failure
Do one side immediately after the other and count both sides as 1 set
C2: Dumbbell Y Raise
10-12 reps with 2 RIR, last set to failure