Concurrent Week: Scheduling Strength and Endurance

Students design a real week of concurrent training, combining strength and endurance around their class, study and free-time schedule, and applying guidelines to reduce interference between the two. At the end they try a short combined session from their own plan outdoors.

How to play

1. Explain three concurrent training guidelines: keep strength and hard running at least 6 hours apart or on different days, start with the priority quality, and avoid two hard days in a row (4 min).
2. Each student fills in their typical week on the sheet with busy hours and marks realistic 30-45 minute slots (5 min).
3. They place two strength sessions, two endurance sessions and one mixed session in the week, color-coded by intensity; a partner checks the plan against the three guidelines (7 min).
4. Practical trial of a mixed session: 8 minutes of strength circuit (squat, push-up, bridge, plank) followed by 8 minutes of continuous running between cones at conversation pace (12 min).
5. Everyone notes how the run felt after strength work and whether they would change the order in their plan (2 min).

Rules

• The plan has to actually fit the schedule: no 6 a.m. sessions if they won't happen.
• At least one full rest day per week.
• Run at a pace where you can talk; anyone who can't, walks briskly.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: plan endurance with an arm ergometer or wheelchair laps and adapt the practical trial to match.
• Autism: provide a schedule template already divided into time slots and a worked example.
• Club athlete: build their club practices into the plan and add only what is missing.

Learning goals

• Organize a realistic, balanced week of concurrent training.
• Apply basic guidelines to reduce interference between strength and endurance.
• Check in practice how the order of workloads affects how training feels.

Equipment for a class of 25

• log sheets: 30
• timer: 1
• cones: 8

Teacher tip

Collect the plans and return them with a short comment; then ask students to follow theirs for a week and review it. On rainy days, do the practical part in the gym with laps around the court.

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