2 days a week
Restore
Low load, movement quality, and enough to keep the thread. For weeks that are already full.
Not a lesser programme — a different one. Illness, a hard stretch at work, poor sleep, coming back from a layoff: these are the weeks people abandon training entirely and then find it hard to restart. This keeps the habit and the joints moving at a load that asks almost nothing, and it is designed to be left as soon as you want more.
The sessions
Move A
Roughly 25 minutes
Whole body, light
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Bodyweight squat | 2 × 10–12 |
| Incline push-up | 2 × 8–12 |
| Band row | 2 × 12–15 |
| Hip hinge, bodyweight or light | 2 × 10 |
| Walk | 10–15 minutes, easy |
Move B
Roughly 25 minutes
Mobility and easy load
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Cat–cow and thoracic rotation | 2 × 8 each |
| Split squat, bodyweight | 2 × 8 each side |
| Band pull-apart | 2 × 15 |
| Dead bug | 2 × 8 each side |
| Walk | 10–15 minutes, easy |
How it moves forward
There is none, on purpose. Stay here as long as the week needs it, and move to Foundation when you want to. Nothing is lost in the meantime.
This may suit you if
- · You are returning after time away
- · Sleep, stress or illness is making real sessions unwise
- · You want to keep the thread without pushing
What this rests on
Clinical guideline · 2018
Adults need muscle-strengthening activity involving all major muscle groups on at least 2 days a week, alongside 150 minutes of moderate activity.
Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans · U.S. Department of Health and Human Services / CDC
Clinical guideline · 2026
Train all major muscle groups at least twice a week. For strength, lift around 80% of one-rep max for 2–3 sets per exercise; for size, aim for roughly 10 sets per muscle group per week. The stand emphasises that consistency matters more than programme complexity.
ACSM Position Stand on Resistance Training for Healthy Adults · American College of Sports Medicine