Iron Titan - Barbell Training
The Hard Way Fitness
Strength & ConditioningOur Promise
Every programme we publish is tested under pressure by our coaches and clients before it’s released. Born out of real training, not theory. These are the sessions we do ourselves. No shortcuts, no gimmicks, no marketing, or rubbish to sell you. All we ask is your honesty of effort and a review if you complete the programme.
Who is this Programme for
This programme is built for people who love barbells and want to get strong using the classic compound lifts. If you’re the type who could spend hours in the gym squatting, pressing, benching, and deadlifting blocking out the world and locking in on the bar this programme is for you. Originally tested in a cold Dublin gym through the depths of winter, it’s a no-frills, music-on, world out strength cycle.
About this Programme
This is a 12-week strength programme starting with a one-rep max assessment in week one to set your baseline. From there, training progresses with a structured blend of compound barbell lifts and targeted supplementary exercises designed to build raw strength and balanced development. Each session includes dynamic warm-ups, focused strength work, accessories to reinforce weak points, and a restorative cool-down. The structure is simple, effective, and built to deliver steady gains over the full 12 weeks.
What you Will Get Out of the Programme
By the end of 12 weeks, you’ll have increased your barbell strength across the major lifts, improved your ability to handle volume, and developed the grit and focus that comes from disciplined, consistent training. You’ll finish stronger, tougher, and more capable under the bar.
A
Rowing
1 x 1000
Conditioning
B
Total Body Flow Warm-Up:
Cycle through this sequence for a few minutes, allowing each movement to flow into the next. By the end, you'll feel invigorated, warmed up, and primed for the challenges ahead. There is no set reps for each movement, do as many or as few as you feel are needed. Deep Squat to Reach: Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Sink into a deep squat, pushing your knees out and keeping your chest up. While in the squat, raise both arms overhead, lengthening the spine and stretching the chest. Return to standing and repeat. Lunge with a Twist: Step into a forward lunge position. As you descend, rotate your torso towards the lunging leg, extending the opposite arm outward. Push off the front foot to return to standing, then switch sides. This movement integrates lower body activation with thoracic mobility. Inchworm to Plank: From a standing position, hinge at the waist and place your hands on the ground in front of your feet. Walk your hands forward until you reach a plank position. Engage your core, ensuring a straight line from head to heels. Walk your hands back towards your feet and stand up, stretching the hamstrings and activating the core. Scorpion Kicks: Lie face down with arms outstretched to the sides, forming a T shape. Lift one leg off the ground and rotate your hips to touch the lifted foot towards the opposite hand. Return to the starting position and switch sides. This dynamic movement promotes hip mobility and opens up the chest and front of the shoulders. Bear Crawl: Start on all fours with your knees just above the ground. Move forward using opposite arm and leg pairs, keeping the back flat and hips stable. After a few steps forward, reverse and crawl backward. This movement challenges coordination and warms up the shoulders, core, and quads.
Conditioning
C
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine:
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine: Begin with an unloaded barbell and move through the following sequence of exercises, designed to activate and mobilize key muscle groups essential for barbell training: Romanian Deadlifts – 5 reps: Primarily targets the posterior chain, including hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. This movement helps in enhancing hip hinge mechanics. Bent Over Rows – 5 reps: Engages the muscles of the upper back, lats, and biceps, promoting a strong and stable upper body pull. Hang Power Cleans – 5 reps: A total-body movement focusing on the hips, thighs, and shoulders, which also instills proper clean mechanics without the need for a high-speed pull under the bar. Front Squats – 5 reps: Works the quads, glutes, and core, while also reinforcing the front rack position essential for cleans and thrusters. Overhead Presses – 5 reps: Directly targets the shoulders and triceps, ensuring a sturdy overhead push and stability. After completing the sequence, rest for a period of 30-45 seconds. This short break allows for a slight recovery while maintaining an elevated heart rate. Repeat the entire circuit two more times for a total of 3 sets.
D
Back Squat
8, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 %
E
Rack Pull
8, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 %
A
Walk
1 x 45:00
A
Rowing
1 x 1000
Conditioning
B
Total Body Flow Warm-Up:
Cycle through this sequence for a few minutes, allowing each movement to flow into the next. By the end, you'll feel invigorated, warmed up, and primed for the challenges ahead. There is no set reps for each movement, do as many or as few as you feel are needed. Deep Squat to Reach: Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Sink into a deep squat, pushing your knees out and keeping your chest up. While in the squat, raise both arms overhead, lengthening the spine and stretching the chest. Return to standing and repeat. Lunge with a Twist: Step into a forward lunge position. As you descend, rotate your torso towards the lunging leg, extending the opposite arm outward. Push off the front foot to return to standing, then switch sides. This movement integrates lower body activation with thoracic mobility. Inchworm to Plank: From a standing position, hinge at the waist and place your hands on the ground in front of your feet. Walk your hands forward until you reach a plank position. Engage your core, ensuring a straight line from head to heels. Walk your hands back towards your feet and stand up, stretching the hamstrings and activating the core. Scorpion Kicks: Lie face down with arms outstretched to the sides, forming a T shape. Lift one leg off the ground and rotate your hips to touch the lifted foot towards the opposite hand. Return to the starting position and switch sides. This dynamic movement promotes hip mobility and opens up the chest and front of the shoulders. Bear Crawl: Start on all fours with your knees just above the ground. Move forward using opposite arm and leg pairs, keeping the back flat and hips stable. After a few steps forward, reverse and crawl backward. This movement challenges coordination and warms up the shoulders, core, and quads.
Conditioning
C
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine:
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine: Begin with an unloaded barbell and move through the following sequence of exercises, designed to activate and mobilize key muscle groups essential for barbell training: Romanian Deadlifts – 5 reps: Primarily targets the posterior chain, including hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. This movement helps in enhancing hip hinge mechanics. Bent Over Rows – 5 reps: Engages the muscles of the upper back, lats, and biceps, promoting a strong and stable upper body pull. Hang Power Cleans – 5 reps: A total-body movement focusing on the hips, thighs, and shoulders, which also instills proper clean mechanics without the need for a high-speed pull under the bar. Front Squats – 5 reps: Works the quads, glutes, and core, while also reinforcing the front rack position essential for cleans and thrusters. Overhead Presses – 5 reps: Directly targets the shoulders and triceps, ensuring a sturdy overhead push and stability. After completing the sequence, rest for a period of 30-45 seconds. This short break allows for a slight recovery while maintaining an elevated heart rate. Repeat the entire circuit two more times for a total of 3 sets.
D
Bench Press
8, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 %
A
Walk
1 x 45:00
A
Rowing
1 x 1000
Conditioning
B
Total Body Flow Warm-Up:
Cycle through this sequence for a few minutes, allowing each movement to flow into the next. By the end, you'll feel invigorated, warmed up, and primed for the challenges ahead. There is no set reps for each movement, do as many or as few as you feel are needed. Deep Squat to Reach: Start by standing with feet shoulder-width apart. Sink into a deep squat, pushing your knees out and keeping your chest up. While in the squat, raise both arms overhead, lengthening the spine and stretching the chest. Return to standing and repeat. Lunge with a Twist: Step into a forward lunge position. As you descend, rotate your torso towards the lunging leg, extending the opposite arm outward. Push off the front foot to return to standing, then switch sides. This movement integrates lower body activation with thoracic mobility. Inchworm to Plank: From a standing position, hinge at the waist and place your hands on the ground in front of your feet. Walk your hands forward until you reach a plank position. Engage your core, ensuring a straight line from head to heels. Walk your hands back towards your feet and stand up, stretching the hamstrings and activating the core. Scorpion Kicks: Lie face down with arms outstretched to the sides, forming a T shape. Lift one leg off the ground and rotate your hips to touch the lifted foot towards the opposite hand. Return to the starting position and switch sides. This dynamic movement promotes hip mobility and opens up the chest and front of the shoulders. Bear Crawl: Start on all fours with your knees just above the ground. Move forward using opposite arm and leg pairs, keeping the back flat and hips stable. After a few steps forward, reverse and crawl backward. This movement challenges coordination and warms up the shoulders, core, and quads.
Conditioning
C
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine:
Barbell Bliss Warm-Up Routine: Begin with an unloaded barbell and move through the following sequence of exercises, designed to activate and mobilize key muscle groups essential for barbell training: Romanian Deadlifts – 5 reps: Primarily targets the posterior chain, including hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. This movement helps in enhancing hip hinge mechanics. Bent Over Rows – 5 reps: Engages the muscles of the upper back, lats, and biceps, promoting a strong and stable upper body pull. Hang Power Cleans – 5 reps: A total-body movement focusing on the hips, thighs, and shoulders, which also instills proper clean mechanics without the need for a high-speed pull under the bar. Front Squats – 5 reps: Works the quads, glutes, and core, while also reinforcing the front rack position essential for cleans and thrusters. Overhead Presses – 5 reps: Directly targets the shoulders and triceps, ensuring a sturdy overhead push and stability. After completing the sequence, rest for a period of 30-45 seconds. This short break allows for a slight recovery while maintaining an elevated heart rate. Repeat the entire circuit two more times for a total of 3 sets.
D
Deadlift
8, 8, 5, 3, 2, 1 @ 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 %
A
Walk
1 x 45:00
Stephen Mooney
Founder & Head Coach at Hard Way Fitness, Army Reservist, Muay Thai Fighter, and father of two. With a background in financial services and military training. I blend elite strength & conditioning, tactical fitness, and mental resilience to push members beyond their limits. Passionate about discipline, challenge, and building an unbreakable mindset.
Like all of our programmes, we've designed this, test it, and broken it before putting it here. You can be guaranteed it works and if you can commit, you'll get the results.
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Jeff
It's all you need
Verified Athlete""Big lifts, big numbers, and big gains. Having a plan tailored to me is an Awesome feeling, TrainHeroic shows me how I'm doing and combining the Hardway Fitness & TrainHeroic have given me a great awareness of my ability and my potential, kept me very motivated to stay on track.""
Susan
Rugby Player
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Agnieszka
Fitness Addict, Mother of 2
Verified Athlete""I've used the Hard Way Fitness programme for several years now, including before, during and after both pregnancies. It's enabled me to train long term, stay injury free and keep fit. Can't recommend the Hard Way Fitness enough."
Dublin City Exiles
Rugby League Team
Verified Athlete"Stephen at the Hard Way Fitness trained the senior exiles team for a couple of sessions as part of warm-up preparation for training mid-season, feedback was always positive and there was a particular lunging, squatting and push-up sequence the lads won't forget anytime soon."
