PERFORM is the third and final phase of the nine-week cycle, and the point where speed becomes the goal. STRONG built the force. PERFORM teaches you to produce it fast. Heavy lifting stays in because maximum strength underpins power, while explosive lifts, accommodated resistance, contrast training and plyometrics teach you to express that strength faster. This is what the previous two phases were building towards — you can’t express power you don’t have.
Focus: Power, explosive speed, reactive strength and repeatable output.
Where force becomes speed
Power is force multiplied by velocity, and the two sit on a spectrum. STRONG developed the force end; PERFORM develops the velocity end and brings them together. Sprinting, jumping, changing direction and throwing all happen in fractions of a second — the stronger you are and the faster you apply that strength, the more powerful you become.
Benefits of PERFORM
Strength you can apply at speed
Faster, sharper, more explosive movement
Relative strength for sprinting, jumping and agility
A free weight forces you to slow the bar near the top to stay in control — which limits the very quality you’re training. Bands change that. Resistance increases as the bar rises, matching your strength curve: lighter where you’re weakest, heavier where you’re strongest. You keep applying force further into the range before naturally decelerating, so you develop force across more of the movement while keeping the intent of a maximal lift and the speed powerful movement needs.
Contrast training
Contrast training pairs a heavy strength exercise with an explosive movement in the same pattern — a heavy squat followed by a jump, a heavy press followed by an explosive press. The heavy lift temporarily primes the nervous system to recruit its most powerful fibres, so the explosive movement that follows produces more force. It trains both ends of the spectrum at once and teaches the body to transfer maximal strength into fast, athletic movement. It only works properly when a solid strength base already exists — which is why it belongs in the final phase.
Plyometrics
Plyometrics develop the stretch-shortening cycle — when muscle and tendon are rapidly stretched before contracting, elastic energy is stored and released and reflexes increase activation, producing force faster. This is why BUILD and STRONG mattered: a stiffer tendon returns more energy and transfers force more quickly. We train the slow cycle first (countermovement, broad and box jumps) for movement quality and landing mechanics, then progress to the fast cycle (pogos, hurdle hops, depth jumps) for reactive strength. Reps stay fast and contacts stay sharp — slow reps don’t build explosive athletes.
Threshold conditioning
BUILD developed your aerobic base and STRONG your ability to produce high outputs. PERFORM develops your threshold — the highest intensity you can sustain before fatigue rises rapidly. A higher threshold lets you hold greater intensity for longer and recover faster between efforts, so the aerobic system restores you between sprints, jumps and hard efforts. That’s what keeps the tenth jump as explosive as the first, and the final sprint matching the opening one.
Full acceleration
Prime the explode
Store and return force
Repeat the power
The cycle begins again, higher
BUILD created the foundation. STRONG built the force. PERFORM teaches you to express it quickly, repeatedly and when it matters most. By the end you’re faster, more explosive and more resilient — and the cycle begins again from a higher level than before.
