Weekly Rx W04 — Hourly Rounds
Heavier and shorter this week. W03 was volume — lots of reps, short rest, everything a bit lighter. This is the opposite: fewer reps, more load, full rest between sets. If last week left you feeling like you'd worked but not like you'd lifted anything, this is the correction.
Pick upper or lower. Then everyone runs the same finisher.
RX-W04-A — Upper
Strength. Heavier than last week, fewer reps, take the full rest.
- Half-kneeling overhead press — 4 sets of 6–8 per side, rest 2 minutes. Half-kneeling because it stops you leaning back and turning it into an incline press. Ribs down, squeeze the back glute.
- Chest-supported row — 4 sets of 8–10, rest 90 seconds. Chest on an incline bench so you can't cheat with your lower back. If you don't have a bench, inverted rows under a bar or a sturdy table.
- Dead hang — 3 sets, hang as long as you can hold, rest 60 seconds. Grip, shoulders, and a spine decompression that's genuinely useful after twelve hours on your feet.
RX-W04-B — Lower
Posterior chain. Last week was quad-dominant — this is the back half.
- Romanian deadlift — 4 sets of 6–8, rest 2 minutes. Push your hips back, not down. The bar or dumbbells stay against your legs the whole way. Stop when your hamstrings stop you, not when the weight hits the floor.
- Step-up — 3 sets of 8 per side, rest 90 seconds. Bench or a solid box at about knee height. Drive through the heel of the top foot and don't push off the bottom one.
- Glute bridge — 3 sets of 12, rest 60 seconds. Pause two seconds at the top. Weight across the hips if bodyweight is easy.
The finisher — HOURLY ROUNDS
Every minute on the minute. 12 minutes. Same for everyone.
At the top of each minute, do the work. Whatever's left of that minute is your rest — so the faster you move, the more you get back.
- Odd minutes: 12 kettlebell swings (or 15 air squats)
- Even minutes: 8 push-ups
Six rounds of each. It's comfortable until about minute seven, then it isn't.
Score: the last minute you finished inside the minute. If you're still working when the clock rolls over, that's where you stopped. Write it down.
Reduced dose
Coming off nights, running short on sleep, or working back from something?
- Upper: 3 sets instead of 4. Keep the same load — cut the volume, not the intent.
- Lower: drop the Romanian deadlift entirely if you're under-slept. Loaded hinging with a fatigued lower back is the single easiest way to hurt yourself in this programme. Step-ups and bridges only.
- Finisher: 8 minutes instead of 12.
- Under five hours' sleep: strength work only, skip the finisher.
Scaling isn't failing the prescription. Running it wrecked is.
A new Rx every Monday
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This is one dose. No refills. RX-RC is the twelve-week protocol it came from — sequencing, progression, and volume built around a rotating schedule instead of a normal training week.
Prescribed by Gene Dinh, RN · Scrubs & Steel