Coaches Carnage: Pushing Limits & Building Grit

I often get asked, what exactly is Coaches Carnage? And honestly, it’s pretty much what it sounds like—a coach’s workout for the day, with a little bit of chaos thrown in. But there’s more to it than just a tough session.

At its core, Coaches Carnage is designed to be a low-skill, high-intensity workout. That doesn’t mean it’s easy—far from it. I still incorporate gymnastics and barbell work, but everything is modified as needed so that everyone can hit the intended stimulus. The goal? To make you fitter, push you mentally, and ultimately, expand your capacity for hard work.

The Structure

At InnerFight I run Coach’s Carnage three times a week—Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, all at midday. Each day has its own flavour, ensuring we hit a range of intensities and challenges. As an example, a week could look like this and generally does actually:

• Tuesday: Interval-style work. This could be something like two minutes on, two minutes off, or short sprints with built-in rest. It’s all about pushing hard, recovering, and repeating.

• Wednesday: The hardest of the three. And not just physically—this one is as much a mental battle as a physical one. Lately, we’ve been hammering the legs with ultra-high-volume work at moderate weights. It’s the kind of session that leaves you sore not just the next day, but maybe the next week.

• Thursday: Recovery-style training. But don’t mistake “recovery” for “easy.” This is a longer, steady-state session, often a 40-minute AMRAP, where we focus on continuous movement. Expect large distances on the ergs and plenty of bodyweight work.

Each session is structured to hit different energy systems—short, intense bursts on Tuesday, deep mental and muscular fatigue on Wednesday, and steady, aerobic work on Thursday. If you looked at it from a heart-rate perspective, Thursday’s session usually sits in zone three to four, whereas Tuesday leans more into threshold work.

The Approach

Most of what we do in the sessions is bodyweight-based or uses dumbbells and kettlebells, keeping the technical demands low while maintaining intensity, but the barbells or sandbags do make an appearance from time to time. I also like to sprinkle in some gymnastics. It’s an incredible tool for conditioning, and by keeping the reps manageable, we can maintain intensity without overcomplicating things.

The key to these sessions is volume with repeatability. The goal isn’t to crush you so badly that you have to break everything into tiny sets. Instead, I aim for a structure where you can maintain big, repeatable efforts with enough rest to keep the output high. That’s what builds capacity over time—not just grinding through a brutal workout, but actually improving your ability to sustain effort.

Why I Do It?

Coaches Carnage isn’t just about sweating through an hour-long grind. It’s about building something more—mental resilience, work ethic, and a higher level of fitness.

It’s tough. It’s uncomfortable. But that’s the point.

The people who show up to these sessions aren’t just looking for another workout. They’re looking to push themselves, to test their limits, and to walk out a little stronger—physically and mentally—than when they walked in. And if you’re up for the challenge, you’ll see exactly why we do it. See you at the next workout!