The Benchmark

Four times a year, the studio gives over a whole weekend to one workout. We call it The Benchmark. Four points in the calendar where we sit down and mark what the training is actually doing. The rest of the year is the work.

The same workout every quarter

The Benchmark is the same workout every time it runs. The distances on the treads do not change. The weights on the floor do not change. The structure across the zones is the one you walked through three months ago and the one you will walk through three months from now. The point is that nothing moves. Once you have done it, you have a number to come back to.

You write your numbers down at the end of each session. Twelve months in, you have four numbers. The first one tells you where you started. The fourth one tells you where you are. The two in between tell you how the months have moved.

Your own number

The Benchmark is not a test of where you sit against anyone else in the studio. It is not a score you carry around afterwards. It is your own number, run alongside everyone else doing theirs.

The one you walked in with last time. The one you walk out with this time. The one you will be looking at next time. Same hour, same workout, your own progression across the year.

How the weekend runs

The Benchmark runs across two days, with sixteen people in each session. Sessions are spread through the weekend so the morning crew, the school-run crew and the people whose weekend goes elsewhere can all find a slot that works. You sign up for the time that fits you. You turn up. You do the workout. At the end you write your numbers down and the coach signs them off.

Sign-up opens to members first. We will publish the full workout, the standards for each zone and how to pace yourself across the hour at least a couple of weeks ahead. By the time you walk in on the day, you already know what is coming.

Why it works

The Benchmark is not about how hard you can go on a given Saturday. It is about how often you turn up across the three months in between.

Show up to your classes. Train at the level you can train at, on the days you can do it. Trust the format to do its work. By the time the next Benchmark comes round, the number is the answer. It is the simplest version of progress there is.

That is the only thing The Benchmark really measures. Consistency, on a screen, every quarter.

The first one

The first AltyTude Benchmark runs across a weekend in late July, a few weeks after the doors open. Members get sign-up first, ahead of anyone else. If you want to be on the floor for it, you need to be a member by the week before it runs.

Founders Club reservations are the surest route in right now. £1,300 for the year, capped at one hundred, reserved now and paid when we open the doors. Reserve a place at altytude.fitness. Or email hi@altytude.fitness and we will talk it through.

This is what The Benchmark is for. The same hour, four times a year. Your own number, year on year. The honest answer to whether the training is doing the job.

Come as you are. Leave better than you arrived.

Peter