Next block: the autumn strength cycle starts Monday 2 November — four one-to-one slots and six group places still open.

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Vireo WorksStrength coaching
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Racked dumbbells and a loaded barbell on the floor of a quiet training studio

One coach · six-week blocks

Train in blocks.Not in circles.

Vireo Works is a single-coach strength studio. Every programme runs as a six-week block with a written plan, a weekly session you can actually keep, and a retest at the end so the next block is built on evidence rather than guesswork.

Start an enquiry See the timetable

Currently coaching adults returning to lifting, runners adding strength work, and anyone who wants a barbell to stop being intimidating.

  • 55 minutesEvery session, warm-up and cool-down included — no sessions that quietly run long.
  • Six weeksThe length of one block: assess, build, retest, then rewrite the plan with you.
  • Capped at sixGroup sessions never go above six people, so everyone still gets corrected.

How I coach

Four rules the programming follows

Most training plans fail because they change too many things at once. These four rules decide what goes into your block and, more usefully, what gets left out.

  1. 01

    Assess before loading

    The first session is movement, not maxes. We look at how you squat, hinge, press and carry, find the ranges that are genuinely available to you today, and set starting loads from that — not from what you used to lift.

  2. 02

    Change one variable at a time

    Within a block, either the load moves or the volume moves — rarely both. It is slower on paper and much faster in practice, because when something stops working we know exactly which lever caused it.

  3. 03

    Plan the whole week, not the hour

    Your session is one part of seven days. The written plan covers what you do on the days I do not see you: the second lift, the walking, the sleep window, and what to skip in a week that falls apart.

  4. 04

    Retest, then rewrite

    Week six repeats the week one assessment with the same loads and the same cues. You see the comparison written down, and the next block is drawn from that sheet rather than from how the last session happened to feel.

Ways to train

Four formats, one programme

The plan is written the same way whichever format you pick. What changes is how much of it happens with me in the room.

Format 01

One-to-one studio

A private session on the studio floor with the full rack, bars and plates available. Technique gets corrected in the set it happens, not described afterwards.

Suits you if
You are new to barbell work, returning after a long gap, or training around something that needs watching.
Session shape
55 minutes: warm-up, two main lifts, accessory pair, and five minutes writing up what changed.
Runs
One or two fixed slots a week for the length of the block.
Format 02

Small-group strength

Six people, one rack each, everyone on their own written plan. It is a coached session rather than a class — there is no choreography and no music dictating the tempo.

Suits you if
You already know the lifts, train better with company, and want a fixed weekly anchor.
Session shape
55 minutes on a shared warm-up, then individual work with rotating coaching.
Runs
Fixed morning and evening groups, booked for the whole six weeks.
Format 03

Remote programming

You train in your own gym to a block written for the equipment you actually have. Video review on the main lifts, and a written adjustment each week rather than a generic template.

Suits you if
You train consistently on your own but keep writing the same month over and over.
Session shape
Three or four self-run sessions a week, plus one written check-in from me.
Runs
Six-week blocks, with an optional in-person session at the start and end.
Format 04

Back-to-lifting pairs

Two people who already train together, coached as a pair through a rebuilding block. Shared warm-up, shared rack, separate loads and separate progressions.

Suits you if
You and a partner, friend or sibling want to restart together and keep each other honest.
Session shape
55 minutes alternating sets, so there is coaching on every working set for both of you.
Runs
One weekly slot per pair, split cost, booked block by block.

Weekly timetable

When the studio is open

One-to-one and pair sessions are booked into the open coaching hours below. Group slots are fixed for the full block, so pick one you can keep for six weeks.

Monday 06:30 – 11:00 One-to-one and pair sessions — earliest slot of the week, usually the first to fill.
Monday 17:30 & 18:45 Small-group strength — two groups, six places each.
Tuesday 07:00 – 13:00 One-to-one sessions — assessment sessions are scheduled here.
Wednesday 06:30 & 07:45 Small-group strength — mornings only.
Wednesday 16:00 – 20:00 One-to-one and pair sessions
Thursday 07:00 – 13:00 One-to-one sessions — remote video reviews are written this afternoon.
Friday 06:30 – 12:00 One-to-one, pairs and retest sessions
Saturday 08:00 & 09:15 Small-group strength — the quietest hour in the studio.
Sunday Closed Programmes for the week ahead are written and sent

Your first block

What the first six weeks look like

No long onboarding and no paperwork marathon. The first block is deliberately conservative — the goal is to finish it having missed nothing, not to be sore on day two.

  1. Weeks 1–2

    Assess and set the floor

    Movement screen, starting loads, and a written plan you can read without me. Loads stay comfortably below your limit on purpose while the pattern settles.

  2. Weeks 3–4

    Add the work

    Volume rises on the main lifts and the accessory work narrows to what is actually lagging. This is where most of the visible change in the block happens.

  3. Weeks 5–6

    Load, retest, rewrite

    A heavier fortnight, then the week one assessment repeated exactly. You leave with a written comparison and a draft of the next block.

A coach spotting a lifter mid-set during a strength training session

The coach

Teale Vireo

I coach everybody myself. There is no team, no rotation of trainers, and nobody inherits your programme halfway through a block.

I came to strength coaching sideways, after a decade of being the person who signed up in January and quietly stopped in March. What changed it was writing things down: the same four lifts, a number beside each one, and a date to check it. Nine years later that is still the whole method — I have just got better at choosing which four lifts, and at noticing when a plan is about to collide with somebody's actual week.

Most of the people I work with are not training for a sport. They want to carry things, sleep better, stop flinching at stairs, and feel capable in a gym that has never felt like it was built for them. That is a completely reasonable goal and the programming takes it seriously.

What I don't do
  • Hand out meal plans or weigh anybody in.
  • Programme around a camera — sessions are not content.
  • Sell twelve-month contracts. Blocks are six weeks, then you decide.
  • Treat injuries. If something needs clinical care, I will say so and work alongside whoever is treating it.

Questions

Asked before the first session

I have never lifted before. Is the first session going to be embarrassing?

No, and it is the most common place people start. The first session is mostly unloaded or lightly loaded movement so I can see how you move. Nobody is watching, the studio is small, and you will not be asked to attempt anything heavy on day one.

What should I bring?

Flat shoes with a firm sole, something you can move and sweat in, and water. Skip running shoes for lifting sessions if you can — a soft heel makes squatting harder than it needs to be. Everything else is in the studio.

I have an old injury or something that flares up. Can I still train?

Usually yes, with the plan built around it. Tell me what it is, what makes it worse, and whether anyone is currently treating it. I coach strength, I do not diagnose or rehabilitate — if your situation needs clinical input first I will tell you plainly, and I am happy to work to a practitioner's restrictions.

What happens if I miss a session?

Let me know as early as you can and I will move it inside the same week if there is an open hour. If the week is full, you get the session written up to run on your own instead — a missed hour should not cost you a week of progress. Repeated late cancellations are the only thing that eats into a block.

Can I pause a block if work or travel gets in the way?

Yes. Blocks can be paused once and picked up where they stopped, and if you are away I will write a version using whatever equipment you will have access to. It is better to adapt a block than to restart one.

How is remote programming different from an app plan?

It is written for your equipment, your schedule and the lifts you can currently do well, and it changes every week based on what you report back. You also send video of the main lifts, which is the part a generic plan cannot replace — most remote problems are technique problems, not programme problems.

How often do I need to train for this to work?

Two sessions a week is the honest minimum for a strength block, and three is comfortable for most people. One coached session plus one you run yourself is a perfectly good starting point — a plan you keep beats a better plan you abandon.

What happens at the end of six weeks?

You retest, we go through the comparison together, and you decide whether to run another block. There is nothing to cancel and no rolling membership. Plenty of people take a block off and come back for the next cycle.

Enquiries

Tell me what you want to train for

A few lines is enough. I read every enquiry myself and reply with the formats that fit your week, the open slots in the next block, and what the first session would involve.

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