Joel Jamieson builds the aerobic base before the intervals. Here's how to program conditioning as a template, not random HIIT.
Most coaches bolt a few hard intervals onto the end of a lifting week and call it conditioning. Joel Jamieson - author of the work behind Morpheus - programs it by energy system instead: a large aerobic base first, because that's what drives both work capacity and recovery, then a small, deliberate dose of higher-intensity work. This breakdown covers his template logic in our own words, adds our take for a client roster, and turns it into a weekly conditioning structure you can assign.
By Markus Evers · September 2026 · a Coachway video breakdown
the short version
Jamieson programs conditioning by energy system on a repeatable weekly template: build a large aerobic base with low-intensity, steady work first - because that base is what powers both work capacity and recovery between hard efforts - then add a smaller, deliberately-placed dose of higher-intensity work on top. The one thing a coach should do about it: stop treating conditioning as "some HIIT at the end," give it its own structure and progression, and build the aerobic base before piling on the hard intervals clients can't yet recover from.
Joel Jamieson (8WeeksOut) - My Favorite Conditioning Template
Source: 8WeeksOut TV on YouTube - "My Favorite Conditioning Template". Watch on YouTube. We embed the public video and summarise it in our own words; the video, title and channel belong to Joel Jamieson / 8WeeksOut, and nothing here implies their endorsement of Coachway.
Who is Joel Jamieson, and why coaches watch
Joel Jamieson is a conditioning coach best known for his work with combat-sports and team athletes, the author of the influential conditioning manual behind the 8WeeksOut name, and the creator of the Morpheus training system. His whole niche is the thing most strength coaches under-program: energy-system development, and specifically the role of the aerobic base in work capacity and recovery. For a coach who's confident with lifting but treats conditioning as an afterthought, he's the person who makes it a system - which is exactly why a template video like this one is worth the watch, and the lens this page is written for.
What Jamieson actually argues (our summary)
This is our summary of the ideas in the video, in our own words - not a transcript. Watch the original for his exact template and examples.
- 1
Conditioning needs a template, not randomness. Like lifting, it should have a repeatable weekly structure and a progression - not a different improvised finisher every session.
- 2
Build the aerobic base first. The bulk of the work is low-intensity, steady conditioning, because a bigger aerobic base is the foundation everything else is built on.
- 3
The aerobic system drives recovery. A stronger base means faster recovery between intervals, sets and sessions - which is why it powers work capacity, not just endurance.
- 4
High-intensity work is a small, deliberate dose. Hard conditioning is layered on top of the base in a controlled amount and placed on purpose - not the default setting for every session.
- 5
Fit it around the rest of training. The template places easy work where it won't blunt hard lifting and limits the high-intensity work that competes with it, so conditioning supports the whole plan.
Coachway's take
We're strongly on board, because "conditioning = some HIIT at the end" is one of the most common holes in an otherwise good program. Treating energy-system work as its own trainable thing with a base, a structure and a progression is the upgrade, and the aerobic-base-first principle is the part most clients need most - it's the unglamorous work that makes everything else recover and repeat.
Where we'd connect it for coaches: this sits right next to the endurance-intensity logic in our Stephen Seiler breakdown. Both say the same uncomfortable thing from different fields - most people spend too much time working moderately hard and not enough genuinely easy. Jamieson is framing it as work-capacity and recovery for mixed athletes; Seiler as intensity distribution for endurance athletes. If you coach general or hybrid clients, the practical merge is simple: a lot of genuinely easy aerobic work, a little genuinely hard work, and very little of the fatiguing middle.
The coaching-business nuance is dose and expectation. Clients equate hard with effective, so easy aerobic sessions feel pointless to them and they either skip them or secretly push the pace. You have to sell the base - explain that it's what lets the hard days be hard and the lifting keep progressing - and cap the easy work so it stays easy. And keep the interference effect in mind: place the low-intensity work away from key leg days, and keep the truly hard conditioning limited so it supports the lifting instead of competing with it.
So our version of his approach is: give conditioning a real weekly template, build the aerobic base with mostly-easy work first, add a small controlled dose of hard work on top, and position all of it so it supports rather than sabotages the client's strength training.
Give conditioning its own template, next to the lifting
A conditioning template only helps if it's programmed as deliberately as the lifting and sits in the same plan. Coachway's workout builder lets you build the weekly structure - the low-intensity base sessions with their intended zone and cap, plus the smaller high-intensity dose - save it as a reusable template, and place each session where it won't collide with a hard leg day. Because clients log every session in a branded app, you can see whether the easy work actually stayed easy and whether the base is being built, and adjust from real data rather than hoping.
For the surrounding logic, our Stephen Seiler breakdown covers the same easy/hard split for endurance athletes, zone 2 cardio for coaches details the aerobic base, and Nick Bare on the hybrid athlete covers protecting lifting and conditioning at once. To benchmark the aerobic base and set intensity, the VO2 max calculator and Cooper test calculator anchor a conditioning block, and the heart rate zone calculator turns the result into training zones.
The weekly conditioning template (build it by energy system)
A structure you can copy to program a client's conditioning week deliberately instead of improvising. It puts the aerobic base first and the hard work in a small, placed dose. The proportions are a sensible default you individualise - not figures from the video.
Weekly conditioning template
| Layer | What it is | How to place it |
|---|---|---|
| Base (most of it) | Low-intensity steady work, capped easy | Most sessions; away from hard leg days |
| Bridge (some) | Moderate tempo/threshold, used sparingly | A little, once the base is established |
| Top-end (a little) | Genuinely hard intervals, small dose | 1-2 placed sessions, separated from lifting |
| Cap the easy | HR / pace / talk-test on base work | So it stays easy and aids recovery |
| Progress | Add base minutes before adding hard work | Build the foundation before the ceiling |
How to use it: fill in the client's week with mostly base work, a little bridge, and a small, placed dose of top-end. Cap the easy sessions so they stay easy, keep the hard work away from key strength days, and progress by adding base volume before adding intensity.
WEEKLY CONDITIONING TEMPLATE (via Coachway) - program conditioning by energy system, not random HIIT - BASE (most of it) -> low-intensity steady work, capped easy | place: most sessions, away from hard leg days - BRIDGE (some) -> moderate tempo/threshold, used sparingly | place: a little, once the base is established - TOP-END (a little) -> genuinely hard intervals, small dose | place: 1-2 placed sessions, separated from lifting - CAP THE EASY -> HR / pace / talk-test on base work | so it stays easy and aids recovery - PROGRESS -> add base minutes before adding hard work | build the foundation before the ceiling HOW TO USE: Fill the client's week with mostly base work, a little bridge, and a small placed dose of top-end. Cap the easy sessions so they stay easy, keep hard work away from key strength days, and progress by adding base volume before intensity. Proportions are a default to individualise, not figures from the video.
Programming conditioning - FAQ
How should a coach program conditioning for a client?
Program it by energy system on a repeatable template, not as random hard cardio. The approach Jamieson is known for builds the aerobic base first with a lot of low-intensity, steady work - the 'cardiac output' end - because that base is what underpins both work capacity and the ability to recover between hard efforts. Only once that foundation is there do you layer in a smaller amount of higher-intensity conditioning. For a coach that means conditioning gets its own structure and progression, the same as lifting, rather than a 'finish with 10 minutes of intervals' afterthought.
Why build the aerobic base before high-intensity conditioning?
Because the aerobic system is what lets a client recover - between intervals, between sets, and between sessions. A bigger aerobic base means they clear fatigue faster and can do more quality work overall, which is why it's treated as the foundation rather than the boring bit you skip to get to intervals. Pile high-intensity work on a weak aerobic base and clients gas out, recover slowly and stall; build the base first and the hard work later actually lands. It's the conditioning equivalent of not building a house on sand.
How is this different from just doing HIIT?
HIIT is one tool - a high-intensity stimulus - not a conditioning plan. The mistake this template addresses is treating 'do some HIIT' as the whole answer, which skips the aerobic base and buries clients in fatiguing hard work they can't recover from. An energy-system approach decides how much low-, moderate- and high-intensity work a client needs, in what ratio, and where it sits in the week, then progresses it. HIIT might be part of that, but it's a small, deliberately-placed part on top of a base - not the default setting for every conditioning session.
Does conditioning interfere with strength and muscle gains?
It can if it's programmed carelessly - the classic interference effect - but a well-structured conditioning plan is designed specifically to avoid that. Keeping most conditioning low-intensity protects recovery and adds little competing fatigue, so it supports rather than sabotages the lifting. The problems come from too much high-intensity conditioning crammed next to hard leg days. Place the easy aerobic work where it won't blunt key strength sessions, keep the truly hard conditioning limited and separated, and clients keep their strength while building work capacity.
More conditioning breakdowns
- · Stephen Seiler on polarized endurance - the same easy/hard split from the endurance side.
- · Nick Bare on the hybrid athlete - fitting conditioning and lifting together.
- · The full library: fitness creator coaching breakdowns.
Keep dialing in conditioning
all guidesZone 2 Cardio: What It Is & How to Program It
Zone 2 cardio for coaches: the conversational ~60-70% max-HR aerobic zone, why it builds an aerobic base, how to find it, and how to program frequency and duration.
Read the guideHIIT vs LISS: Which Is Better for Fat Loss?
HIIT vs LISS for fat loss, for coaches: results are similar when calories are matched, so adherence and recovery cost decide it. How to pick per client.
Read the guideHow to program for hybrid athletes and runners as an online coach (2026)
Programming for hybrid athletes and runners means balancing strength and endurance in the same week without one stealing from the other. A concurrent-training framework for sequencing, the interference effect, and tracking it remotely.
Read the guideFree tools for this: Warm-Up Set Calculator · Protein Calculator · Weekly Training Volume Calculator
Program conditioning as deliberately as the lifting
Energy-system conditioning only works if it has a real weekly structure and sits in the same plan as the strength work. Coachway lets you build the base and the hard dose as a template, place each session so it supports the lifting, and see every logged session to confirm the easy work stayed easy. Start your 14-day free trial and program your first conditioning block from one screen.
