Fencing Strength
“The coach is amazing. All the videos are helpful and clear, and the set program works fast and well. In just 6 weeks not only did I get noticeably stronger, my form was so so so much better. Would give 6 stars.”
A 12-week strength and conditioning program built for fencers, by fencers. Plyometrics, Olympic lifting, sprints and change-of-direction work, three days a week with a 4th additional speed and agility day, in the app.
Start Your Free Week7-day free trial. Cancel anytime.
Your coach handles distance, timing, blade work and tactics. That's their job, and a good one does it well.
But when two fencers read the same opening at the same instant and only one of them gets the touch, that's not a technique problem. It's a physical one, how much force the back leg can put into the floor, and how quickly it can put it there.
If this is the problem, you don't need more footwork drills. Drilling rehearses the shape of the movement. It doesn't build the engine underneath it.
So most competitive fencers end up in one of two places. Either they skip the gym entirely and wonder why their attack never changes. Or they go, work hard, and have no idea whether any of it is transferring to the strip.
Random workouts don't build fencing athletes. Structured programming does.
The read is right and the distance is right, but the attack arrives a beat late. That's explosiveness, not technique.
Plenty of fencers squat well and still get beaten to the touch. Strength only helps if it's trained to come out fast.
When every gym week looks different, nothing accumulates — and there's no way to tell what's working.
Power isn't one thing you train. It's four, and the sequence matters as much as the exercises.
Heavy compound work builds the force your body has available. Without it, there's nothing for the fast work to express.
Plyometrics teach that force to come out quickly, depth drops and drop jumps for force absorption, pogo variations for tendon stiffness, broad jumps and bounding for explosive output. Three different mechanisms, all necessary.
Sprinting is the most explosive movement available to a human body. If the nervous system is never asked to fire at maximum speed, it won't fire at maximum speed when a bout demands it.
The quality that turns everything above into fencing rather than track and field. Absorb, redirect, explode again, the actual demand of reactive footwork.
Each layer builds on the one before. That's what a 12-week block is for, and it's the difference between a program and a collection of exercises.
The training week
Three sessions a week with an additional 4th speed day, each with a defined job. Programmed to complement your fencing schedule, not compete with it.
Everything included
I started fencing at twelve in San Antonio. No money for private lessons, no travel budget for the tournaments that mattered, no new kit.
The only edge available to me was becoming the better athlete. So that's the one I built, and it worked well enough that I spent four years coaching epee at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and have spent the last four running strength and conditioning at NOVA Fencing Club in Arlington.
Fencing Strength exists because almost nobody is doing this properly for fencers. There's plenty of general strength coaching, and plenty of fencing coaching. Very little that understands both.
Every coach on this team is a certified trainer and a competitive fencer. Everything in these programs is thoughtfully selected to address the unique challenges of fencing in the ways only a fencer understands.
— Coach Rich, Founder
“The coach is amazing. All the videos are helpful and clear, and the set program works fast and well. In just 6 weeks not only did I get noticeably stronger, my form was so so so much better. Would give 6 stars.”
“My speed, agility and power got so much better, and I could really test it when I went to international competitions, because I realized my physique was not a problem when bouting.”
“Great coach & programme! It's hard to find fencing specific S&C, but Richard hits the mark. He is really attentive to detail and the app is really practical for keeping track. Truly recommend.”
“In addition to great programming Richard is quite responsive for questions, substitutions and helping pick what workouts are the best fit for one's goals. As a fencing coach, I'll definitely recommend USA Fencing Strength to athletes who want top tier programming.”
“Since he's a fencer himself, he really understands what goes into being not just strong, but a strong fencer. … I've noticed clear improvements in my strength and conditioning on the strip.”
“He has helped me improve both my fencing and lifting tremendously. He has helped me work on physical therapy along with Olympic lifting that has brought a lot of consistency to my routine.”
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Full access to the entire 12-week Explosiveness program for seven days. Every session, every tutorial video, every bonus workout, progress tracking, community access. Nothing held back and nothing locked.
Long enough to run real sessions and decide for yourself whether this was built for fencing or lifted from a generic gym plan. That's usually obvious by the second session.
7-day free trial, then $29.99/month. Cancel anytime.
Every set, rep and rest period is chosen to develop the qualities fencing actually demands, reactive power, acceleration, change-of-direction speed. Generic programs train generic fitness. This trains fencing performance.
A gym with barbells, dumbbells, a pull-up bar and a box for jumps. For Day 4 you need a track, a field, 20+ metres of indoor space, or a treadmill as a last resort. Substitute exercises are provided throughout if something isn't available, plenty of fencers run this with dumbbells and a hallway.
No. Sessions are programmed to complement your fencing schedule rather than compete with it, with volume and intensity managed across the 12 weeks so club nights and lessons aren't compromised.
Because strength on its own doesn't make you faster. Force that takes half a second to produce arrives too late on the strip. This program pairs the heavy work with the plyometric and sprint work that turns it into speed.
Three days a week plus a 4th additional speed and agility day, roughly an hour each.
Late-stage beginner through intermediate. You should be comfortable with compound lifts. Ages 16 to 45 recommended. Not designed for true beginners.
Seven days of full access at no cost. After that it's $29.99/month. Cancel anytime, no contract, no cancellation fee.
Yes. You can move between Explosiveness, Endurance and Hybrid whenever you want, at no extra cost.
No. App access is included in the $29.99.
That depends on your training history and consistency. The program is built as a 12-week block with three progressive phases, and it's designed to be completed rather than sampled.
Twelve weeks of programming built for one sport. Start with a free week and see the whole thing.
7-day free trial, then $29.99/month. Cancel anytime.