What you have
A running coach. A structured plan. 60 to 80 km per week of disciplined work. Physio on speed dial for what keeps returning.
Currently accepting applications
Ten athletes.
No more.
Barbell Empowered works with a maximum of 10 masters runners at any one time. Not as a marketing constraint. As a coaching one.
Every athlete gets strength work built around their race calendar, their running coach’s periodisation, and their injury history. Precision cannot scale.
Applications are closed while all 10 spots are full. There is no coaching waitlist. They reopen when a spot frees. Prefer the self-coached system? Join the book waitlist.
What this is
Not a programme.
A service.
What is missing
A strength system designed around your running schedule. Not bolted on top. Not generically prescribed. Built for where you are in the block, every week.
What this solves
The injury cycle that interrupts training at the same point every build. The structure treatment fixes temporarily and running recreates.
“It is not a discipline problem. It is an integration problem.”
The stakes
Your running coach can’t fix this.
Your physio can’t fix it either.
Most masters runners still cycling through injury have seen multiple practitioners. Treatment works, temporarily. The structure that produced the injury remains when they return to full training.
The cause is almost always the same: endurance training without adequate progressive loading. The posterior chain weakens relative to gait demand. Connective tissue is loaded without support to absorb it. Something gives, often eight weeks before the goal race.
The pattern
How many training cycles in the last three years have been interrupted by injury? If the answer is two or more, the injury cycle is not bad luck. It is a systems problem. Systems problems have structural solutions. This is one.
The Kench Method
Two sessions.
Progressive barbell work.
Every week calibrated to your running
load.
Not a strength programme with a running modification. A periodisation architecture that treats barbell work and running as one system.
72-hour recovery protocol
Heavy loading produces fatigue that takes 48 to 72 hours to clear. Every strength session is scheduled with that window enforced before the week’s hardest run. Not suggested. Enforced.
Race-block periodisation
Strength load shifts across peak mileage, taper, and race recovery. In peak blocks it protects the running. In lighter periods it builds. The system moves because the running calendar moves.
Minimum effective dose
Two sessions per week. About 45 minutes. Progressive compound lifts. This is not a reduced programme for time-poor athletes. This is the method.
The commitment is smaller than you expect. The scheduling precision is where most people fail without a coach.
Documented results
One in numbers. One in their own words.
A case study and a long-term client perspective, both from active Barbell Empowered athletes. Representative of multi-year outcomes when the programme runs correctly.
The injury cycle that followed him for a decade is gone.
Adrien had finished Comrades 13 times. He had also torn his left Achilles, his right hamstring, and his left hamstring. Hip flexors collapsed at 30 km. Multiple practitioners fixed each problem and watched it return. He came to Barbell Empowered in September 2024.
35→80 kg
Deadlift in 6 months
15→80 kg
Squat in 6 months
0
Interrupted cycles since Sept 2024
The method did not “fix” his injuries. It removed the structural conditions that produced them.
“Greg brings a rare blend of professionalism, insight, and genuine care. His coaching has become an integral part of my routine and well-being.”
“I’ve been coached by Greg for over six years. As a Managing Director, time is my most limited resource. With Greg’s guidance I’ve hit strength and running goals I wouldn’t have thought possible in my 50s. He listens, adapts, and designs programmes that fit real life.”
“At this stage, I genuinely can’t imagine not having Greg in my corner.”
The coach
He is the athlete he coaches.
Greg Kench built the Kench Method because he needed it himself. Four Comrades starts. A 3:14 marathon personal best. Two 70.3 Ironman finishes. The recurring injury pattern that follows masters runners who train without structured progressive loading, until he fixed it.
He left a corporate career in 2018 to coach full-time. Not because coaching was simpler. Because the gap kept showing up: strength actually designed around serious running periodisation.
Barbell Empowered works with 10 athletes. That is a structural limit. The integration work requires knowing each athlete’s load, history, and race calendar in real time.
4×Comrades finisher
3:14Marathon PB
2×70.3 Ironman
2018Coaching full-time since
CF-L1Certified
10Athlete capacity
The investment
The goal is not a faster marathon.
The goal is an unbroken training cycle.
Most masters runners at this level already invest in a running coach, physio, races, and gear. The Kench Method targets the source of structural breakdown, not only the symptom. The investment reflects individualised, responsive work limited to 10 athletes.
Online · 1:1 integrated programme
US$399
- Weekly programming: two barbell sessions built around your race calendar and running load
- 72-hour recovery protocol: session placement enforced for you
- Weekly load check-in: adjustments when running spikes or legs are trashed
- Video form review: every session. A PDF cannot watch depth degrade under fatigue.
- Race-block periodisation: peak, taper, and recovery handled as one system
- Direct coach access: no ticket queue
Premium
Online + live · 1:1 with 4 live video sessions
US$749
- Everything in Online
- 4 live 1:1 sessions per month: form, load review, and adjustments in real time
- Programme refined in conversation: not only by message
- Race-week decisions: direct access when it counts
3-month minimum applies to both tiers. When the 10 spots are full, the application closes. There is no coaching waitlist.
Self-coached path
Not ready for 1:1? Start with the system.
The Kench Method is the full operating system behind Barbell Empowered. Foundations, 2-day protocol, progressive loading, concurrent scheduling, form feedback, and the long game. Join the book waitlist for launch updates and the free training log template.
Athlete application
This is not a sales call.
Submit the full application form. Greg reviews every submission personally and responds within 48 hours with a direct assessment of fit. Strong fit → short consultation. If timing or fit is wrong, you will hear that honestly.
We do not accept every application. The programme works when running load, injury history, and schedule allow correct integration.
All 10 coaching spots are currently full. There is no application waitlist for coaching. Check back when a spot opens, or join the book waitlist for the self-coached system.
- 01 Submit the application form (~5 minutes)
- 02 Greg reviews personally. Response within 48 hours.
- 03 20-minute confirmation call if there is a fit
- 04 Agreement, payment, intake, then session one
Full application
Four sections. Honest answers. No obligation.
Contact, running background, strength history, and commitment. Opens in a dedicated form used for Airtable pipeline status applied.
Open application formReviewed personally by Greg. Response within 48 hours. Not every application is accepted.