Body Types

The Block build:
power you can stand on.

A powerful, solid frame built for moving heavy loads. That is the Block archetype as Pelaris reads it from your scan, and it is the build front rows, throwers and strongman fields are made of. Here is the training that suits it, and how to point it at your goals.

Natural strengths

What a Block build is naturally good at

Force. A solid, compact frame puts power into the ground, into a barbell, or into an opponent with a stability other builds train years to approximate. Pressing feels at home on this structure, deadlifts travel a shorter distance, and heavy carries feel less like a party trick and more like a birthright.

That is exactly the profile collision sports are built around. The demands of rugby union, rugby league and American football, driving through contact, holding position, repeating powerful efforts, read like a Block frame’s CV. The same qualities show up anywhere heavy things get moved: strongman events, throws, the platform.

The smartest Block programs build on the strength that is already there, then add the engine and the mobility that let it play out for eighty minutes rather than eight seconds.

Program shapes

Training styles that fit the frame

Proven strength systems

5/3/1, conjugate-style rotation, block periodisation. Structured heavy training with planned progression is where this frame earns its name, and Pelaris runs the real methodologies rather than a random heavy day.

Contact sport S&C

Position-aware strength and power work wrapped around a match calendar. Intensity pulls back before game day, collision load is respected in the recovery maths, and the gym serves the sport rather than competing with it.

Engine work that respects mass

Sled pushes, bike erg intervals, swimming, incline walking. Conditioning choices that build a big aerobic base while being kind to joints carrying real force, so the engine grows without the strength paying for it.

The shape of a week

A sensible Block training week

A starting shape, not a prescription. Pelaris adapts the actual week to your sport, your hours, and how your last sessions went.

  • Mon

    Lower body strength: squat pattern leads, heavy and crisp

  • Tue

    Conditioning: bike erg or sled intervals, work capacity without pounding

  • Wed

    Upper body strength: press and row in balance, carries to finish

  • Thu

    Rest, mobility, or an easy swim

  • Fri

    Full body power: hinge pattern, jumps, throws, speed emphasis

  • Sat

    Match day, or a longer aerobic session if there is no sport in season

  • Sun

    Off. Recovery is where the strength consolidates

From here to your goal

Training toward common goals

Dominate a contact sport

The frame already speaks the language of collision. Position-specific programming for rugby or league layers speed, repeat-effort conditioning and contact-aware recovery on top of the strength base, with the week bending around your fixture list.

Chase bigger totals

Squat, bench, deadlift. Structured strength methodologies progress the numbers block after block, and eating to support strength training makes sure the frame has the raw material to keep building.

Build the engine to match

A Block frame with an aerobic base is a different athlete: same power, available all game. Progressive low-impact conditioning grows the engine while the lifting holds, and your scans will show the proportions holding steady while the fitness underneath transforms.

Honest by design

A starting point, not a verdict

An archetype describes your proportions today, and it moves as your training does. A conditioning-heavy season can streamline a Block frame; a strength block can deepen it. Body scanning tracks visible shape and proportion trends, it is not a medical instrument, and our comparison of scan methods lays out exactly where it sits next to DEXA and the rest.

Scan, program, watch it change

Two photos tell Pelaris your archetype. Your goals tell it where you are headed. The AI programs strength the frame deserves and the engine it will thank you for, and the 3D Body Blueprint morphs through every check-in so the trend is something you can see, not just feel.

Pelaris archetype grid with the Block body type card describing a powerful, solid frame built for moving heavy loads
The six archetypes in Pelaris, with your scan placing you among them.

Block build, answered

What workouts are best for a block body type? +
A block build thrives on heavy compound strength work: squats, deadlifts, presses and carries, programmed through proven systems like 5/3/1 or conjugate-style training. Add low-impact conditioning (sled work, bike erg, swimming) to build an engine that supports the strength rather than competing with it. Contact sports are a natural home for the frame.
Is a block body type good for rugby and contact sports? +
Yes, genuinely. A powerful, solid frame is exactly what collision sports select for: force into contact, stability in the tackle, and the mass to hold position. Rugby union, rugby league and American football programming all build directly on what a block frame already brings.
How do I find out if I have a block build? +
Take a body scan in Pelaris: two photos, front and side, from your phone or laptop. The AI reads your shoulder, waist and hip proportions and classifies your build into one of six archetypes, then tracks how it changes as you train.

Built for heavy. Programmed for you.

Scan in a minute, then let Pelaris program the strength your frame was made for.