Tag Archives: Programming

Back to Basics. Plus “Fran” every Friday.

7 May

UPCOMING EVENTS (mark your calendars now!)

PALEO POTLUCK.  At CFCC. Saturday, May 12th.  530-730pm.  Bring a dish with the ingredients.  Best three GREEN dishes win prizes!

A MINDSET FOR SUCCESS: Seminar for Procrastinators Everywhere, May 20th.  2-5pm

PROM. June 23rd.

DECATHALON.  Registration opens 6pm, May 13th.  The first 10 tickets sold are $50 off!

PROGRAMMING for our regular CrossFit “WORKOUT OF THE DAY” Sessions:

As CFCC waits for a few of its full-time Coaches to finish up their studies (Go, Sammy and Liz!) we will be doing as much as we can to make sure that our classes run as smoothly as possible given the ever-growing numbers of members, and class opportunities. In addition to all this, we eagerly await the addition of a little more help to our staff (both Coaching and Administrative) – in the meantime, this cycle is ALL about getting back to the basics.

If you are new to CFCC, it’s the perfect cycle to gain your sea-legs with. The format will be a little easier, with warm-ups staying MOSTLY the same for the same days and a lot of your single-limb work being placed in position at the beginning of the hour. Skill work will stay the same for the days that you are doing upper body strength work as well which will mean that we’re able to increase in strength, cross-sectional stability, and skill.

You’ll notice too, that instead of consistently focusing on many benchmarks only on certain days of the week – we are focusing on just one this cycle: Fran. For everything you ever needed to know about “Fran”, please examine the below:

The Story of Fran.

Fooling Around with Fran.

What is a Benchmark Workout?

Are we trying to specialize in one workout? No. Not really. We are trying to see what effect can be had by taking a cycle to work on kipping, a skill that is absolutely a huge part of your understanding of proper mechanics, mobility, and power output in CrossFit. We are taking that skill and transferring that to a small volume (45 total reps in “Fran”) while simultaneously experimenting with what the mind can do when presented with a test of intensity more frequently (kipping pull-ups alternated with relatively light thrusters in “Fran”). Sure you can get “Fran” done in under 6 minutes. As rx’d. But just how DOES someone think themselves into completing more than the guy next to them with the same abilities? That comes from a lot of heart, preparation, and a respect for the phrase “every second counts”.

For more inspiration, check out these performances:

The Men’s Master’s Division (+50yrs.) at the CrossFit Games completes “Fran” 

Mel Ockerby completes “Fran” in the Team Competition of last year’s CrossFit Games in 238. 

ODE TO FRAN – it’s kind of a big deal.

One-armed Fran (yes, the pullups too) from Rob Orlando.

The first ever men’s sub-two-minute Fran.

MONDAY: Back Squat: 3, 3, 2, 1 – Single Leg Warm-up
TUESDAY: Press: 3, 3, 2, 1 – Single Arm Rowing Warm-up and Handstand Push-up Activation.
WEDNESDAY: Weighted Chest-to-Bar Pull-up (Pronated Grip): 3, 3, 2, 1 – Kipping Warm-up and Skill Work (Butterfly and Gymnastics).
THURSDAY: Clean and Jerk, up to a peak of 1 every week. Short Conditioning Work.
FRIDAY: Conventional Deadlift: 3, 3, 2, 1 – FRAN every week.
SATURDAY: Running and Rowing Skill Work
SUNDAY: Team/Partner Workouts

New classes on the Schedule!

11 Apr

Hello, friends! We’ve added a number of classes to our schedule for the month of April and until June and I just thought you MIGHT want to know about them via something other than our online schedule.  This schedule is in effect as of tomorrow morning (Thursday)!

Please note that the only regular classes that have been added are Sunday at 10am and 12pm and will be taught by Tim.

CROGA with Tim (in the DOJO/Warm-up area):

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 630am-715am

Mondays and Wednesdays at 12pm-1245p, and 630p-715p

Sundays at 11am

Whether you’re looking to wake your hips up after a heavy day of squatting or PREP your hips for an evening of maxing the Snatch and then your mile time, CROGA is your answer to being able to do both of these things (ALL things???) effectively.  These classes will vary in form but you can expect about 30 minutes of Yoga, and 15 minutes of hardcore mobilitywod.com stay stretching.  If you have specific needs, just ask Timoteo!  He’s there to get you acquainted with the ways YOU can do just a little bit of work to get your body moving the way it was meant to!

CONDITIONING ONLY (in the “Back of the House”/Oly/Elements Area with Tim):

Tuesdays and Thursdays at 715am-8am

Feeling like a little burnt out?  Feeling like your strength is great but your general physical preparedness could be just a bit better? Attempting to format two-a-days that you can actually live through one or two times a week? This class is for you and open to all members of CFCC! It will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 715am and will include a dynamic warm-up, followed by a “metcon” that ranges in length (anywhere from 10-20 minutes). The workouts will not always be running and rowing but you will find that most of them include variants of these movements mixed with others.  The format of the workouts will be simple, easy to review, but not always easy to complete (you will still be breathing hard!).  Any weights used will be light. You’ll be done by 8am!

ADVANCED CLASS, location varied with Tim leading:

Tuesdays at 6pm, Sundays at 2pm

The class is for Advanced Class athletes ONLY and will be an attempt to (most of all anyway) prepare Record for the Regional Level of the CrossFit Games!  She needs you to be there, friends – make plans to try to hit this session as often as you can until May 5th!  For more on the purpose of Advanced Class and how YOU can join in read this post and email me directly at erin@crossfitcc.com if you would like to be considered!

GYMNASTICS with Sammy: 

Tuesday and Thursday at 730pm

Sunday at 9am and 1pm

There is no more Gymnastics on Saturdays!  Gymnastics is a class devoted to the finer points of many of the movements that CrossFit typically borrows from the sport of Gymnastics.  There’s no end to the number of party tricks you may learn in this class and ALL are welcome.  Whether you’re still scared stiff at the idea of being upside down, want your first muscle-up, or seriously want to consider being able to do an iron-cross – this class CAN get you there and you WILL see changes in your performance elsewhere in CrossFit!  Skill work in this class is run in a more clinic-ey style and a conditioning workout which varies in length and intensity is included in just one hour – if you’d like highly individualized attention, please don’t forget that all of your Coaches always have Personal Training hours available.

COMING UP in 2 weeks…

CROSSFIT FOUNDATIONS with Liz:

We are still setting down some definite hours but we know these will be available:

Monday and Wednesday, 630pm.

The purpose of the Foundations class is two-fold: we wanted to provide a time, even if it was at a few points during the week, where a recently graduated Elements student and a recently vacationed long-time CFCC member could meet and train together.  In this class you can expect to be setting a foundation for many of the movements that are taught in Elements but also trained in our regular classes.  There will be an 8 person cap on this class and the format of the hour will be very like our regular classes: Mobility Work, Warm-up, Strength, and Metabolic Conditioning.  You can dependably find yourself either squatting or deadlifting in these classes for strength to reinforce patterns for two of the most important lifts in our arsenal of movements.  You can also find yourself completing metcons that are VERY simple in nature (no complicated movements, no crazy names to remember or re-learn but merely all of the movements which are included in our Elements class metcons – simply, reinforced)- and which will typically never run longer than 15 minutes.  This is the first time we’ve ever run a class of this kind and we’re very excited to have the opportunity to offer it.  This class will begin in two weeks time (Monday, 4/30/12).

New Space – now NEW Programming.

8 Apr

PROGRAMMING for the next four weeks, until the week of 5/7/12

We’ve had a bit of a disorganized cycle as we’ve been moving and busy trying to get used to the needs and assets we have in our current home. It’s time to get back to the good business of training with a plan!

In four weeks, a few things will be happening – a number of athletes will be competing in a nearby Olympic Lifting competition, and one of our very own will be competing at Regionals! In addition to all of this – we’ll be taking part in the CrossFit for Hope fundraiser taking place on June 9th (that’s really not that far away!) and the workout for this event will be Fight Gone Bad!

We are also running a Nutrition Seminar on Wednesday, the 18th and starting our next CFCC Body Composition Change Challenge (SWIMSUIT EDITION) on the Monday directly following that. May will be a big month of changes and because every challenge is 30 days, by the 30th day (May 23rd) – you’ll all be ready for a fun summer of feeling, performing, and looking your best!

Some other schedule changes are coming up as well:

– We’re adding weekly gymnastics classes back in! Sammy will be happy to walk you through all things gymnasty on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 730pm.

– Coach Liz will still be holding Rowing class on Wednesdays at 530pm but will also be starting Running class up again! Running will be held every week on Mondays at 530pm and Saturday  at 10am.  Although it’s not listed on the calendar Running is happening tomorrow at 530pm!  Here are a few introductory words from Liz:

Running starts again for the season!  We will meet downstairs in the mobility area at 5:30 to warm-up for about 5mins inside.  We will then continue our dynamix warm-up  by running to Washington Square park, stopping for running skill drills along the way. The running wod itself will take place in the park.  We will run or walk back to the gym together and be back by 6:30. 

– We are taking a break from accessory Olympic Lifting classes to allow the Olympic Lifting athletes competing on May 5th the opportunity to train adequately – if you would like to be considered for the chance to join in on their cycle you must email me at erin@crossfitcc.com as soon as possible for details. As a start, you can’t join in on the cycle if you haven’t been attending Intro or Advanced Classes and you DEFINITELY can’t join if you don’t intend to compete on the 5th.  To make up for this deficit, we’re going to be throwing Olympic Lifts back in the mix of the regular programming!

– In two weeks (starting the week of April 23rd), we’ll be introducing a new schedule of classes that we are calling “CrossFit Foundations”. There will be lots of information out there about what this will include but these classes will be perfect for those of you emerging from the Elements course and still feeling like you want some reinforcement of the skills you have learned. It will also be entirely open and applicable to those of you looking to simply your training for a few weeks – every week will include the same three lifts: Back Squat, Deadlift, Press, and a simple metcon.

– Within the next week we will also start to test out some new hours for Yoga and our other classes – stay tuned!
So without further ado, I give you, our next cycle! And as always, if you have any questions at all about how to apply this particular cycle or any of our training better to your specific goals – please feel free to email me at anytime!

MONDAY: Front Squat (5, 3, 2, 1) – attempt to spot heavy loads to keep the neighbors happy – pressing in metcons.
TUESDAY: Snatch (work with doubles with Coach’s direction, then continue to work up to a single every week) – running and/or rowing metcons.
WEDNESDAY: Deadlift Metcons (and pending general recovery, some pulling for strength and speed)
THURSDAY: Clean (work with doubles with Coach’s direction, then continue to work up to a single every week) – single leg movements.
FRIDAY: Bench Press (5, 3, 2, 1) – pulling metcons.
SATURDAY: Benchmarks and random skill work with movements not in this cycle.
SUNDAY: Benchmarks and random skill work with movements not in this cycle.

Monday, 4/2/12

1 Apr

Nutrition and Depression.

If I could, I would definitely make this a part of REQUIRED READING before joining CFCC.

April 23rd marks the beginning of CFCC’s next Body Composition Change Challenge – SWIMSUIT EDITION! (more details to come soon – save the date!)

——————————————————————————————-

If you’re new to CrossFit what you may not know is that every one of the “slow” lifts (Back/Front Squat, Deadlift, Press, Overhead Squat) that you do is actually a lift that is meant to prepare you for one of the “fast” lifts – or, the Olympic Lifts (Snatch, Clean and Jerk).  So, when you front squat you are actually creating stability and strength out of the landing position of the clean.  Likewise, when you Overhead Squat you are creating a kind of muscular history for remembering exactly what it feels like to catch a barbell over your head when you land in the bottom position of the Snatch.

So, what is the purpose of the simple military press?

First off, you can recognize that the top position of the Clean and Jerk bears a strong resemblance to the top position of your prettiest press.  Secondly, you can imagine that for the average budding beginner it’s sometimes not enough to develop stability for the jerk by simply doing it – it helps to develop strength throughout the entirety of the path of the jerk. How close should the barbell be from your forehead as it passes in front of you?  How should your shoulder blades feel right out of the gate at the bottom of the press?  What should the top position REALLY feel like?  These are all things that are possible to determine when you are not busy trying to CATCH the weight in it’s final position and are instead, taking the time to reinforce the pathway it takes to get there. Thirdly, developing some kind of strength in the shoulders can ABSOLUTELY help you to catch more weight overhead.

As you press today, know that this is a movement that is not done just for the sake of doing it – as with ALL of our programming – each movement has a purpose for performance, body composition, and ultimately your overall health (and happiness?  I think we can tag happiness on there).  And remember, if you ever have a question about your training – just ask! (erin@crossfitcc.com)

It’s Monday, folks!  Get after it!

-e.

From HookGrip (ask Nat what it is): Mia Jackson (75kg National Champion) celebrating after C&Jing 115kg to give her a 200kg total. Check out that default overhead position!

SELF-MYOFASCIAL RELEASE: Lax Ball Lower Traps, 2 minutes. Lax Ball Pecs, 2 minutes.
MOBILITY: Band Assisted Pec Stretch, 1 minute each side. Band Overhead Stretch, 1 minute each side. SCM/Trap Stretch, 30 seconds each side.
POSTURAL ACTIVATION: Handstand Hold, 1 minute each side.
DYNAMIC WARM-UP: Duck Walk around for a minute. :) Then, review the barbell thruster so you know what you can handle later in the session.
STRENGTH: Press, up to a peak of 3.
METABOLIC CONDITIONING:

50 thrusters, 45lbs or 35lbs (barbell)
15 L-Pullups
40 thrusters
12 L-Pullups
30 thrusters
9 L-Pullups
20 thrusters
6 L-Pullups

*If you don’t have L-pullups, sub a strict pullup.

The last time we did this workout was a LONG time ago – but for those of you who keep records (GOOD FOR YOU!) February 11, 2010 was the day!

NEW GRADUATES from the ELEMENTS COURSE!

28 Feb

A new wave of Elements (CrossFit Center City’s Foundations of CrossFit Class) has begun, but a new wave of MEMBERS from the last rotation has joined!  If you see them around, say hey!  Also, maybe say, “My name is Reid, and if you I happen to get a little nauseous, don’t take it personally!”  Or maybe, “Hey, my name is Elie, and don’t be scared if I yell at you while I’m lifting – someday you will yell too!”

All kidding aside, it’s rough to be new!  Give these folks all the love and wisdom you have! :)

LIZ’ S ELEMENTS CLASS:

From L to R, back row: Donald, Adrian, Mike, Aaron, front row: Linz and Guilia

CASSIE’S/ERIN’S ELEMENTS CLASS:

7am is EAAAAAARLY.

TIM’S ELEMENTS CLASS:

You can kind of tell who their Coach was, can't you? :)

SAMMY’S ELEMENTS CLASS:

CHRIS’S ELEMENTS CLASS:

The few, the proud, the 9amers!

A new cycle starts!

20 Feb

Ladies and Gents of CFCC, welcome to a NEW cycle. 

In the past cycle we made it our goal to maintain absolute squatting and pulling strength while actively trying to increase strength endurance for pull-ups.   Though we had plenty of PRs in peak week in the Front Squat, the Pronated and Supinated Grip Pull-up, we also saw loads of PRs along the way.

Many had their first bodyweight pull-ups AND with the addition of muscle-up skill work, MANY acquired their first strict and kipping muscle-ups.  The effect of the endurance we have built up remains to be seen in the next cycle and I intend to test this.

All in all, I call it a win!

Mel doing a pull-up on our old pull-up bar.

Here are some of the objectives of this next cycle:

 1.    Improving your score for regular CrossFit benchmarks, specifically Fight Gone Bad – so dig out that old Fight Gone Bad score and see where your weaknesses lie!  Fitness for a workout like this transfers well to many sports, and obviously, your performance in other workouts in CrossFit.

2.    Reintroducing the Olympic Lifts into the regular programming (the clean, and the overhead squat on Monday as foundational for all Olympic Lifters).  Every athlete should be able to overhead squat! And if you can squat 15 reps at Bodyweight you will get a prize. http://danjohn.net/the-overhead-squat-article/

3.    Keeping pull-up endurance and reintroducing deadlift strength in the rotation.  It’s been a while since we sumo deadlifted but it should nicely complement the movements of Fight Gone Bad.  Additionally, pullups and deadlifts are GOOD for what ails you! Why the Deadlift? http://www.thedeadlift.com/deadlifting/

4.    Building the strength necessary for more than just a kipping handstand push-up.  Because kipping is NOT enough!

5.    Maintenance of a training stimulus even while 30% of our average number of attendees in a day will be competing in the CrossFit Open (begins later this week!).

MONDAY: Single Leg Stability as warm-up. Overhead Squat, 5,3,2,1. Trunk Stability Endurance in Metcons.

TUESDAY: Strict Full-ROM (Range of Motion) Handstand Push-up Strength Work and Ring Handstand Push-up Skill Work for those meriting it – taught in the format of the muscle-up day from life-cycle.  Gymnastics Dominant Metcons – ranging from 15-25 minutes in duration.

WEDNESDAY:  Pull-up Endurance as Warm-up, “Fight Gone Bad” Variants – i.e. you’ll see! J

THURSDAY: Hang Power Clean, 2 reps, every minute on the minute for 10 minutes as warm-up.  Front Squat, up to a peak of 1 (every week up to a peak of 1).  Simple Movements and Simple Rep Schemes for Metcon.

FRIDAY: Sumo Deadlift – 5, 3, 2, 1 – Rowing for Calories., (Tim coaches the morning and the noon).

SATURDAY: Benchmark Workouts, often over 15 minutes.

SUNDAY: Gymnastics and Intro to Oly

In the article below, you’ll find special directions for folks dealing with hip/back issues, shoulder testiness and the CrossFit Games Open – which BEGINS THIS WEEK! Sign up by following the link on the side of our page. You only have two days left to register!

New Programming! 4 Weeks of Greasing the Groove, and a Review of the Total.

22 Jan

Photo by Mike Mackintosh.

Keep the Goal the Goal. – Dan John

Every cycle is an experiment in finding something that serves the broad purpose of CrossFit Center City: to make powerful, healthy athletes. Our last experiment (from the previous total in early September to the total this past weekend) was to play with high volume squatting at higher intensities (intensity as measured by a greater percentage of max, so, less 5,3,2,1 stuff and more doubles and singles more often, but still fast) than normal and in the absence of the same for deadlifting to create a better TOTAL amount for three lifts.

As is evidenced by the 65 people who lifted in our last CrossFit Total, we succeeded. Even with the presence of deadlifting 2 months out of 4 in a cycle, 60 out of 65 PR’d their deadlifts, 63 of 65 PR’d their squat, and over %50 of members taking a chance at the press PR’d their press. In max reps, CFCC lifted over 7,000 pounds.

Other fun facts?

Not counting the coaches, there were 32 men and 27 women lifting.  Last time, this was 16 men and 16 women.

Of those 32 men, 6 were squatting over 315 and 3 men squatted 375lbs. (Hunter, Lux, Sean). 6 men were squatting very close to 300 (Jeff, Bova, Daffy, Hollander, Taylor, and Dorcus). 11 men were deadlifting over 300lbs. for the first time. 10 men were deadlifting over 400lbs (for the first time, Weisman, Nat, Andreas, Tyler, Taylor, Wilson, and Dorcus). Heitz, pulling 385lbs. is close. Lux is edging towards 500 at 455lbs. and Hunter pulled over 500lbs. (505) for the first time ever.

Of the 27 women, 8 were squatting over 200lbs, with Amber coming in close to it at 190lbs. Angie, true to form and always a crowd pleaser ☺, PR’d her squat at 253lbs – currently the best women’s squat in the gym. Additionally, Angie easily PR’d her deadlift at 350lbs. (also the best deadlift in the gym). A few women pulled over 200lbs. for the first time (Sparker, Abbey, Amber, Morgan, Leila, and Youngblood). Among the women deadlifting, 12 pulled over 225lbs. with Joey pulling an impressive 255lbs., and Meredith and Tess pulling 275lbs. Meredith made a gallant attempt at 300lbs. twice and will surely pull more than this at the next total. Record pulled 305lbs. putting her in a club of women at CFCC numbering a select four.

Next time, we’ll have to measure the actual poundage of PRs…so keep track of where you’re at, CFCC! 

One of the things that most members have expressed in the last few months and one of the elements that I’ve found lacking most in our training is good old fashioned Pull-up Strength Endurance. This cycle you’ll notice some changes in the structure of our every-day programming.

How does better Pullup Strength Endurance fit into that?

Grip Strength: you’re really only as strong as what you can hold.
Shoulder Health: Good shoulders pull well.
Body Composition: There’s nothing like a pull-up to encourage you to be as lean as possible (the more you weigh the harder it gets)– and nothing activates the body in quite the same way that a basic pull-up does – there is more abdominal activation involved in a pull-up than any crunch you could ever muster. Said another way, a personal trainer friend of mine once said when he saw me doing pull-ups, “they make yo back like a map.”
Running: Yup, believe it or not there is a strong correlation between good runners and max pullup sets. True, correlation is not proof, but it’s not a coincidence either.
Metcon: Every other CrossFit benchmark workout involves a pull-up of some sort and if you want to be dedicated to doing them well and in large amounts, you simply have to do them a lot of the time and more often, but NEVER incorrectly or to fatigue (ask a Marine – the required amount of strict deadhang pull-ups for men is 20 reps).

So what’s this translate to?

We’ll be greasing the groove – for more on this theory of training – check out this post.  We’ll be doing lots of other movements, still working on lots of skills, and still squatting – the deadlift will be saved for metcons during this cycle, but it’ll definitely be in the mix. In about two weeks some more classes will be added to the full schedule: a Shoulder Prehab Course and a few more Intro to Olympic Lifting Classes per week.

Check out the full format of every week below.

MONDAY – Warm-up = Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes either 1 pull-up, 2 pull-ups, or 3 pull-ups. Pronated Grip. Pick your band if you need one. Do not use one that sends you to failure. If you do go to failure for any reason during the cycle at any time, back down to an easier band or an easier variation (i.e. if you were on 3 pull-ups and fail on the 5th minute, back down to two pull-ups in the next minute). Metcon – Quad Dominant (meaning, some kind of squatting).

TUESDAY – Strict Muscle-up Skill/Strength Work and Gymnastics Dominant Metcons (Ring Work (Dips and Push-ups), Rolls, Handstand Walking, Single Leg Work).

WEDNESDAY – Warm-up = 1 attempt at a max set of Kipping Pull-ups or, if you do not kip or would like to use strict pull-ups instead, max a set of strict pull-ups. Use any grip you wish. Front Squat, Peak of 5, 3, 2, 1. Hip Dominant Metcons (Deadlifting, Kettlebell Swinging, Rowing, etc.)

THURSDAY – Warm-up = Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes either 1 pull-up, 2 pull-ups, or 3 pull-ups. Supinated Grip. Jerk from the Rack, (Push, or Split), up to a single every week. Those with testy shoulders should choose to Press or Push Press instead of Jerk. If you haven’t spent a cycle Pressing at CFCC, you should stick with the press.

FRIDAY – Strength: Pull-up (Pronated Grip, up to a quick peak of 1).  Benchmark Metcons.

SATURDAY – Benchmark Metcons.

I don’t think I need to say this, but just in case…

…the pull-up starts at a full hang (no bent elbows!) and ends with the chin breaking the horizontal and vertical plane of the bar.  There are no exceptions to this range of motion.  If you want to get the most out of your pull-ups for your shoulders, end them as often as you can with your shoulder blades back and down at the top of the pull (you shouldn’t be shrugging).  You should look as LITTLE like a chicken as possible (don’t stick your neck out, keep your chin tucked!).  Form matters – more than you know until it’s kind of too late…  If you have bent elbows you need to get to work on that YESTERDAY and this is a great place to start!

Also, because we’re not kipping THAT often (only on the days where it says we are or during some benchmark workouts) your hands should be mostly fine.  In case any of you need some review of how to deal with hand issues in CrossFit though – don’t forget to consult this post.  As with all injuries, always tell us via email as soon as you can!

Eat it, don't be it.

Remember, members don’t let other members short their pull-ups.  Take pride in the virtuosity of your craft and don’t count your reps unless you’ve MADE them count.

And with all that said, here’s to the next four weeks!

What’s the plan now that the total is 2 weeks away?

8 Jan

Everything works, but only for so long.  - Dan John

 

Believe it or not, the programming we do is almost never random.  CrossFit is about measurable results and some of the most important results we can create in our members are raw increases in strength.  This increase in strength has the best transfer to life, your sports, your body composition, and even your mood levels!

This past week the volume of reps (metcons were short) and even the intensity (how heavy you went relative to your max) was kept low. The purpose of this is to prime you for the day of the CrossFit Total. If you’d like to know more about how this process works, check out this interview with a few experienced power lifters on how to prepare as a rookie (that’s all of us!) for a powerlifting meet (a lot like a CrossFit Total).

The goal for the week before the week of the total is to give you the chance to still perform your lifts with good accuracy and speed, without fatiguing you so much that you end up peaking your performance before Saturday, January 21st. You simply want your body to remember how to move aggressively – but without taxing your system. What does this mean exactly? Speed is king.

A slow lift will fatigue you but a fast lift executed properly will prepare you. To get the most out of CrossFit Total day, make this your goal in the next two weeks. Stay fast. Stay mobile. Get good rest.  And stay relatively light, but keep training!

The metcons in this week will be intense, because most of them will be benchmarks, but my intention is to have you beat your old times, not kill yourself over attempting everything rx’d so time caps will be in place. If you’re looking to fully optimize your recovery for the Total, try not to attend sessions where metcons take over 10 minutes, OR alternatively, simply cap your time for metcons at 10 minutes for the next two weeks. Of course, if optimizing the Total is not your goal, don’t sweat it.

After the Total a new cycle will be introduced, because, as quoted above, “Everything works, but only for so long.” – until then, finish this cycle out as strong as you can. You won’t regret it later!

Train hard. Have fun! And get excited – a new cycle of lifts is coming – in the meantime – sign up for the Total to set your benchmark!

A new cycle begins!

13 Nov

This one brings us up to December 10th.  For those of you worrying about your deadlift… worry not, we’ll have lots of fun preparing for that over the holidays in preparation for the next CrossFit Total in January!

MONDAY, Clean (Squat cleans are not always necessary but are STRONGLY encouraged.)
- always sets of 2, up to a peak of 1.  Single Leg Work and Jumping metcons will be common to allow for use of bars by the Olympic Lifting crew.

TUESDAY, Strict Muscle-Up (if no Muscle-Up, False Grip Pull-up)
- skill work with strict muscle-up or doubles for height of the False Grip Ring Pull-up.  For those with flexibility issues, time in the False Grip hang is strongly encouraged.
- all gymnastics metcons.

WEDNESDAY, Overhead Squat
- 5, 3, 2, 1
- a lot of pulling in metcons (pull-ups, rowing, ring rows, kettlebells)

THURSDAY, Handstand Walking
- Handstand Walking Skill Work
- all gymnastics metcons.

FRIDAY, Front Squat
- triples, for speed.  In the last week, a peak of 1.

SATURDAY, Partner Workouts, and CrossFit Endurance (rowing)

SUNDAY, Intro to Oly Lifting

Programming

16 Oct

Here’s how the next 4 weeks of Programming at CFCC will go!  If you have questions about how to best use this Programming for your own goals, please email us!

MONDAY: Clean, always doubles and working up to a peak of 1. Olympic Lifting has taught me a lot… but one of the things it’s definitely taught me about most is that if you want to be stronger, you’ve got to work at a higher percentage of your max pretty much as often as you are able. The “Peak” set is the way we do this at CFCC. On any given day your peak of 1 might be a 75-90% (or more!) of your previous tested “max”. Expect these fluctuations and do your best to optimize recovery (read: think about what you’re fueling with and sleep more). The rep range of 1 on Monday and the higher frequency of squatting in this cycle is all a part of trying to stay in a range of intensity that will make you a strong as possible as soon as possible, for as long as possible.  See this article for more details.
 TUESDAY: Handstand Walking (WOOHOO!) and Sammy will now be teaching all classes on Tuesday. Be extra attentive so you can be walking on your hands in 4 weeks!
WEDNESDAY: Front Squat and Natty GHR (check out a Natural Glute Ham Raise here.) Also, review a short-but-sweet post from Tony Gentilcore on why you should be doing Natural GHRs.
THURSDAY: Single Arm Press (5,3,2,1 each week) and Kipping Skill Work. If you know you have a shoulder imbalance, this is your day!
FRIDAY: Back Squat, triples all the way through for speed and Single Leg Work. Leg imbalances are pretty unhelpful for being as strong and as healthy as possible too.
SATURDAY: Wild Card. :)
SUNDAY: Gymnastics.

Cassie, post PR-ing her Snatch.

This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

- George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), Man and Superman, Epistle Dedicatory

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