Your Programming for the rest of the year! (Sort of)

We are done with strength bias, and while I have yet to compile all the numbers there were some impressive strength gains, particularly among people newer to weightlifting in general. This dynamic is pretty typical, with more experienced athletes who are starting from a higher point, improving less total poundage and/or percentage. Speaking very roughly, if you’re a male squatting 1.5 or a female squatting 1.25 your bodyweight your percenatge and total poundage gains are likely to be less dramatic than someone whose at say, 50% bodyweight and so on.

For the next 12 weeks (July/August/Sept) while we will still lift weights, the toolbox will expand and lifts will recur less often. For instance, rather than pullups every wednesday, we will have some measure of pulling action, whether it’s pullups, ring rows, rope climbs etc. Instead of just back squats we’ll see back squats, front squats and overheads, thrusters, box jumps etc.

The olympic lifts will feature more prominently. Remember that ultimately, the Olympic lifts are (for our purposes) simply a way to quantify applying force to an object. As athletic drivers, they are very valuable. Their learning curve is, (in the CrossFit stable of exercises) on the high side, but I encourage those of you unfamiliar with or “bad” at them to give them your best effort and focus and you will be pleased at the effect on your fitness as a whole.

The medium to higher end gymnastics skills are really backburnered during the strength bias, but during this phase we will be devoting 2 periods a week to some of these more technically challenging skills. I’m going to try to post video here the night prior to working on the given action. PLEASE do your CrossFit abilities a favor and watch what gets put up. This will expedite time in the gym quite a bit. If you read that and rolled your eyes at the prospect of spending 8 minutes on your fitness outside the gym, with thoughts along the lines of “I’m just here to sweat and fit into a size 6. I ain’t about watching no video!” I’d encourage you to aim a little higher. If you have patience and get these movements down, CrossFit in general becomes more effective, less frustrating, and makes your looking good/size 6 possibilities significantly better. If the skill is something you’re already good at, I’ll give you a more advanced progression, and support THAT with video as well.

A typical week would lay out as follows

Monday- Skill Development/ Work / Strength- Hip Extension(squat/jump etc)

Tuesday- Olympic Lifting (Snatch or Snatch Drills)/Work

Wednesday- Odd Weeks-monostructural test, even weeks-agility and footwork/ Strength- Pulling Actions (Pullups, rows, ropes)/ Mobility

Thursday- Olympic Lifting (Clean and Jerk and supporting drills)/ Metcon

Friday- Skill Development / Work / Strength- Push (Shoulder press, Bench press, Ring dip)

At the conclusion of September we’d return to Strength Bias for the remainder of the year and then be about 4-5 weeks away from the start of the 2015 CF Open, so during that period we’d narrow the toolbox and focus on perfecting those movements and wod-ing in those time frames.

All that said, here’s the schedule for this week
June 30-July4

Monday- A) Skill- Kipping Pullup (adv. bar Muscle-up) B)Work-Max Rep Thrusters in estimated FRAN time (7 minutes Max), C) Strength- for load 10-8-6-4-2 back squat @ 1-2-1-1.
Kipping Video HERE. Be advised that there’s lots of comments to the effect of “This will destroy your shoulder” and we will speak to that legitimate danger. Bar Muscle Up Video HERE

Tuesday- A) Olympic Lifting-Hang Power Snatch, Hang Snatch. B)Work- CFG Open 11.1 and 14.1 AMRAP in 10- 15 Snatches/30 Double Unders.

Wednesday- A)Work- 10m Max Effort Airdyne/Row/Run. B) Pull 4×5 Snatch Grip Deadlift C) Mobility

Thursday- A) Olympic Lifting- Hang Power Snatch, Split Jerk B) Work- Airdyne 2min for max calories rest 4 mins x 5 rounds.

Friday- A) Skill Development- Kipping/Bar Muscle Up B) Work-3 rounds for time of 15 Toes 2 Bar, 15 Front squats @ 115/80, 15 KB Swings, 15 Box Jumps. C) Strength- Strict Ring Dips