State of Fitness Address 18-1

The State of your Fitness.

Hey guys, my apologies for the delay on this post, but my life outside of the gym got a bit crazy after testing week.

Without further ado:

If you made it to every class over the last cycle, you lifted 1,502 reps at an average intensity of 69.69%. Your Time Under Tension (TUT) during the Back Squat went from 1:40 at 60% to nearly 3:00 at 77.5%.
You CrossFitted an average of 11:53 per WOD.
And you completed your first 8 week block of MAP programming, MAP9, and moved to 8.

You all built a great base for the rest of the season. You may recall that when we started this past cycle the emphasis was on volume, which was obtained through TUT. We also set out to build the beginnings of our aerobic base for the next year. The TUT and hypertrophy work was in an effort to strengthen ligaments and tendons, as well as increase muscle fiber diameter to stand up to the dynamic and intense work coming in the next few cycles.
I realize that many of you did not see the PRs normally associated with the end of our cycles. That is OK! As you may have noticed in my description above, this cycle was not about setting big PRs; that comes in November. This was about setting you guys up for a successful off season.
So if not a PR, how is success defined over this past cycle? Beyond the things already mentioned, it is those items that may not have been as obvious. These include perfecting your positions within the lifts. For a lot of you, the tempo work highlighted major deficiencies in movement patterns—deficiencies that would have eventually led to plateaus, or injuries, if not recognized and remedied. It also allowed your CNS to take a break from high intensity %s, allowing you to think through some of the lifts and make corrections while you lifted vs a pull and pray approach. It also highlighted the need for midline bracing. While we often talk about setting your midline and belly breathing, spending 3:00 under nearly 80% of a back squat forces you to learn how and when to engage your base of support. Finally, beyond just te lifts, we also had the opportunity to work with odd objects. Strongman movements are the most functional exercise out there, because they are literally picking up uneven implements and moving them from A to B. These include sandbags, single arm DBs and KBs, and static holds. These all have excellent carry- over to your daily activities outside of the gym.
While there may not have been the PRs we are used to, rest assured we are setting you up for success the rest of the season. Whether that season is in the gym or in life, we are creating a base.

Now on to the next cycle. As mentioned, you are currently in MAP8 and will soon transition to MAP7–sightly shorter cycles with slightly faster pacing. For CrossFit, your workouts will be a bit longer in time domain and continue to include most implements in the gym. Our weightlifting will center around lifts from the hang and the blocks. Again, our goal here is to perfect the positions and gain comfort moving with purpose under the bar.

That is it for now. If you have any questions, just comment below. Great job, everyone. And remember, we have air conditioning at the gym, so no excuses this summer!