State of Fitness Address 20-3
The State of your Fitness
It’s been awhile since we last had a State of Fitness address and it feels good to get back some semblance of normalcy. Thank you all for sticking with us during these last many months. I can confidently say that at the end of the last cycle, I was not anticipating only a few short weeks later we would be facing a mandated closure.
As a gym that plans ahead, these closures have been the most challenging time in our young history. We, along with all of you, were forced to adapt quickly. While we aren’t out of the woods yet, it does feel like we are hitting a bit of a stride. Thank you again for hanging in there and continuing to participate in your fitness!
Now for the numbers. If you made it to all of the in-class workouts this past cycle (June-Sept.) you lifted 1044 reps at an average intensity of 79.46%. This does not include the first 6 weeks of the cycle when our primary goal was to remind our bodies what the barbell felt like.
You CrossFited an average of 8:44 in class and 24:59 in your homes. You did all complete the #townathome WODs correct??
All joking aside, I do hope that you all are making use of the home workouts. Because we are limited with the movements we can do from home, you will find a lot of things within these workouts that you will not see in the gym. This is done purposely. I am trying to save movements that can only be done in the gym for the gym. Until we are operating restriction- free, this is likely how it will continue. As you can see from the numbers above, the longer, more aerobic workouts came when you were at home. This was to help maximize your time working on strength, barbell, and pull up work while in the gym.
The lead 6 weeks of this cycle was very unique for us. It was the first time we went based on “feel.” The intent here was to really listen to your bodies and not rush back into the numbers you were hitting pre-quarantine. With no access to barbells, this likely would have proved injurious. I spoke to some of you individually but I will now tell everyone the same thing. Your body remembers how to lift and lift heavy. You will find your way back to numbers you hit before if you haven’t already. My mission was to build you all back up safely.
In addition to “feel,” our time was mostly spent working within complexes. Complexes do a lot of wonderful things, one of which is increasing our time under tension within the lifts. This helps to: 1.) Build volume without overloading your CNS with intensity. 2.) Break the lifts down into their parts, making the practice of said parts easier, forcing us to deal with the uncomfortable spots. 3.) Even when building to a heavy, keeps us from out running our current ability. While complexes can get heavy, sometimes within a few percentages of our 1RM, if our bodies are not ready to take on that load, the complex will self limit. Again, the point here was to bring your bodies, muscles, and connective tissues back online in a thoughtful fashion.
Given the numbers and movements I saw from you all I think we succeeded in this goal.
This build up of your bodies and barbells also held true for your gymnastics. That is why you spent a great deal of time during both the strength portion of class and the Metcons performing strict gymnastics—specifically pulling movements. The same rules apply here. Most of you did not have access to a pull up bar at home. We have always had rules in place about earning dynamic gymnastics movements. While some of you already had the golden ticket, almost all of you had not had the opportunity to utilize this ticket in the time between the shutdown and when we reopened. It was even more important to me that we didn’t allow our kipping skill set to take us into dangerous territory that our connective tissues were no longer primed for. I really liked what I saw here. Many of you completed new types of pull ups that you may never have tried if not for this forced reset. I applaud your trust and dedication in the process, I hope you take pride in this as well.
Finally, one of the largest changes to this past cycle was the group warm up! This little difference may have paid the largest dividends. We saw a ridiculous amount of first time rope climbs. Just a few minutes a day made a very large impact for most of you. Between your feedback, the coaches’ feedback and recommendations, and the outcomes, this is something that is here to stay.
That brings us to our next cycle. The next cycle’s warm up will continue the process of skill development. Things that will be highlighted are rowing technique, DU progressions/drills, and of course, lift preparation. I hope the Rope Climbs helped illustrate what a difference these shorts bursts of practice can make.
For strength, you will see a return to heavy. I believe we have a good base of volume built up to push your top end limits again. I am interested to see if the 3 day a week cycle is actually beneficial for some of you. The extra rest and more defined focus can sometimes be a good thing with barbell work.
While the lifts will not be completely traditional, they will be close.
Monday/Tuesday will include the Snatch from the hang. The goal here is to really reinforce proper positioning during the second pull. Your Back Squat will start at a 3RM and work to a 1RM by the end of December. The conditioning will often include a version of pull up so that we may continue to utilize the gains made during the last cycle of strict ring work.
Wednesday/Thursday will introduce you all to a complex I’ve used with some of my ID clients. It’s a great two birds with one stone, maybe even three, type of lift. We get to work on our Clean, more specifically the second pull, but we will also build up our unilateral strength as well as hone our Jerks. This will be done by concentrating on the Push Jerk which requires a bit more precision than the Split Jerk but offers excellent carry over to the latter. In addition we will switch from our strict pull up work to building up our Handstand Push Up strength.
Finally, Friday/Saturday will bring a standard Deadlift back to the mix. Much like the other lifts we will start with a low rep max and build to a 1 rep at the cycle’s end. Plus, because COVID so rudely deleted our last Bench cycle, the Bench will make its triumphant return in the form of Narrow Grip work. If you’re new to the gym, the Bench usually pops up once a year in one form or another. This particular form has great carry over to many other movements you’ll see in the CrossFit workouts.
Like the Pull Ups on Monday/Tuesday, my goal is keep working Rope Climbs in periodically so as not to lose the skills you just gained.
Finally, our conditioning will mirror that of the last cycle while adding some more dynamic gymnastics and barbell work. The goal will be to give you as much bang for you buck while you are in the gym as possible. This means time domains and equipment variance. Plus,now that we have some gymnastics and weightlifting volume under our belts, we can put them into the Metcons, including some of the CrossFit Girls. The at home workouts will continue to be the longer, more aerobic option. Please don’t sleep on these! The unilateral, imbalance work is done purposely and can pay huge dividends if utilized.
If you’re still reading, thank you! Remember we and the Coaches are here to help you succeed! If you have any questions specific to you or your needs, ask a coach for a Goal Setting Session. One size doesn’t always fit all, and these sessions with our Coaches’ expertise can be the key to what you desire.
Thanks for being you. See you at the gym.
Stay Healthy and Stay Rooted