State of Fitness Address 22-1
The State of your Fitness
Congratulations on a successful Open season! I hope you all enjoyed Friday Night Lights and the intramural competition as much as we did hosting it. The coaches put in a lot of work to support it, so we thank you very much for your participation.
The first Mesocycle of the year was punctuated with this year’s Open. As a gym, there were some big improvements over last year’s placings. In addition to improved cardiovascular fitness, I saw some very exciting first-time gymnastics movements. From Wall Walks to Bar Muscle Ups, it was very satisfying to see you all find success in such an amped-up environment. Given that the goal for this cycle was Open prep, I think we succeeded.
The Numbers:
You Weightlifted— Power Snatched, Squated, Power Clean and Push Jerked, and Deadlifted —1136 reps at an average intensity of 80.8%! This was a relatively large jump in average intensity for us during the Open cycle. The great news is that many veteran members hit PRs on these lifts during testing week. This was similar to the outcome of our last cycle, which also had a slightly higher average relative intensity, and they both paid off in PRs.
You accessorized —Overhead Squatted and Front Lunged — 741 reps at an average intensity of 80.4%. While the OHS didn’t show up in the Open, performing them is always beneficial. The OHS is one of the most demanding lifts we do, and its benefit for mobility and strength in the end range of motion positions is second to none.
On top of the lifts, you also completed some very challenging work on both your Strict Handstand Push Ups and your Strict Pull Ups. This strict work helps us prevent injury when engaging in the higher rep, more dynamic kipping work experienced in the WODs and the Open.
You Metconed an average of 11:06. Our emphasis was on movements I thought we would see in the Open this year. To my surprise, the Open did not include a Rower, nor was there a Wall Ball. This is practically blasphemous, as these movements have always made an appearance in the Open! Of course, the fitness earned with this practice doesn’t go to waste in your everyday lives, so I guess we need to look at the bright side. Personally, I thought the programming for this year’s Open was good—simple, and effective; and I imagine it will be the new norm moving forward. Only next year will tell.
Finally, you improved your aerobic base by MAPing :90 to :60 at a time for a total of 4 hours and 36 minutes!
How did we get there?
Weightlifting:
This cycle was about speed. History has shown us that the Open can be quite demanding when it comes to finding your top-end strength in a short time. Beyond top-end numbers, it also has a history of pushing your limits with high rep barbell cycling against a clock. 22.3, anyone? The intent of our lifting was to practice for both scenarios—get comfortable with barbell cycling, and prep ourselves to find a heavy quickly.
Monday: Power Snatch and Squat. The Power Snatch was broken into two, six-week blocks. Each of these blocks included diminishing working time domains. The first was spent building up to a 3RM and counting down from :90 working sets to :60. The second six weeks was spent working to a 1RM. Again, this was in an effort to prep your bodies to not only cycle a barbell, but to do so when the weight is heavier than you might otherwise be comfortable with. What I found fascinating was that many of you hit big PRs at the end of this cycle, even within a very diminished time domain! This is what makes CrossFit so exciting—putting our bodies under metabolic duress, but still finding the precision and power to hit a new PR.
The Squat was programmed along the same lines. The first six weeks were spent working towards a 4RM with diminishing time constraints, and the second six were spent working towards a 2RM. Similar results to what I saw in the Power Snatch were found here, as well—even more impressive given the higher load that a heavy Back Squat enacts on your CNS.
Tuesday: Power Clean and Push Jerk. The power versions were chosen to better prepare you to cycle for the Open. While cycling a full squat version of the Clean and Push Jerk is possible, it is not as fast due to slower turnover. The first six weeks concentrated on doubles, while the second was all about the singles. Just like Monday’s Snatches and Squats, these were also completed on a schedule of diminishing time domains.
Tuesday also included Strict Switch Grip Pull Up work. Nothing magical here. These were about good old fashioned strength building in the vertical pulling plane. Strict work is always important in gymnastics, as it prevents injury from the more dynamic kip. The only way to move at the speed, accumulate the volume, and achieve the metabolic response necessary for Open WODs is to kip. But in order to kip, we need prerequisite static strength.
Wednesday: Deadlift and Strict Handstand Push Ups. The Deadlift schedule was alternating weeks of regular and banded Deadlifts. This was done in an effort to keep our CNS primed for heavy Deadlifts, while simultaneously allowing us to add volume and speed via the banded version. Since Deadlifts can be a major drain on the CNS, I thought this would be a good combination to allow us to hit all of the points that we might see in the Open: A heavy, and or high rep Deadlift Metcon. Turns out, depending on your strength, we saw both wrapped into one nasty workout in 22.2. This was truly a tough workout, with everyone in the gym getting capped. The great news is that I didn’t hear of any strained backs, which means our prep was a success.
The Strict Handstand Push Up also served a dual purpose: Achieving the static strength-building and injury prevention discussed in the Pull Up paragraph above, while also preparing us for the worst case scenario of high rep strict work in the Open. (We have seen it once before). Fortunately for us, Wall Walks took the place of HSPU work. We’re good at those.
Thursday: Midline and Shoulders, and some Pulling. As a review, building gymnastics skill sets requires control and resiliency first, then dynamic movements. This cycle was a continuation from the last, with the crescendo being Handstand Walking and Strict Muscle Ups. This was built up over weeks and weeks of midline and static strengthening. If you haven’t been coming to Thursdays, the next cycle is a great opportunity to hop in and see what you’ve been missing. I promise you won’t regret it.
Saturday: Overhead Squats and Forward Lunges. In the same lane as Monday and Tuesday, Saturday was split into a couple of six week cycles. The first six weeks of the Overhead Squat was spent accumulating volume in the form of a 7RM. The second, intensity building to a 2RM. The Overhead Squat is the most demanding static lift we perform and is often seen in the Open. The Forward Lunges, too were split into six week blocks. They also shared the same theory of volume first, and intensity second. Unilateral work is extremely valuable toward injury prevention, and helps us work outside of our standard planes of movement.
CrossFit
Monday: My emphasis here was Rowing and Burpees. The intent, like the rest of this cycle, was to prepare us for the Open. However, only one of the two movements I highlighted on Monday made an appearance this year. That is ok, because the pulling pattern of the row showed up in a big way both with the DB snatches in 22.1, and the Deadlifts in 22.2. These days were also the shortest time domains, so you likely noticed the intensity was a bit higher.
Tuesday: The second day of the week was spent with Wall Balls and Midline work. Again we were duped in that Wall Balls were not included in this year’s Open. However, the WB movement pattern most certainly was in 22.3. The midline work did not go to waste, as the strength built there was utilized in everything from Wall Walks to Burpees, and of course the Pull Up/C2B/bMUs from 22.3.
Wednesday: We utilized Dumbbells and unilateral patterns. Here, we hit all of the markers. DB work was on display for 22.1, and unilateral patterns showed up during the mandatory step down of the box jumps and the step ups of the burpees.
Saturday: Rounding out the week was the higher-skilled Saturdays. My note here was “Open Chipper.” That means WODs that mimic Open workouts and are completed in a Chipper fashion. Chipper indicates that each movement is only done once. This is approximately what 22.3 was; even though the Thruster repeated, the weight did not, and the gymnastics changed each round.
What’s next?
The next cycle is considered the first of the Off Season. It is our opportunity to work on lifts and skill sets that we don’t often, if ever, see in the Open. It is also the season of volume! That means higher rep counts with lower intensity. This equates to muscle growth, in addition to tendon and ligament building.
The lifts, Snatch and Clean and Jerk, will include tempo pulls. The Back Squats will play with supersets of higher intensity-lower volume and lower intensity-higher volume in the same set. Our accessory work will come in the form of Romanian Deadlifts and Pausing Bench done at RPE to help add more targeted mass and strength to our posteriors and anteriors. Plus, we will incorporate some Walking Lunge work and DB superset Strict and Push Presses—both of which will be chasing the hypertrophy pump.
Metcons will incorporate both variety and specialization. The variety will come in the form of Odd Object and Kettlebell work, and specialization will be a build up in the volume and skill sets required for Murph. That means running, push ups, and pull ups. In addition, Saturday will remain the go-to for higher skill gymnastics and more demanding barbell cycling.
In addition, we will continue to offer an Rx+ version of the workouts once a week and a CrossFit girl once a month.
The Town Team and I thank you for reading, for your support, and for helping us spread the word about what CrossFit has done for you!
Stay Rooted
Coach_ARK
P.S. read on for suggestions and answers.
Establish an Rx for 55+ members to provide a more realistic goal. (During Metcons)
Done! We implemented this last cycle and it seems to be going well. As always, it is a learning curve, but I think we are getting there. Plus one of these members placed second in the WORLD on 22.2 so something must be working ;)
Correct Coaching Schedule on ZP.
Amber is/has been working on this. I can tell you, though that Zenplanner makes this extremely time consuming and it is not always a priority for Amber on the GM side of her duties. We will continue to keep it in mind. Thanks for your patience.
15# Bumpers (for WODs…).
While we understand the headache of adding the 5# change plates to the bar, we are nearly tapped out for space when it comes to new equipment. One of the benefit of 15# plates beyond what’s mentioned above is the ability to drop them without as much concern for the discs being destroyed. The beauty of our platform(ed) floor is that you can drop the 10#s without much concern either. This is not to encourage slamming a bar with only 10# plates on it, but it is to say that the flooring helps us mimic what a 15# bumper would add.
Skill Progression Workshops for bMU/Rings/Oly Technique.
This is what Technique Thursdays are all about! (Minus the Oly technique). If you haven’t had the opportunity, please check out a Thursday class for a cycle; you won’t regret it.
Coach Cole will be making weekly Instagram postings about various technique tips based on upcoming programming. Keep an eye out every Monday for the latest.
If you are still finding that you would like more work on your Olympic movements beyond the time spent on Mondays, Tuesdays, and sometimes Saturdays, I would highly encourage you to meet with a coach, discuss these goals and let them help you find the best path forward.
Homework/Monthly Challenges (work on Double Unders/Get Outside/Do Other Stuff)
The challenge is a good idea and one that we have tried to implement via the Goal Setting sessions and the whiteboard up front. We may put a gym wide goal in our back pockets moving forward. In speaking with the Coaches, maybe we can come up with one that seems to best suit the needs of the majority.
Get Outside and do other stuff is a great idea and one that Brad K did an awesome job in helping to set up a central point to facilitate such things. If you haven’t already, check out the gym’s community Slack page here.
Is any thought put into the logistics of works when the classes are full. (Sled pulls, DUs w/other activities present, etc.)
The short answer is yes! The long answer is that sometimes, what I envision in my head for a set up isn’t communicated clearly to my coaches, and the space becomes more cramped than I intended. Or I completely spaced and the workout would be nearly impossible to do as intended, given our space. Either way, I take responsibility for this and ask for a bit of grace. I have literally written thousands of workouts at this point and sometimes my thoughts of what I want the workout to illicit are bigger than the space we have! For that I apologize.
Can we please have fruit supply back for CF classes at night?
Amber is on it!
I would like to see the floor vacuumed and or mopped at some point.
So would we! We are in the process of terminating our current janitorial service whose performance has been on the serious decline. They are on a last chance agreement with us right now. In the meantime, Amber has graciously stepped up to help fill in the gaps that they have left during the weekends. All of this to say that it is has not gone unnoticed.
More red plates and 20# Med Balls Por Favor ❤️
I can’t make any promises but I will add it to our potential equipment wish list. Please advise your coaches if you are unable to complete a workout as Rx’d due to an equipment shortage. This is what will help drive our decision.
I love the new TV’s! Especially the one on the side so we can always see it! Keep up the great work!
Thank you! We do, too.
Moved here 3 months ago and really love this place. Happy to find such a great community.
We are happy to have you! Thank you and tell your friends!