Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012

If August was this nuts, can’t wait to see what September is like…

PROGRAMMING NOTE I: Due to the new mini-cycle, we are changing your warmup on the whiteboard. You now have five minutes, as opposed to 10, to complete your individual work — and new stretches will be listed. Please be prompt as we are starting group warmups at the 5-MINUTE MARK.

PROGRAMMING NOTE II: Because strength is foundational to our training, a couple months ago we mapped out your year worth of lifts. Remember, we rotate through two-month linear cycles (where we test your strength gains at the end), followed by a one-month mini-cycle that serves as a deload of sorts, where lighter weights are used. This month launches our mini-cycle, and we are focusing on oly lifts. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THIS MONTH WILL BE TECHNIQUE-BASED, in that, if you stick with the PVC the whole four weeks, that’s fine by us. We want you to understand the movements before you load up, as the snatch, clean and jerk are some of the most challenging movements that CrossFit incorporates.

The month will follow the strength template you’re used to, with M-W-F being lifting days and shorter metcons and T-TR being skill-based days with longer and lighter metcons. Here’s your outline for the month:

MONDAY – SNATCH

WEEK ONE:

high hang

WEEK TWO:

take off

WEEK THREE:

floor

WEEK FOUR:

review, finding best set of three

WEDNESDAY – JERK

WEEK ONE:

footwork push jerk

WEEK TWO:

footwork split jerk

WEEK THREE:

split jerk

WEEK FOUR:

review, finding best set of three

FRIDAY – CLEAN

WEEK ONE:

high hang

WEEK TWO:

take off

WEEK THREE:

floor

WEEK FOUR:

review, finding best set of three

This may not mean much to you; you could be asleep at this point in the post; or you could care less about oly lifting. But know that A) you want your technique to be dialed in when these moves come up in a WOD; B) the lifts recruit muscles from head to toe that result in a highly intense workout even when they’re performed alone; and C) the technique, speed and explosion that’s used in these lifts will translate into everything else you do — whether you’re training for sports-specific work or you’re looking to lose some weight. BOTTOM LINE: OLY LIFTING IS IMPORTANT. We’re excited about implementing the new information from the recent CF Olympic Weightlifting cert. Now let’s put the lifting platform to use!

Here’s the workout for Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012:

A. Skill

V-ups

Take 15 minutes of class to work on V-ups and progressions. Complete 3 x 10 V-ups.

B. Metcon

Death by KB / HR push-up

Against a running clock …

Minute one: 1 American KB swing / 1 HR push-up

Minute two: 2 KBs / 2 push-ups

Minute three: 3 KBs / 3 push-ups

Continue the ladder until required reps cannot be finished within time frame. Score is last completed round.