For a little background on our next training cycle, check out yesterday’s blog post. Below I’ll try to offer some insight as to what we’ll be training for the next 8 weeks.
How do we measure “engine”? Really what that means is how can we measure our capacity to do work. We do it every day, but many things in CrossFit slow down our engine and keep us from reaching our maximum capacity. Imagine a workout with burpees, toes to bar and heavy cleans. You’re moving well on the burpees, then get stuck on technique with T2B. After slowing down and slogging through them, you get stopped by a heavy clean. This might be a good workout if scaled correctly, but in terms of measuring pure capacity it falls short. We need a metric that eliminates the need for strength and skill so we can measure where we are in terms of pure capacity. Don’t worry we’ll put the strength and skill back in after we see where we stand. Not only do we need to test capacity, but we need to do it over multiple time domains, so we test different energy systems. Lets say for sake of simplicity we’re going to test short, medium, longish and long. Keep in mind these are by CrossFit standards, so before the marathon runners chime in with “that’s not long at all”, I mean long bouts of intensity.
For the first 3 weeks of our program – we’re going to use Monday as Test Days. Monday is the most popular day for attendance, and if folks miss it, they can make it up on their own later in the week.
Week 1 Test WOD – 400M Run
Week 1 Test WOD#2 100 Burpees to target For Time
Week 2 Test WOD – Run 2 Miles
Week 3 Test WOD – “Helen”
Lots of burpees and running, I know. Any other means of testing will add too many other factors that effect the outcome. Rowing – height, weight and technique come into play etc etc. For those not able to run, we will offer assault bike or rowing as a substitute.
Tuesday and Thursday’s will alternate combo style workouts with Cardio at the start and end of each section and a classic style WOD right smack in between. On these days you’ll also see interval workouts of INTENSITY.
Wednesday will be a strength & conditioning format with emphasis on upper body strength. (the 2nd most popular result of the survey)
Friday will be our longest effort of the week, expect chippers and long amraps.
Saturday will be partner WODs and FUN Stuff!!
Sunday will be classic CrossFit which can be treated as a “Go Hard” day or active recovery for Monday.
We don’t want to give too much away, but for those who want to really make changes this Spring, know whats coming and show up on the days that matter most to you. Let’s get after it!