Hey Old Cityzens!
Hope you had a great weekend. I have a lot I want to cover before I get to my main topic of discussion and then the overview for the week.
First off, there’s a new blog post from morning regular Kate Kaufer detailing a 4.4 mile swim that she did earlier this month. Check it out!
Second, there are a lot of events coming up, and we try to keep the announcement board as up to date as possible as well as mention them in class. We want to get as many people to participate as possible, so we’ve also created the Old City Community Group on Facebook. Yes, it’s a closed group as it’s meant for members of Old City, but if you’re a member, please join! In addition to upcoming events, there have been posts with items for sale/for free, pics/videos from competitions, and a lot of grumbling about the workouts. No limits on what to talk about. Join in!
Finally, my main topic for this week is regarding something that has come up twice this past week. I realize a couple things about the past workouts – sore legs/glutes (Bulgarian split squats and single leg RDLs, barbell lunges), and sore backs from deadlifts essentially Saturday (strength + wod), Sunday (gainz club), and Monday (high volume metcon). I’ve mentioned it from time to time, but it bears repeating – or showing – what the strength schedule looks like.
Monday – first day of the week
Weekly – all the movements shift a day on the following weeks.
Why is Sunday not listed? That’s our Hero workout day, as it has been since January 2016, and we don’t program workouts around it. So you might see the same movements Saturday and Sunday, or Sunday and Monday. You’re taking a chance.
Oly – Olympic weightlifting day. I try to alternate this weekly with a snatch, or snatch related/accessory movements (overhead squat, snatch balance, power snatch, etc) and clean and jerk, to get you familiar with the parts of movement. I also like to call these days ‘skill/technique days’ as they are higher skill movements and I want you to nail down the form and technique before increasing the weight. Additionally, no matter how the rep scheme is listed, the movements should be treated as singles. For example, if the workout says ‘Push press 3-3-3-3-3’, within each set of 3 reps, you should be doing them under control, one at a time. This isn’t like a workout where you’re trying to knock out 5-15 as quickly as possible. I want you to move 1 rep as quickly and efficiently as possible, then do it again after a pause, and then one last time. Does that make sense? No? Shoot me an email or talk with your coach.
Going back to what I started to say about sore buns and deadlift volume, I had someone ask me if we program days off. The answer to that is ‘no’. Why? I don’t want to program a day off.. say, Thursday.. if a member can only come Tues/Thurs/Sat. This leads to the main topic of discussion, which is self regulation. What’s great about CrossFit is that it’s infinitely scalable – scale the rounds, the reps, the time, the movement, the load, etc. What’s also great about CrossFit, about Old City specifically, is the sense of community. We want to you come in regularly and have other members reach out to you – or raz you – if you miss a day. There’s that friendly competition within the class and between AM and PM classes, which is why we post the Whiteboard every day. So we want you to come in regularly even if you’re feeling beat up. We want you to make it a habit especially if you’re new. So if you did deadlifts for strength last Saturday and then did “The Chief is Dead” two days later when you were still feeling spicy at the start of the class or during warm ups, SCALE IT. A favorite saying of mine is ‘don’t be a hero’. There’s not need to go balls to the wall if you’re not 100%. We want you to come back tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. We want you to be able to go home and play with your kids, or work in the garden, or do other daily life tasks pain free. Our motto is “Preparing you for Life”. It’s not “Kick your ass and we’ll see you after 9 weeks of PT”. Self regulate also doesn’t mean don’t show up or skipping a workout if you don’t like running, rowing, or another particular movement. You’re not going to get better at the things you avoid, and there’s always carry over from movement to movement.
I hope this makes sense, and I know I went off tangent a little bit.
So let’s get talking about the workouts this week.
Monday – DEADLIFTS. Yep! SO, if you’re feeling beat up, stick with 5×5 at a lower percentage, or spend the 15-20 min working on mobility. Quick little ditty follows, and I’m sure there will be some competitions for the fastest time on this one.
Tuesday – This is a fun clean and jerk complex that will allow you to work on different parts of the clean as well as your grip strength.
Wednesday – If you followed the chart above you’ll know this is the Oly day. The workout will have a bit of a higher skilled gymnastic movement, so work on that ankle mobility.
Thursday – A slightly different take on the front squat followed by a little chipper.
Friday – Thought you were done with lunges.. nope. Bring your jump ropes today, too.
Saturday – Wrapping up the week with back squats and a lower weight couplet that doesn’t include squatting.
Let’s have another great week!
Show up. Do work.
