Happy F’n New Year y’all! I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday and that you’re ready to get back to work. The CrossFit Open is a few months away and registration starts soon for anyone interested in competing. The Open is more than just trying to get to regionals and the games, it’s about pushing yourself harder than you normally would to find out what you’re really made of. Every year our athletes set new personal bests, and I don’t think this year will be any different! Check out the Games website for some more details.
New Athlete Integration
We’ve changed the way that new athletes can join CFS. We used to do on-ramp courses, then we did CF101, before using the movement hierarchies. Now we have the Level ONE and Level TWO intro courses to coincide with our revamped programming. New athletes need to attend our L1 intro course before coming to regular classes. Once they’re comfortable with the movements and crossfit, they can graduate to L2 by taking its intro course. Both of these are offered on the weekends. If a new athlete wants to try out crossfit before joining, we will only allow them to come to Sweatshop or the Team WOD on Saturdays due to the nature and complexity of a typical crossfit class. Read more here for information on how to get started at CFS.
For those with previous crossfit experience, we haven’t changed how to join CrossFit South. Simply contact us to let us know who you are and what your experience entails. From there you would need to demonstrate your ability in all the movements used in CrossFit by doing our movement screening, or have your head coach contact us with his or her blessing. You’ll get a few free classes to try us out before you have to make a decision. Read more here if you have previous CrossFit experience and are looking for a new gym.
New Levels of Programming
I’ve made a few posts about the changes to our programming over the past few weeks, and it all begins on January 5th! HERE is everything you need to know about the different levels.
L1: those interested in improving their general fitness
L2: those interested in the sport of CrossFit
L3: those that eat, breathe, sleep, and train CrossFit
Current athletes can choose either L1 or L2. New athletes begin at L1.
If you wish to do L3, please talk to my brother or I on how to get started. We won’t be writing the programming up on the board each day (because it’s a lot), but we will have a copy of it at the gym for those that will be following it. There will be a minimum requirement of ability/fitness to do L3, and will require a greater level of commitment. Most days will be in excess of an hour of programming, and you will need to do it all. You will need to record everything, too!
What to expect over the next 3 months
The strength and skill portions of L1 and L2 will be different when compared between the two levels. One day L1 might be doing bench press, and L2 will be doing olympic lifting. However, every day will be the same each week in regard to what you will be doing. Metcons will be similar but different. We will not be recording times or scores on the whiteboard anymore, unless it’s a CrossFit benchmark (like FRAN!). We encourage all to either keep track of your progress in a journal (we’ll be ordering journals soon for purchase), or you can comment on each post on the website at the bottom.
LEVEL ONE
Monday – squats
Tuesday – bench
Wednesday – deadlift
Thursday – overhead
Friday – open gym/goat work
For the L1 strength portions, we will be following the Wendler 531 progressions. Athletes will need to have an idea of what their max lifts are. HERE is the spreadsheet for you to fill out. After every 4 weeks, you will add weight to your theoretical 1RM lifts to recalculate your next cycle. For squats and deadlifts, you add 10#, and for bench and press, you add 5#.
In addition to these 4 main lifts that you’ll do during the strength portion, you’ll also do accessory work to reduce any muscle imbalances. You’ll be the one choosing what extra work to do each day, but we’ll provide some choices. Here’s what you can work on each day!
Squat day — abs, low back, hamstrings, quads.
Bench day— chest, shoulders, triceps, lats/upper back.
Deadlift day— abs, low back, hamstrings, quads, upper back/lats and grip.
Press day — chest, shoulders, triceps, upper back/lats, low back/abs.
And here are some specific examples for you to choose from!
Abs — sit ups, ab wheel roll-outs, hanging leg raises, planks.
Low Back — good mornings, back raises, reverse hyper extensions.
Quads — lunges, step ups.
Chest — dips, dumbbell presses, dumbbell flyes.
Triceps — dumbbell presses, dips, triceps extension/pushdowns.
Shoulders — any pressing exercise.
Hamstrings — glute ham raise, good mornings, back raises.
Lats/upper back — pull-ups, bent rows, dumbbell rows, shrugs.
Each movement will be different, but do a few sets of moderate weight.
LEVEL TWO
For L2, we will squat twice a week, oly lift twice a week, and do overhead work once a week. For the squats, we will be following the Hatch Squat program. You’ll squat twice a week, and on each day you will do both back squat and front squat! HERE is the Hatch spreadsheet. For the overhead work we’ll focus on behind the neck snatch grip push presses, as well as some bench pressing. On the olympic lifting days, we’ll mainly be doing complexes and lots of EMOM work. We will not program percentages for the oly days, but offer a more subjective guidance on what to lift (moderate weight, heavier than the previous week, max effort, etc). Also, the second day of squats (Friday), we will only program the back and front squats…after that it’s open gym. I would suggest rowing intervals and/or accessory work for the posterior chain (hip ext, good mornings, etc).
Monday – squats
Tuesday – oly
Wednesday – overhead
Thursday – oly
Friday – squats
With regards to scaling and recommended weights: sometimes we’ll suggest max weights, sometimes we’ll suggest percentages, other times we won’t have a weight up at all and will give you subjective suggestions such as heavy or light. I don’t know what heavy is to you. Pick something that will give you a good workout. Ask a coach what we’re looking to get out of each workout…do we want it to be a sprint? Is it a slow chipper? Should we aim for at least 5 rounds in those 10 minutes? And so on. If you can’t do a movement that we have listed in the workout, YOU will chose your own scale. Make sure you’re familiar with the progressions we have by the front door.
You should pick the most challenging movement you can do. So for example, if you can’t do a HSPU, don’t take the easy way out and do elevated push ups. Kick up onto the wall, get used to going upside down, and try to do some negatives to help build some strength! Remember, you chose the scale, not us. Everyone will be different. You’re competing first against yourself and second with the person next to you. Don’t worry about the person next do you. Do whatever gets you the best workout. Remember, scores and times won’t be recorded on the board anymore.
LEVEL THREE
Level 3 will have about 3 to 5 different things to do each day. Usually olympic lifting and strength, gymnasty and skills, metcon(s), and homework. The olympic lifting will follow closely to a catalyst cycle with a few changes. Gymnastics will be different every day, but similar when compared week to week. Metcons will mirror our L2 programming with a few twists. Homework can be anything from core work to rowing intervals to more gymnastics. Talk to a head coach if interested. Sorry, but just because you want to do L3 doesn’t mean you’re ready for all the extra work. L2 plus open gym can offer a really really good workout.
DRY CAVEMAN CHALLENGE
It’s the New Year and of course that means it’s time for resolutions. I am proposing the Dry Caveman Challenge. I borrowed the idea from Diablo CrossFit. This will be a voluntary “alcohol abstination competition” – an extension of popular ancestral diets…PALEO! If they weren’t bakin’ bread, Cavemen sure as heck weren’t brewin’ the juice! It starts next week and goes until Valentine’s Day. It’s a great way to detox from the holidays, lose the stubborn pounds, and check-in with ourselves. If anyone breaks, they have to do a punishment workout.
Why participate?
The list of positive reasons to participate is long, but the most important reason reasons are your health, both short-term and long-term! We do CrossFit so that we can be healthy, yet the evidence is overwhelming that alcohol inhibits health & wellness. You’re very likely going to lose weight, feel better and make gains.
As CrossFitters, our fitness exceeds that of many of our friends, family and peers, so it’s easy to overlook the adverse effects of alcohol consumption. However, many of us probably know family and friends whose lives have been affected by alcohol. The Dry Caveman is a great way to “check in” on yourself.
Most people are very surprised at how difficult it is to not drink: with friends, at sporting events, with family, at parties, or maybe even after work. Warning: you may be surprised by the reaction of your friends and family!
In the end, you’ll learn a lot about yourself, improve your health and gain a sense of accomplishment! HAVE FUN and STAY DRY.
The Rules
Start date: Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 12:00AM
End date: Saturday, February 14, 2015 at 12:00PM
At the start date, you may not consume alcoholic beverages until the finish date & time. Participation is VOLUNTARY, however, in the event you elect to withdraw from the competition, you must complete one of the following workouts:
Penalty WOD
WEEK 1&2 (JAN 4 – 17)
50m Bear Crawl
50 burpees
50 thrusters (95/65/35)
50 pull ups
50m Bear Crawl
WEEK 3&4 (JAN 18-31)
50m Bear Crawl
50 burpees
50 thrusters (95/65/35)
50m Bear Crawl
WEEK 5&6 (FEB 1-14)
50m Bear Crawl
50 burpees
50m Bear Crawl
You can join at any time and you can quit at any time.