A couple great topics came up at our coaches meeting this morning, and one I specifically wanted to chat about on the blog is how we approach our workouts. We want CFD to be a place members can come to five days a week, a place that makes you feel BETTER outside the gym, a place that doesn’t leave you feeling wrecked. CrossFit should enhance your life, not take away from it. 🙂 We see so many bodies and minds completing transforming month after month, and we want to continue in that positive, upward direction!
As you all know, Mayhem offers three workout tracks: Freedom, Independence and Liberty. The beauty of this is you don’t NEED to do what’s written on the white board (the Freedom track). You don’t need to do what the person next to you is doing. Somedays you may be the Freedom track, some days you may be the Liberty track, but no matter what, you’re still walking out the door as an amazingly strong, fit CFD athlete. You can make any workout we post high-intensity or low-intensity. The power is in your hands. Didn’t sleep well? Work has been extra busy? Dealing with a nagging pain? Coming back after a week of vacation? Stressed about a new job, home, baby? Or maybe you’re just feeling a bit off. Let’s dial it back. Pick a lower weight. Push at 60 percent instead of 80 percent. And most importantly, pay attention to what you’re doing once you leave the gym: Sleep 8+ hours, PUT HEALTHY FOODS IN YOUR BODY, work on mobility at home, get your steps in (check out Kelly’s July monthly challenge), drink more water, drink less alcohol.
I dug into some Mayhem notes Chris sent the coaches when we first switched over to Mayhem programming. I wanted to list out how Mayhem describes each of the three tracks. It’s an interesting reminder for sure. If you’re feeling a bit burnt out, sore, injured, worn out … please consider taking a deeper look into which track you’re pushing through each day. (The Independence track was literally written for members in their 30s and 40s who want to continue working out every day while still feeling awesome.)
Freedom:
This tier is your typical “Rx” version of the workout. This is a great option for athletes who want to train all the typical skills we see in CrossFit and lift heavier loads from time to time. The athletes who do this tier may want to train for the Open and/or other competitions.
Independence:
This option is tailored for the Everyday Athletes who want to lift and hit the metcon as close to Rx’d as possible, but without the full magnitude of load and skill. This is an excellent, consistent scale for Masters 45+ who want a consistent tier they can come to each workout.
Liberty:
This option will be our basic workout for athletes just starting off or simply those who want to get a good sweat in. The focus will be on scaling movements, load and/or equipment to make workouts as clean-cut as possible. This is for athletes who want to move without heavier loads and complex/skilled movements.
The idea behind the three tiers is to create simplicity for our members and readily available levels/options that everyone can reliably go back to each class. Members may choose to move between the tiers as desired. A stimulus is created for each workout while allowing everyone to do the workouts together in the same class. Check in with yourself every week, be honest about how you’re feeling, and take control of what you do. As coaches, we are always here to guide and help. (Check out our social media this past week to read, “3 Signs You’re Not in Your 20s Anymore, and What to Do About It!)
Let’s look at this week …
On Monday, athletes will grind through a tough 5-rounder where legs are under constant attack. Then, for Tuesday, it’s a quick fire breather. The middle of the week will be our barbell cycle day, where we mix in a high-skilled movement with the barbell. On Thursday, athletes will team up and go through a series of plank holds while their partner completes a fixed amount of calories on a machine. For the 4th of July, we won’t have our typical classes, but we will have Open Gym from 8 to 10 a.m. The workout listed in Wodify for the 4th will be a memorial workout, “The Ginger.” The partner workout for Saturday will be a fun, multiple-set chipper with some heavy sandbags and burpee box get-overs.
Workouts of the week:
Monday – Hang snatch + OHS; Bike, GHDs, step-ups
Tuesday – Deadlift + bounding jumps; Burpees over rower, row
Wednesday – DUs, squat cleans + push jerks; Shock Method accessory work
Thursday – HSW practice; Partner workout! (Calories and plank holds)
Friday – Open Gym from 8 to 10 a.m.! (No regular classes, Happy 4th of July!)
Saturday – Partner workout! (Sandbag carry, burpee box get overs, sandbag cleans)
Sunday – Open Gym
