May Programming Overview || Coach Wes

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Happy last week of April CFA peeps! I’ve had several requests to update folks as to what they’ll see in the programming in the coming months so let’s get into it!

 

Before we start I  want to outline a few basic themes you’ll see (and you’ve seen) with the programming:

  • Strength and skill focuses run on a 6 week calendar, and are coupled together to maximize the time we have in class.  The goal is to get consistent touches at light, medium, and heavy loads in each lift and skill to create a level of mastery we can’t achieve by putting these movements in the programming randomly and sporadically.
  • Skills focuses throughout the year are designed to build on top of one another and safeguard against injury. What this looks like in practice is a simple to complex movement progression, and single limb to double limb progressions in most cases. An example is: doing single arm ring rows and single arm presses to eventually progress into strict pull-ups and handstand push-ups.
  • The conditioning work we do progresses from longer work when the strength progression is in a lighter phase, and shorter more intense workouts when we’re lifting heavier in the progression. If you prefer one side of the coin more than the other just be patient it will show back up after a few weeks.
  • We also include conditioning “tests” every other week or so. These tests will be retested in the future.  I will keep folks apprised of when a test or retest is happening and whether it falls into the category of long, light, heavy, bodyweight, or team focused.
  • Finally there will be other elements including cashouts, skill warm-ups, and additional strength / skill work peppered in to round out the program. However the above represents the core work that will keep folks moving forward over the long term (2+ years).

 

Strength & Skill Focus for May

We will conclude our snatch / single arm strength focus in May and have a post test tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, June 6th.  The strength cycles do have some overlap, so we also have a pretest scheduled for Tuesday May 16th for the Jerk. Our Jerk strength cycle will be coupled with DB split squats in preparation for the front box squats in July.
The snatch weights will get heavier this May and if you did a good job of dialing in technique and practice early on in the cycle you should be able to perform at heavier loads without overthinking your technique. If technique is still lacking, schedule a hybrid session with your Coach For Life (if you’re not on hybrid or don’t know what that means, shoot us a message 😉 ) for some additional technique work, and / or keep your weights at the lower percentage we’ve already seen in April. Success in any lift will always be more abundant when you’re consistently “making” lifts, even if the weight is a bit lighter. Particularly in a snatch people commonly stall out when they are chasing weights and “missing” more attempts than they make.

Conditioning Test in May

Below is the tentative schedule for conditioning tests in May.  Some may shift by a day or two as the weeks get put together, but all of these test will be seen in May.
Heavy – “Back in Black” Monday 5/1
Bodyweight – “Cindy” Friday 5/5
Heavy – “Fox on the Run” Wednesday 5/3
Team – “Team Murph” (Can also be used as a “long” pretest for Murph in July if you plan to do it solo) Saturday 5/27
Long – “Plenty of Gas” – Tuesday 5/30

*Please remember to record your scores for these workouts as they will be retested 4 to 8 weeks from the initial tests.  They’ll also be tests that pop up consistently year over year.

Lastly, if you’ve been consistently hitting the workouts Rx or the scale-up versions and feel like you’re ready for some additional work please schedule a hybrid session with your CFL. They are more than happy to assess whether additional volume and accessory work is appropriate for your development. More isn’t always better, but there are specific things your coach can help you with if you feel like you’ve stalled out in a specific aspect of your fitness.
Hope this is informational for everyone’s brain as we make our way into the last month of spring. As always, feel free to ask any additional questions you may have in the comments!