Where we are in the season

Hey CFDers!

My intent with this blog is simply to keep everyone in the loop about where we are in the program—I’m not one for secrets and I think that if everyone has a broader understanding of where we are and what’s happening (the forest vs. the individual trees), we can all receive a more appropriate dose response from the classes.  Also, as much as I like to have these conversations in my classes, I’m not able to see all of you every day, nor would it be appropriate to fill up a bunch of class time with this kind of stuff!  As always, if there are any follow-ups or questions, please reach out to me, either publicly or privately!

Right now, we’re about a third of the way through an ongoing strength progression that many athletes are choosing to do alongside classes or in place of them.  The class program is also supporting that theme; developing strength.  You’ll notice that there are plenty of opportunities where I essentially ‘incentivize’ choosing a heavier, more difficult weight over something you can move more easily or in an unbroken set.  Trust me, there’s a reason for that!  I’m wanting to elicit that response so that we collectively get stronger as an adaptation.  The workouts are put together in this way purposefully, so if you’re noticing many of those types of workouts are not very cyclical by nature and you find yourself instead having to ‘re-charge’ that battery (the creatine-phosphate fuel source that you use for lifting something heavy) before you can successfully lift it again, understand that you’re likely DOING IT RIGHT!  They’re meant to be not very cyclical by nature and the sets will need to be broken up regularly.  Part of getting stronger is pushing yourself and occasionally getting buried by a barbell!

On the other end of that spectrum, you’re noticing a pretty linear double-modality aerobic progression from week to week (rowing and running).  These are absolutely meant to be repeatable and cyclical by nature in order to build that oh-so-slow-to-build aerobic engine.  These aren’t very sexy and are a matter of learning your body’s ability to pace and teach it to adapt to the stress little by little as the weeks go on.  This is a pretty great explanation of the aerobic engine and how to build it.

Meanwhile, you’ll notice touches of traditional-looking CrossFit workouts, as well as conjugate pieces to some weightlifting movements so that we can start piecing together smaller parts of a larger, more complex whole.

As both of these separate systems come to a head (in another 8 weeks or so), we will be able to probably hit some new maxes, both in single-modality aerobic testers as well as some absolute strength lifts.  Then, we can switch gears relative to where we are in the season and start applying our newly-peaked strength and aerobic systems to the mixed-modal, high-cycle rate, CrossFit workouts as we begin our intensification leading to the Opens.

It’s all part of implementing periodization principles in a program design.  You can’t do 21-15-9’s every single day and expect to continue to get better at 21-15-9’s to infinity.  As you begin to receive diminishing returns from a particular cycle, you switch gears in order to make more gains in a different area.  The great part about being a CrossFit athlete is that there are PLENTY of movements, energy systems, time domains, and combinations to choose from so that you can continue to make gains and spend time where you’ll get the most bang for your buck…you just have to be smart about how you do it!

….and yes, that was me trying hard to keep this blog short!

I hope that was helpful and everyone has a better grasp of where we are, where we’re heading, and why things looks and feel the way they do.

Let’s keep up this amazing momentum we’ve built this year.  CFD is stronger than it has ever been and it’s all thanks to our amazing community and solid coaching staff.  Thanks to all for being a part of it!

RLTW <1>

—Coach Phil