My CF Gym: 1 Month
What skills are you trying to develop over the course of the month?
I’d like to get people strong and have them develop adequate levels of cardiovascular endurance (up to the 20-minute range). Also, most people are spastic, so I’d like to work on coordination and agility (ie/ fast feet, moving laterally, throwing and catching things) in the warm-up.
How is rest and recovery incorporated (if at all)?
This is up to each individual member. One of the biggest challenges of running a gym that is based on a group class model is ensuring that each member gets a balanced dose of training. Every member has a different schedule, and may come in strange/erratic intervals. I would make sure that each member has at least one rest day per week, but beyond that, it’s tough.
What is the level of your athletes?
n00bs
How will you address strength development?
Each session has a strength component.
How will you address conditioning of various metabolic pathways?
We will be hitting the ATP-C pathway everyday with heavy lifting. Some sprinting and sled dragging will hit the glycolytic
Is there a method to the madness?
Yes. I will explain:
M: Squat, T: Press W: Pull Th: Squat F: Press Sat: Pull Sunday: Open gym
I developed this program with people’s erratic schedules in mind. If people come M, W, F, a common pattern, they will Squat, Pull, and Press. If they go 5 on, 2 off on weekends, they will get 2 of each movement. In other words, this program is set up so that people will inevitably get a balanced dose of squatting, pulling, and pressing.
Ideally, people would be performing the low-bar back squat, the shoulder press, the bench press, the deadlift and the power clean/snatch. People will get pull-ups in the warm-up or in the workouts.
However, understanding that people come to CrossFit craving some variety and exposure to a variety of movements, I might use an approach similar to CrossFit South Brooklyn, using strength movements in month-long phases. So, maybe we will do the low-bar back squat, but next month, we will focus on the front squat. Of course, this can get silly (ie/ a month of DB split-squats), so this will only be a measured amount of variety. The 5 basic lifts, after all, are all most people (myself included) need.
I’ll start class with some mobility work. If I’m feeling lazy, the CrossFit warm-up will suffice (squats, pull-ups, push-ups, back extensions, OHS, etc.). I’ll teach them how to use the foam rollers. A couple times per week, we’ll get some agility/”athletic” stuff in. The speed ladder, hurdles, tumbling would all be fun. I’d like to try out “tag” as a warm-up, too.
Next, the strength portion of the class. This doesn’t need much of an explanation. People would be encouraged to add weight to the barbell each time they come in. If we are pressed for time, I might throw the strength movement into the context of a barbell complex.
We’d finish with a short (less than 20 min) workout. I like this part from Gant’s Hybrid Program post on Catalyst Athletics’ forum:
Use KB’s, tires, farming implements, stones, boat chains, and sledgehammers liberally. Sprint often (Tabatas, 100s, 200s, 400s). Full body exercises (cleans, thrusters, swings) are great. Use couplets and triplets. NO chipper workouts.
Weather permitting, I’d like to get people to sprint and push/pull sleds frequently. I’d like the workouts to be relatively heavy, but we have to be realistic when working with novices. I’m not opposed to throwing a chipper in there once a month or so. I tried to vary the time domains: some intervals, some short, heavy met-cons, and some slightly longer workouts.
I’m not going to write out the warm-ups, that would be excessive. People have their choice of doing deadlifts or power clean/snatch, with the goal being that people will deadlift once a week. Again, this is programmed with the understanding that people will not be coming for all 6 days; my goal is to produce a good program for a gym to provide all members (regardless of their attendance schedules) with a balanced program. Here’s the month’s worth:
Week One:
Monday: Back squat 3x5 || “Helen”
Tuesday: Press 3x5 || 4x400 m sprints.
Wednesday: Power Clean 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || 3 Rounds: 5 x 155# Push Press & 500 m row
Thursday: Back squat 3x5 || 21-15-9, Chest-to-Bar Pullups & Wall Ball
Friday: Bench Press 3x5 || Heavy sled drags
Saturday: Power Clean 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || Tabata 115# Front Squats
Week Two:
Monday: Back squat 3x5 || Heavy Farmer’s Carries
Tuesday: Press 3x5 || “Michael”
Wednesday: Power Snatch 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || 3 Rounds: 15 Ring Push-ups & 10 x 50# One arm DB Hang Power Snatch (5 each arm).
Thursday: Back squat 3x5 || Double-Unders & 1.5 Pood KB Swings: 50 & 10, 40 & 20, 30 & 30, 20 & 40, 10 & 50
Friday: Bench Press 3x5 || 3x800m run, rest 3 min between each run.
Saturday: Power Snatch 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || 5 Rounds: 5 OHS @ 135#, 5 Dead-Hang Pull-ups
Week Three:
Monday: Back squat 3x5 || Row 2k.
Tuesday: Press 3x5 || Heavy Prowler pushes
Wednesday: Power Clean 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || 21-15-9, Towel Pull-ups & DB Thrusters
Thursday: Back squat 3x5 || 5 Rounds: 1 min sandbag cleans, 1 min sandbag overhead, rest 1 min
Friday: Bench Press 3x5 || Tabata 2 pood KB Swings
Saturday: Power Clean 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || Half “Cindy”
Week Four:
Monday: Back squat 3x5 || Sledgehammers & Tire Flips
Tuesday: Press 3x5 || “Elizabeth”
Wednesday: Power Snatch 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || Via Catalyst Athletics: 20-15-10, Pull-ups & Box Jumps
Thursday: Dan John’s Litvinov workout (w/ Front Squats)! Because I’ve wanted to try this.
Friday: Bench Press 3x5 || Sandbag sprints (~5x200m, rest 2 minutes between efforts)
Saturday: Power Snatch 5x3/Deadlift 1x5 || 21-18-15-12-9-3, Unbroken 40# DB Thrusters
That’s it. This was fun to write. I’d love to hear any feedback. I tried to be conscious of things like the balance of hip/knee dominant exercises, push/pull in workouts. If anyone has any good articles saved re: sprinting (in particular, good/best ways to play with the work:rest ratio), please share them!
