Hero Month is here! We will be completing 12 Hero workouts in the month of July, which is around 2-3 Hero workouts per week. Your goal is to complete all 12 workouts, and if you do, and log all of them in SugarWod, you will receive a Hero Month patch! Only those that complete all 12 workouts and have logged all of them in SugarWod, will receive the patch. We are repeating several of the Hero workouts, but we also added a few newer ones to us, so it is an opportunity to test your current fitness level and to see what type of progress you have made over the year. If this is your first time doing the Hero workouts, it will be a great opportunity to set a benchmark for the future you!
CrossFit
As previously mentioned, we are completing our Hero Month this month, so most of our workouts will be a Hero workouts throughout the week. For those that aren't familiar with Hero workouts - they are workouts created in tribute to those service members from the CrossFit community that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Each workout has it's own story, which will also be added to the workout notes in SugarWod. Here is a link to a synopsis of all Hero Workouts: https://www.crossfit.com/heroes
This week we are also in a slight deload - as we are doing it in conjunction with Hero Month. On the non-Hero workout days make sure you are sticking to the intent of the workout to help recover, as this will be a challenging month. With that being said, remember to listen to your body as you are doing the Hero workouts and adjust for the day. There is nothing wrong with scaling Hero workouts and you are still paying tribute to those that the workout are created for.
Hero Workouts this week: We are completing 1775 on the 4th of July in honor of the creation of the U.S. Army. We are also completing "Rich" on Friday. Its been awhile since we've done 1775 (2018), and this is the first time we will be doing Rich at Eminence.
Hero Month FAQ:
1) What happens if I miss a workout? We will setup designated times to have makeup sessions - which will typically fall on the weekend.
2) I am out on vacation at the end of the month, can I do the workouts early? Yes, if you can't make it on the day we do the workout, we will let you do the workouts before the class (during a makeup session).
3) I did the workout and I am missing a star by my name. Did you log your score in SugarWod? If not, you will need to log them and let Chad know. If you did, wait for the end of the week, as Chad updates the board to catch make-ups later in the week.
4) Can I scale the workout and still get credit? Of course! We don't expect you to Rx all workouts, even if you Rx most workouts in the gym. This is a challenging month and we want you to listen to your body, and adjust accordingly.
5) When is the cutoff to get all the workouts in? You have until 7/31 to finish all of the 12 workouts.
6) Can I do multiple Hero Workouts in a day? Yes, but we don't recommend it. But it has been done in the past.
Olympic Weightlifting
We started a new cycle last week, and are now on week 2. This programming cycle we will complete 3 week microcycles - the movements will stay the same, but the weight will increase, while the reps decrease each week. After week 3, it will switch to a new set of movements to help us refine our technique and build our strength. Remember that we are looking for slight increases week over week, especially in our accessory movements, to ensure we are progressively overloading the movements for improvement. Also remember that we use the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) training method, instead of percentages to allow you to adjust for the day depending on how you feel. Just keep in mind that we are looking for slight increases week over week, and we want you to stick to the intent of the workout. This means if it is feeling good, don't go for a 1 rep max if it is meant to do 2 or 3 reps. Also if it is feeling bad, just knock down the weight to something that should feel like the intended percentage.
Powerlifting
We are headed back to conjugate style training, which means variety. We will do a 12 week cycle in Conjugate then test again. The layout for the programming is two max-effort days, and two dynamic-effort days. On the max effort, we usually test a rep-max, whether that is 1-3 reps, depending on the movement and priority. On these days, we want you to go all out and get a PR every single time you do it - and by PR, I mean 1-2 lbs heavier (not 10-20lbs) than what you did last time. We will rotate through different movements for the next 12 weeks to work on all aspects of the squat, deadlift, and bench to attack our weaknesses. On the dynamic effort days, we use lighter weight, and really focus on speed. We also use these days to increase our volume as well, so make sure to hit all the reps listed in the programming. Another major factor in conjugate is the accessory work. This is 80% of the workout, so really get after these movements since they will help with your main lifts. Also we are looking for increases in weight or reps each week with these movements. Our dynamic days are done in 3 week microcycles as well, so it gives you 3 weeks to improve your form, weight or reps.
Zone
We continue with our Zone training and we will continue to have our Endurance, Drive, and Push days. Our Endurance day focuses on longer work with a lower heart rate, while our Push day focuses on all anaerobic work. Our Drive day is a combination of the two. With each workout we also have a different hypertrophy style focus with a push/pull/leg split. Some days we work on building muscle in our legs, some days are utilizing our push muscles (chest/shoulders/triceps) and some days we focus on our pull muscles (back, biceps).
Open Prep
We are starting a new cycle for our Open Prep program. The last 12 weeks we focused on building strength as it is our CrossFit offseason. We saw some amazing personal records in our powerlifting movements last week! Now it is time to apply that strength to our Olympic Weightlifting lifts and will focus on improving our numbers on the Snatch and Clean and Jerk. Improving our technique in the classic lifts will allow us to apply it to our future CrossFit workouts. It will help us stay efficient, improve our body awareness and mobility, as well continue to increase our strength. There will be 5 days of CrossFit and 4 days of Olympic Weightlifting, and there will be goals provided for both styles of training as we progress through this cycle. It's not too late to join the Open Prep program, and it is open to anyone interested that can complete 9 workouts in 5-7 days per week. It is also a great time to jump in, just fill out the following form and Chad will reach out to you: https://forms.gle/2UY2oPt4cmbU4Fy79.
Keep up the great work and we will see you in the gym!
