Coaches Corner July 2026

Builds - Total body strength. One day we have super sets, another giant sets and lastly some olympic lifts. A superset consists of two separate movements done back to back. A giant set is three movements done back to back in order. It allows us to be more time efficient in the gym. The working muscles get enough time to recover between efforts because we are doing either opposing muscle groups or different parts of the body entirely, giving adequate rest to allow for hard efforts, without just sitting around recovering. Olympic lifting is full body work. It builds coordination, timing, force production and the capacity to catch and slow heavy things. Even if new to the movements, it is worth learning how to do them more efficiently, and over time they will become more technically proficient. 

‍

Charge - We have one Charge session in this block. Concept 2 Bike sprints. The goal here is to generate the highest amount of Watts you possibly can during each sprint. Use the first 10sec to ramp up in speed, peaking at the absolute highest number you can before or at the 10sec mark, it is unlikely you will achieve it after that. After you have peaked, you are trying to hold at a high rate relative to where you were. You will not be able to hold your highest number, that is expected, but just run it out hard. The goal is to get more and more Watts week to week.

‍

Grind - Threshold work. Should be uncomfortable but sustainable. We have a AMRAP, then backwards for time. If you go hard on the AMRAP (like you should), then the opposite direction should take around 7min to complete. If you sandbag the first 7min, then you will finish early and everyone will know that you did not live up to your potential in the first effort.

‍

Sustain - Longer mono structural work. Cardio. Get better at suffering harder. Though intensity is lower on these days, it does not mean easy. It is just suffering that is drawn out, not as acute as the Charge day. Try to get better at being uncomfortable. Don't settle with pacing that you always fall into, push yourself to go a little bit faster, whether that is running, rowing, skiing or pedaling. The only way to stay the same (actually, slowly decline) year after year is to not put intentional effort into yourself and your training. It is not easy, and it is not always fun, but you owe it to yourself to continue to strive for improvement. You are already here, you are already doing the work…Why not make it count?

‍

Coach Josh