August has come and gone, fall is in the air and we are starting new cycle here at Targhee Athletics. September always seems to be the beginning of the end of summer, but fall is also an amazing time of year here in the Valley. And amazing times call for amazing experiences in the gym as well! I can’t promise that it wont snow in September, but I can promise that we will be doing some amazing intervals on the various machines inside the gym that offer the perfect stimulus to produce the desired results.

This next cycle will actually be 6 weeks in length. I am not going to go into all the detail, as there is a whole book written on it. So if you really want to geek out on it….read the book “Triphasic Training” by Cal Deitz and Ben Peterson. Here is a quick overview: all the compound strength movements will stay the same for 6 weeks, but every two weeks the loads and prescribed tempo will change. Eccentric, Isometric and Concentric in that order. Google is your friend I just lost you with those big words.

The conditioning that will accompany this cycle will change half way through, so we will focus on some effort based percentage AMRAPs, and some quick, intense interval work to improve our alactic anaerobic system (15sec or less @ 100%) and the less fun, more sucky interval work on our lactic anaerobic system ( 2min or less at 98-94% barely repeatable efforts). Due to time constraints this last one will take on a slightly different format, but should be incredibly delicious all the same.

Post WOD’s this first half of the cycle will be primarily used to calm down the central nervous system as quickly as possible and help bring everybody back into a calm state with some diaphragmatic breathing work. Everything we do in life, wether it is picking out your clothes for the day, getting your kids ready for school, training in the gym, is a stressor. How we manage stress, dictates many things in our lives. I will not pretend to know how it correlates or applies to everyones life, but I do know that too much negative stress can deeply impact your life and health. Deep breathing can be a great addition, in helping your body achieve a more relaxed state, and getting away from the fight or flight mentality that so many of us live in a large portion of the time.

Coaches note: “ALL GYM STRESS IS GOOD, SO KEEP LIFTING BIG ASS WEIGHT” :-).

****this is a proven scientific falsehood*****

Coach