Thanksgiving has come and gone, the light at the end of the tunnel is just barely visible through the impending fog that threatens to drown us all in the good cheer of the Holliday spirit, the New Year approaches and with it, Freeeeeedom!! Eleven more months free of Christmas music.

This month marks the end to the old, and to celebrate we are trying out a new aerobic session format. We are doing it twice a week. The goal behind this new format is to get in another aerobic session in every week, and also continuing to be able to bring up some strength by still lifting heavy (relatively). It is very important to not go very hard on the aerobic pieces, even though heart rates differ per individual, and for many reasons, a general guideline is that we would like to average 140-150 beats per minute. If you do not know your heart rate, that is fine, just try to keep the intensity down at a pace where you could potentially do all the work breathing only through your nose, this would keep you pretty close to the correct stimulus desired. If you do not pace at the desired effort, these sessions will turn into one big slog in no mans land, and leave you feeling smoked as the month progresses. With the lifting being done at a tempo, and the aerobic work being done at the correct perceived effort, we aim to build our capacity to move our bodies and external load with precision and awareness. This is also a fantastic opportunity to really hone in on your lifting technique. Stay present, focus on correct bracing, lifting through the middle of the foot, arms, legs, knees all tracking in the correct plane. Stay in the moment, don’t let your mind wander, this is your time, use it to the best of your ability. We also are trying out some new exercises to work on midline stability and Achilles health. The double kettlebell swing is also something we are incorporating into our strength pieces, the goal here is to really nail down on some common kettlebell swing technique flaws and improve our dynamic hinging strength.

As stated above, we are doing two aerobic strength sessions, one dedicated work capacity day, and two days that include a seperate strength and conditioning piece. On the work capacity day, we want to ramp up the intensity to a pace that is sustainable a

cross all pieces that are programed. So what that looks like is focusing on how you are responding to the movements and staying out of the red zone. That will be different for each individual person so do not base your speed or intensity off the person next to you. Each individual should be learning how they respond to different stimuluses. Work on staying present and focus on moving with intent. Post wods are chocked full of biased programming done by yours truly.

Coach