February 2021. Health is paramount. Physical, mental, and spiritual. Be compassionate to those you disagree with, show empathy to the less fortunate, and mercilessly ridicule all those that are too busy texting at the intersection to go when the light turns green.
Build & Build + Ignite: A couple of new things we are trying out this block. One day is a strength set followed by a stretch, using more or less the same general muscle groups for both movements. These will change week to week. The other Build day this cycle is paired up with an Ignite element. We will increase in load up to a heavyweight for the specified reps, then use a percentage based on that number, and then drop into a nice and tasty little EMOM. The movements will change week to week, but the intent will stay the same…sprint to rest. Don’t try to pace it, go get you some.
Charge: We are doing two separate Charge days this cycle. This is the classic interval weight training style, lift something heavy, then immediately do some intense cardio. Same style, different order on the other day, intense cardio first, then lift something fast and heavy. On these types of workouts, you should really be pushing yourself on the cardio pace…the weight should be challenging, but form should never be in question. Loading is less than if you were doing the strength work as a stand alone training set.
Grind: Aerobic threshold work. This is a hard pace, but one that you can maintain for all rounds. Let’s say that the workout calls for 3 rounds of 4 different exercises and 1 minute of rest between each round. In an ideal world, you would be able to get the same number of reps for each interval, and for all 3 rounds. In round 1, you have an accumulative score of 100 reps and then in round 2 you have only 85 reps, and in round 3, you were only able to squeak out 60 total reps…A better approach would be to go a little slower on round 1 knowing that as fatigue builds, and reality sets in, you will still have enough left in the tank to try and get the same number of reps as the workout progresses. Learning to pace correctly is an important step too long term improvement. Everything in life is a test of endurance and pacing, nobody wants to be known for peaking in high school.
Cool Downs: Isometrics, shoulder health, and weighted diaphragmatic breathing oh my!! The diaphragm is a muscle, so we will load it like one and exercise it! Also some banded glute stuff and a rotational core exercise that really helps tie it all together.
Coach