Happy New Year. Here’s to a big and bold 2024.
Build 1 & 2 - How do you now how much weight to lift for each exercise, at each rep scheme? Some lifts are easier to know then others, and sometimes you can use other movements as a reference to get an idea of what loading will be most advantageous. But sometimes if the movement is new, or you have not done it in a long time, it can be hard to judge. All our Build’s this month have you warming up the movement first, and working up to a weight that is hard but doable for you, for the called out rep scheme. This takes all the guess work out of how heavy you need to load the lift. The goal would be to increase total load lifted in the “working sets” over the course of the next few weeks. I would recommend not trying to set records on day 1, instead, shoot for feeling like you could have lifted a little bit more….Then lift more the next week, and the week after etc…This is the best way to continually make progress with the least amount of risk to yourself as possible.
Charge - No explanation needed. Charge. No potty breaks, and god forbid you did not hydrate well enough for the last few days to need a drink during an 8 minute or less effort. You will not keel over, you will not die of thirst, keep the lid on that water tanker until after the show. These should be approached with a desire to but yourself in a hole, go explore the dark areas that crave the shadows, hang out and become reacquainted with being uncomfortable.
Grind - Longer efforts, with a descending total volume per interval. A little bit of pacing should be utilized, but these should be done at a pretty hard pace, hustle to rest and try to keep the same intensity all the way through the entire conditioning workout.
Sustain - Longer mixed model aerobic effort. Each repeat station, of each repeat interval, of each round, should be the same score. If done correctly, then the first ten minutes will feel pretty good, but as the breathing builds and muscular endurance starts to flag, then it will become harder and harder to manage. So if "strength" plays a part, scale the movement from the start, and if "muscular endurance" is a big factor, then make sure to start with smaller sets, knowing that in a forty minute workout, you will not be able to maintain high reps all the way through. Be conservative early, and wait until the suck factor has set in before biting off more then you can chew.
Cool Downs - Wrists, shoulders, hips and core.
Coach