Summer. Enough said.
Our newest training block is here and with it, we have a bunch of fun things on the table for June.
We are continuing our benchmark plan rollout.
Benchmark workouts are a great way for us to be able to see where we are on the fitness spectrum. These tests are not a judgment of character or you as an individual, they are just a nonbias assessment of where you are in your current fitness journey. They provide real and immediate feedback that you can then use to make informed decisions about where to spend the most energy in regard to your own personal goals.
Build: No benchmarks this cycle for our strength work. We hit all of them over the past two previous cycles. For our strength work this cycle, we are kind of in a maintenance phase, with our focus falling on getting in all our conditioning benchmark workouts.
Ignite: This is the Alactic Anaerobic energy system. Short and fast. For this test to give great feedback, it needs to be performed at 110%. All out, every time. When we do this in class, keep in mind that all intervals need to be done as hard as possible. A good result would leave the first interval within 10 percent of the last interval. If that is the case, then increasing strength and power would be the best way to improve, if the spread is farther away than 10 percent, then working on the aerobic system would be the best place to focus on for a better test result in the future.
Charge: This is the Lactic Anaerobic system. It is the most painful system to train. The good news is that it ramps up pretty quickly, so in 6-8 weeks you can make great improvements in this energy pathway. 3-8 minutes all-out sprint efforts. These are the ones that hurt because they are short enough that you can push really hard and go anaerobic and build up a lot of lactate in the muscles that are being used. When we are testing this system, it is imperative that you go as hard as possible and really push to failure. Go hard and take chances.
Grind: This time-domain falls into the Aerobic energy pathway, but it is close to blurring the line between aerobic and anaerobic. Anaerobic threshold work. It is long enough that you can not hit it at 100 percent effort, but it is short enough that you really need to push hard to get a good score. Having a robust and well-rounded metabolic engine is the best way to see big numbers put up here.
Sustain: Aerobic energy pathway. This is what is usually thought of as aerobic work. Long efforts. In the world of endurance sports, what we are going to be testing is actually on the short side of things due to class time restraints. You're welcome. These types of efforts require a whole different mental and physical skill set. They are less painful, in the sense that the intensity is so much lower, but can be very mentally demanding because the duration and constant demand of attention required to maintain output test the limits of endurance.
Cool Downs: Core and double under practice
Coach