We’re starting a new strength cycle at Derby City, and we want to share with you some details so you know what to expect.
The primary focus of our strength work during this cycle will be volume squatting… squatting twice a week (Monday and Friday). We’re looking to create speed in our squats during this cycle, so the “up” phase of each rep needs to be FAST. Move it as fast as you can on the way up. As fast as you can!
We’ll pull heavy from the floor once a week (Wednesday). We’ll use the deadlifts to improve our squats as well as pulling off the floor for Oly work, but think of this phase of deadlifts as “skill” work. If you’re unable to keep a straight spine while lifting, this is absolutely the time to work on that. Don’t let your ego tell you to rip weight off the ground that your stabilizing muscles aren’t prepared for yet. The weight will come, but fix your technique here first.
On Tuesdays & Thursdays, we’ll work on portions of our snatch & clean, to improve those movements. We’re doing a lot of volume on the “slow lifts”, so the Oly work is more focused on technique, rather than weight. We’ll work that Oly technique from the top-down, forcing us to drop into a position, pause, and then move. Hopefully, these pause methods will help engrain the proper movement pattern so there’s less drifting of the bar away from the body, early arm bend, swinging of the hips, etc… The next cycle will involve heavier Oly, so be patient.
In between strength elements, we’ll add in some accessory work which we feel can help make you a better athlete – like handstand variations, handstand around-the-worlds, hollow rocks, weighted planks, other gymnasty “core” work, band pulls, dumbbell presses, kipping pullup work, etc…
Conditioning will be a mixture of medium (12-15min) WODs and one to two short & intense (5min) WODs during the week. We want you to hit the weekday WODs with as much intensity as you can bear. On Thursdays, we’ll work with intervals to allow you to jack up your heart rate, then bring it back down quickly, then hit it again. Over time, these workouts will improve your heart’s ability to recover. On Fridays, we’ll tackle some single-leg work in some form or another, which we hope will help you learn to better stabilize your hips and improve your balance. On Saturdays, we’ll dial back the intensity to work on longer aerobic pieces, to build your heart’s overall capacity. And, by longer, we mean like 25-40min. We’ll provide ideas on how to scale back these WODs for those of us who are newer to Derby City, as these long workouts could impact how you’re able to train the following week.
Strength/Skill
E3M15M
5 Back Squat @ 70%
(If you don’t know your 1RM, just find a heavy 5 and make a note of it for next week.)
+
2 Pike Handstand Walk Around Box (1 one way, 1 the other) or 5 Fast Dumbbell Presses
WOD
AMRAP 7
3 Power Cleans – L: 155/105; S: 205/135
3 Pullups (S: C2B)
3 Power Cleans
6 Pullups
3 Power Cleans
9 Pullups
3 Power Cleans
12 Pullups
…and so on…
Daily Reading
1. The Psychology Behind Integrity: Cutting Out Cheating in the Gym
2. 8 Steps to Immediately Improve Your Squat
3. All About Box Squats
4. Why I Do CrossFit (by Jason Khalipa)
5. The difference between gaining muscle, losing fat, and toning