October Newsletter

Goal: Build strength and technical proficiency in upper-body pulling and pressing gymnastics movements. Athletes will focus on pull-ups, bar muscle-ups, ring dips, and ring muscle-ups, while also gaining exposure to new skills and play-based gymnastics sessions. Tests: 3 x Max Rep Strict Pull-ups / Bar Muscle ups 3 x Max Rep Strict Ring Dips / Ring Muscle-ups There will be no baseline test scheduled in this cycle since we only have 4 weeks. The Test will happen in the last week of the cycle. Context: This 4-week cycle is designed to improve athletes’ capacity in foundational gymnastics pushing and pulling movements. The emphasis is on strict strength work (pull-ups and ring dips), dynamic transitions (bar and ring muscle-ups), and exposure to various gymnastics movements within the CrossFit methodology. By the end of the cycle, athletes should see measurable improvements in strict pulling and pressing strength, with many moving closer to their first pull-up, ring dip, or muscle-up. Athletes will also improve confidence and body control through calisthenics-style accessories and skill exploration. Advanced/Intermediate L2: Gymnastics Strength Athletes in this category likely already have strict pull-ups or dips and are developing consistency in bar or ring muscle-ups. For the pulling sessions, these athletes can choose to perform the strict pulling option or the bar muscle up option. Note: Athletes who rely heavily on kipping without strong strict foundations will need extra coaching here. Encourage them to buy into strict strength before pushing intensity or volume. Beginner/Intermediate L1: Technical Focus For athletes still developing strict pulling or pressing strength, scaling options will include banded variations, negatives, tempo work, and support holds. Movement quality is the most important factor in this cycle. By committing to the progressions and accessory work, these athletes can build the base they need for higher-level gymnastics skills. Phase Details Coaching Since gymnastics is such a large spectrum and we can have classes that include athletes who have never done a pull up in their lives along with athletes who can string together multiple bar muscle ups, our goal is to get everyone to progress within the same session. This can be tricky but you will see pulling sessions include pull ups & bar muscle ups in the same workout. Sessions like this: Pull up / Bar Muscle up EMOM 10 5 Strict Band Assisted Pull up / 2 Low Bar Hip to Bar + Transition This means athletes who need to focus on their strict pulling will perform the EMOM with the 5 strict band assisted pull ups and athletes who have bar muscle ups will focus on the technical complex of hip to bar + bar muscle ups. The warm up progressions will look like this: Strict Band Assisted Pull up // Bar Muscle up - 5 Scap Pull ups (Everyone) - 3-5 Band Assisted Negatives // Low Bar Hip to Bar - 2 x 1-3 Band Assisted Strict Pull ups // 2 Low Bar Hip to Bar + 1 Low Bar Transition In this warm up, there would be a first explanation to advanced athletes what the hip to bar and low bar transition is and looks like then we would guide beginners on their progression. Pulling Strength Progressions (Pull-ups / Bar Muscle-ups): - Pulling strength sessions can be performed with assistance from bands. - Bar Muscle up progressions will be a mix of technically focused sessions and endurance session. Pressing Strength Progressions (Ring Dips / Ring Muscle-ups): - Strict ring dip sessions can be performed with assistance from bands. . - Muscle-up ring transition will focus on snap back pulling technique & endurance Play Sessions - The session focused on various gymnastics skills that will be performed as free play or practice. Metcons: Metcons will be varied and include most barbell movement. Special attention will be placed on overhead movements since gymnastics solicit the shoulders so much. Accessories: Accessories are centered on calisthenics and bodyweight strength: isometric holds, core progressions, scapular control, and unilateral bodyweight pressing/pulling variations. These are directly supportive of the goal: helping athletes build the strength and control to achieve their first pull-ups, dips, or muscle-ups. You will see plenty of opportunities to develop awareness and strength in your gymnastics, as well as test some of your gymnastics within metcons paired intensity and metabolic conditions that will challenge your gymnastic endurance. This should be a fun cycle for many and a little bit of a breather from the amount of volume we've been putting into weightlifting over the last 6 months!

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CFWDM Annual Outdoor WOD Series Join us every Saturday at 8:30 AM, starting August 30th through October 4th, as we hit the streets of Des Moines and throw down!

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Goal: Increase athlete’s strength & proficiency in the Olympic lifts. This olympic Weightlifting cycle will expose you to specific olympic weightlifting strength. Our focus will be on the Snatch, the Clean and Jerk with some accessory movements and squatting. We will be using a progressive overload method, increasing the intensity and the volume of the lifts using both traditional lifting sets and complexes. Tests: 1 Rep Max Snatch 1 Rep Max Clean & Jerk Context: This cycle is designed to increase athletes strength in the two olympic lifts. More importantly, they will also improve their technical ability (assuming you perform 4+ workouts per wek). By the end of the 5 weeks, athletes should have a general understanding of the Olympic Weightlifting discipline and increase their ability to perform both power and squat lifts. Beginner/Intermediate L1: Technical Focus The biggest roadblock for beginner and intermediate athletes in this cycle will be the use of complexes. These will be simplified as needed during the cycle in the scaling options. Movement pattern is more important than load. This is a great cycle for beginner and intermediate because it can help set them up for success in the long run. When your technique improves, your load on the bar will also improve. Technique first, intensity later. Advanced/Intermediate L2: Olympic Weightlifting Athletes in this category are those with good technical ability in the two lifts. They don’t have to be the heaviest lifters but their technique is good and more consistent. These athletes want to be as close to the written percentages as possible. In order for these athletes to get the most out of this cycle, encourage them to get to the gym 4-5x/week and hitting all the accessory work after class. NOTE: Athletes with poor technique but are considered to be advanced or intermediate because of their experience and fitness levels will be the toughest challenge for the coach/athlete. It will be important to get bought into the “technique first” approach. If you need to fix a movement pattern (example: athletes who can power more than they can squat because of how they perform their lifts) it will take a lot of finesse and convincing, however it will be extremely worth it if you stick to the process. Cycle Priorities: Snatch & Clean & Jerk: We will be using a progressive overload method to increase the intensity and volume as the weeks progress. TECHNIQUE One of the most important factors for improvement in our athletic development will not be increasing the load but rather improve their technique. The increase in load will be there but it is crucial that we maintain very high standards when it comes to how they execute the lifts. SQUAT MAINTENANCE There will be 1-2 squat dedicated sessions every week. The squat will change every week from back to front to overhead. The loading for squat sessions will be a mix of increasing load and maintenance. METCONS Our metcons will include one heavy metcon per week, one interval specific per week that will aim to help athletes maintain their power endurance. Otherwise, our metcons will be more classic CrossFit with a GPP focus. ACCESSORIES The accessories in this cycle are closer linked to the goals of the training cycles than the previous cycles. Anyone who wants to really improve their ability to lift heavier in these technical lifts should look to include these accessories in their training for the next 8 weeks. Below is a chart that will outline of the programming during the Olympic Lifting Phase. Please reach out with any questions. Work Hard.

What's in the Newsletter? • Coach Babies Incoming! • Class Schedule Tweak • Milestones • Consistency Crew • What sugar is bad? • Upcoming Events • Programming Reminder

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July 7th to August 17th, 2025 Goal: Focus on Pulling Strength using a V-S-I Training system (Volume, Speed/Unilateral & Intensity) In this 6 week cycle, we’re going to focus on increasing the Deadlift and Pulling strength. Test: 1 Rep Max Deadlift The V-S-I system essentially splits up the strength sessions into 3 categories: Volume The volume sessions are lower intensity higher volume sessions that are designed to increase our endurance on the hinging movement pattern and help us gain capacity in the range of motion. This is the base of the pyramid and the wider it is, the more stable the top will be. Gaining endurance and practice in this movement pattern will help us have more consistent and higher quality intensity sessions. Loads between 45-60%, Depending on the level of athlete These sessions will be mainly using a traditional deadlift style and on occasion be combined with another hip extension exercise. The maximum volume we will be performing is 45 reps. You will see some sessions using a tempo to increase time under tension. Speed / Power The Speed sessions are going to be a mix of speed sessions, in which our goal is to perform hard and fast extensions and power sessions in which we will use olympic weightlifting to work on athletes ability to produce force. The difference is that the speed sessions are generally very light and are more focused on athletes having the intention to move really fast whereas the power sessions will have a heavier stimulus but athletes need to be able to apply good speed to that moderate to slightly heavy load. Speed: - Low intensities (20-40%) - Will have some banded sessions - Fast execution - Moderate Volume (20-30 total reps) Power: - Power Cleans, Hang Power Cleans & Hang Power Snatches @ 60-75% best lifts OR RPE 7/10 - Jumping & Band resisted jumping - Moderate Volume (20-30 total reps) Intensity The intensity sessions are the very heavy sessions. These will be combined with light and shorter metcons. Workouts before these sessions will be lower impact and upper body dominant. Loads above 70% We will be doing all of the intensity sessions as Dead Stop Volume goes from 20 to 8 repetitions Linear throughout the phase (loads progressively increase over the course of the 6 weeks) Context: This cycle is a last of 3 cycles that focus on the slow lift strength: Squat, Press & Pull. Between these cycles we will have some transition weeks. Within each cycle we will also include other strengths and/or skills throughout the week. M etcons: In this strength phase, we will be extra careful with our movement choices given that we’re working on strengthening the back and with 2-3 hinging sessions per week, we don’t want to over do anything. Expect to continue to see some strict gymnastics and to see more machines. Accessories: Accessory sessions will be focused on core & complementing the deadlift sessions. Coaching: For the best possible results from this cycle member s should aim to hit 2 pulling sessions / week and try to have the intensity session every week. If members cannot make the intensity sessions for scheduling reasons, They can do it as an accessory or extra work when they can. This training phase is higher risk than others since many members have experienced some level of back pain, injury or have poor flexibility. It is CRUCIAL to assess our members' risk and make the appropriate adjustments if sessions are too heavy or if the movement pattern is too risky. Sunday Workouts: For the duration of the pull strength cycle our Sunday workouts will be dubbed “Successory Sundays”. We will be using our ACCESSORY program + adding in some aerobic training to expose members to our accessory program. The goal here is to make sure there is no conflict with the workouts for the following week. Intensity will be low and can be used as active recovery. Metcons: Overall, the stress on the central nervous system for the shoulder press isn’t as intense as the squats therefore we will see a bit more variety in the metcons. You should see less restraint on heavy metcons when we have our heavy days. Upper Body Consideration Since we’ll be working hard to avoid excessive upper body impact, there will be less kipping gymnastics such as pull ups, ring muscle ups & bar muscle ups. Given that we are in a strength focused cycle you will continue to see strict gymnastics such as strict pull ups & ring dips. In an effort to maintain the focus on the pressing using external loads, we will avoid handstand push ups for the next 5 weeks. Accessories: We will include upper body posterior chain accessories and shoulder health accessories. In addition, some speed and unilateral sessions will be providing some of the pressing section as accessories since the cycle is short and we want to maximize members' exposure to these pressing sessions. Coaching: For the best possible results from this cycle members should aim to hit 2 pressing sessions / week and try to have the intensity session every week. If members cannot make the intensity sessions for scheduling reasons, They can do it as an accessory or extra work when they can. Beginner members in this cycle need to focus on movement quality and should increase in load gradually.

May 19th to June 22nd, 2025 Goal: Focus on Press Strength using a V-S-I Training system (Volume, Speed/Unilateral & Intensity) In this 5 week cycle, we’re going to focus on increasing the Shoulder Press Strength. The V-S-I system essentially splits up the strength sessions into 3 categories: Volume The volume sessions are lower intensity higher volume sessions that are designed to increase our endurance on the pressing movement pattern and helps us gain capacity in the range of motion. In the Volume sessions we will be performing supersets combining shoulder presses with other pressing / tricep dominant movements. Example: 5 Sets of: 5 Shoulder Press 10 Overhead Band Tricep Extensions The goal with this is to increase our muscular endurance in the pressing mechanics and also offer some variety. Speed / Unilateral These sessions will be a mix of vertical and horizontal pressing and will also come in the form of supersets (not always). The movements will be more dynamic and higher velocity. Example: Bench Press 10 sets of: 2 Bench Press @ 40% 6 Ball Slams The goal of these sessions is to increase member’s rate of force development (Their ability to produce force QUICKLY) but also make pressing more fun, varied and dynamic. Intensity The intensity sessions are the heavy sessions. Since our cycle is so short, we're going to dabble in a conjugate style max effort day. Here is what our Intensity sessions will look like over the course of the 5 weeks: Session 1: Find a 1 Rep Max (Baseline Test) Session 2: Find a 5 Rep Max Session 3: Find a 3 Rep Max Session 4: Find a 2 Rep Max Session 5: Work up to a 1 Rep Max Tests: 1 Rep Max Shoulder Press Context: This cycle is a 2nd of 3 cycles that focus on the slow lift strength: Squat, Press & Pull. Between these cycles we will have some transition weeks. Within each cycle we will also include other strengths and/or skills throughout the week. Metcons: Overall, the stress on the central nervous system for the shoulder press isn’t as intense as the squats therefore we will see a bit more variety in the metcons. You should see less restraint on heavy metcons when we have our heavy days. Upper Body Consideration Since we’ll be working hard to avoid excessive upper body impact, there will be less kipping gymnastics such as pull ups, ring muscle ups & bar muscle ups. Given that we are in a strength focused cycle you will continue to see strict gymnastics such as strict pull ups & ring dips. In an effort to maintain the focus on the pressing using external loads, we will avoid handstand push ups for the next 5 weeks. Accessories: We will include upper body posterior chain accessories and shoulder health accessories. In addition, some speed and unilateral sessions will be providing some of the pressing section as accessories since the cycle is short and we want to maximize members' exposure to these pressing sessions. Coaching: For the best possible results from this cycle members should aim to hit 2 pressing sessions / week and try to have the intensity session every week. If members cannot make the intensity sessions for scheduling reasons, They can do it as an accessory or extra work when they can. Beginner members in this cycle need to focus on movement quality and should increase in load gradually.