The end of the CrossFit Games Open is just around the corner, which means we’re headed into a new phase of CrossFit group programming. It also means we’re headed into the holidays which can make it more challenging to make it to the gym.

Every 4-12 weeks we like to shift our focus in order to bring you a balanced, yet varied program. The balance helps you continue towards your personal fitness goals in a safe manner and the variance keeps your body guessing and helps prevent the boredom of the same workout every single day. 

In this next phase, we’ll be focusing on strength during the first half of class. The purpose is to improve your fundamental lifts, the squat, deadlift, press and pull. This is beneficial for both the newer crossfit athlete and the more experienced. 

For newer crossfit athletes, it’s a great opportunity to practice technique and build strength on fundamental lifts. We think it’s really important to ‘walk’ before your ‘run’. During this period you will get the opportunity to improve on the fundamentals so you can excel in the future with confidence and without injury. Becoming more proficient in the fundamentals allows you to amp up the intensity, burn more fat and build lean muscle. 

For the more experienced, it’s a great opportunity to hit the reset button, re-focus on technique and improve your fundamentals. Building on this base will help you work towards improving or building strength for higher skilled exercises like snatch, clean & jerk, handstand pushups and muscle-ups. The more efficient you are at the fundamentals, the faster you’ll improve on the higher skilled exercises. 

Another great benefit of this cycle is to prep your body for the next year of training and identify any weaknesses to focus on for the next year. As a coaching staff we’ll be able to also identify any fundamental pieces of our programming that we’ll need to focus on as a whole in 2020. 

So, all that being said, you should expect to see strength training in every class you attend. Expect deadlifts, back squats, pressing and pulling at least 4 days per week and an olympic lift at least once. You’ll see 4-5 sets of 1-5 reps at a moderate tempo with longer rest periods between sets. 

For the conditioning you should expect some shorter, higher intensity, fat burning intervals containing fundamental movements at least twice per week, then moderate to longer steady state workouts 2-3 times per week.  Incorporating shorter, higher intensity intervals has proven to burn fat and help increase lean muscle gain more efficiently than longer, aerobic intervals. 

With the holiday season approaching, we want to help keep you working towards your goals and not be thrown off by the inconsistency of the holiday season. Remember, we’re setting a base right now for 2020. If you’re having trouble getting to the gym during this busy season, please schedule a goal strategy session with us and we can help you get through this harder season by setting small goals with you. 

Schedule your session here: https://CrossFitLincoln.as.me/ —> choose “Goal Strategy Session”