One of the great aspects of CrossFit is the amount of time you save being able to "show up and go" without giving a thought to what workout you're going to do. You would have to spend time thinking about:
"What have you done the past few days?"
"How much volume have you put in recently?"
"How recovered is your central nervous system?"
"Should you be squatting today or deadlifting?"
"If I do this how will that affect tomorrow?"
"Which energy system should I be training today?"
"Where am I on my gymnastics progression?"
etc.
There are so many variables that it can get pretty crazy to then come up with something to do each day. And luck would have it, a perfectly planned, well thought out workout magically shows up on CrossFit307.com at 6pm each and every day. With that comes a strength that fits with the workout, a warmup that strategically prepares your body for what's to come next while also sneaking in extra low intensity skill movements, and an extra credit piece that gives you just a little more to work on. Other factors that come in to play are programming for large class sizes, equipment needs and scalability for beginners while also keeping it challenging for the more experienced athletes.
Where does that magical workout appear from each night? Well, we thought it would be beneficial to you to have an idea of the long process we go through to make sure we're giving you the best possible Warmup-Strength-WOD-REC to help you achieve your goals.
We write our program in 7 week blocks. Each block has a goal and focus that depend on a variety of factors. The 7th week is the most important week, the deload week. More on the importance of this week to come.
STRENGTH
We have a strong gym. We're proud of the strength of our members top to bottom, men and women. We've worked hard over the years to increase our strength to where it is now. This is likely a result of our emphasis on strength training. Our programming template begins with the Strength. The strength days follow a pattern across 7 weeks. Each week in that 7 week block is laid out differently. This is so that those who might only come MWF don't get stuck with the same movements week after week. Each movement is practiced each week, just usually on a different day of the week. We'll start with squats. Depending on the current goal and focus, what we've done in the previous block, the time of the year and other variables, we'll write all 7 weeks of just the squat days. Sometimes there are progressions. Sometimes there are test and/or retest days. We make sure that whatever we are programming, we are building from where we've been towards where we want to be. We then will move to the next item and fill it in with similar intentions that don't interfere or compromise any days around it. Olympic lifts, push/pull movements, squatting olympic lifts, deadlifts/posterior lifts, power/explosive movements and skills fill out the rest of the week. Once everything is input, it's moved over to the programming template on each movement's respective day and we go over the whole thing again to make sure there aren't any days interfering with days before or after.
WOD
We also have a very fit gym. This is primarily because you guys just know how to go hard and use all that strength you've built up very effectively. With our strength input, we start to drop WODs into place. The WODs are strategically placed so that they will fit in with the strength that day and won't interfere with the strength in days previous or after. Volume in each WOD is carefully monitored. This is for your safety and out of respect for your time. Longer strength pieces usually are followed by shorter WODs. We write WODs that can accommodate large class sizes on the days we anticipate more athletes. We put in partner workouts because they are typically more fun to do, which in turn gives you a better experience. Depending on goals and focus, we write WODs that will prepare you for the season ahead (Open or Throwdown etc). Not only daily volume is monitored. Weekly volume and intensity levels are carefully monitored. There are certain volume numbers for each movement that are just enough or too much, for a single day and for a whole week. We try to make sure we're hitting every energy system each week with short, medium, long and interval workouts. Then, we have to make sure we're not neglecting any movements or skills along the way. As you can see, it can get fairly complex and overwhelming.
REC
The "Required Extra Credit" is the gravy on top that puts you over the top. The REC is the next piece of the equation that we input. REC is there to refresh you on skills and movements that are upcoming in workouts. Skills and mobility work that we feel will help you recover better are strategically placed in each week. Many times we input static moves and strength building accessory movements that are hard to put in timed WODs giving you the ability to focus on quality.
WARMUP
The final piece. All a warmup really needs to do is get your blood flowing. We feel like we can get the blood flowing while also practicing skills and movements. The warmup is another place, like the REC, for you to get better at things that show up in WODs. But now you have no clock, no pressure, and you can practice moving correctly all while getting your blood flowing. The warmups are written last to make sure you are fully prepared for the rest of what's to follow. We look across the whole week and place movements in warmups that might not show up the rest of the week. If you see HSPU, they may show up later on but they also may not. This is your time this week to be sure to practice your HSPU.
If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to drop by and talk to us about it!