CFC Programming Cycle – The Falcon
It’s almost time for the Open! What is the Open you ask? Learn more here! In the meantime, let’s talk about how we are getting ready for the Open and our upcoming strength cycles and focus areas for the next 8 weeks. If you are wondering why we have these animal based themes and what are cycles, check out our blog post here.
This cycle’s theme is the Falcon! – Like the falcon, Speed is the name of the game – We will challenge you to develop speed under fatigue. Speed is a key part of Power and like a Falcon we want to be fast and deadly! For the physics nerds out there: Power is defined by work/time. The faster we move the more powerful we are!
To kick off the year, we will focus on building a strong foundation of strength and power in the squat, press, and pull. These movements will help us as we transition to our 2nd cycle of the year as the open ends.
The Back Squat will get heavy to help us build foundational leg strength which will translate into all of our squat variations for the rest of the year.
For the push press, we will emphasize technique work as well as building strength. We are building on the previous cycle of developing strict strength. This will translate to all of the Thrusters that we expect to see in the open!
The Power Snatch was chosen for this cycle to emphasize high power output (moving weight quickly). We all know what high volume power snatches can do to our heart rates!
The goals for this cycle are below:
- Back Squat – The goal is to build raw strength to build up to a 3 rep max!
- 1 Rep Max Push Press – The will test your ability to use both your legs and upper body pressing strength for a max lift. We will focus on ensuring proper extension BEFORE your start pressing with your arms.
- 1 Rep Max Power Snatch Complex – The Snatch is a very important Olympic lift as it focuses on Power. In this case we mean the ability to move weight a large distance quickly (from ground to overhead in a single motion). We are doing the lower skill version of this movement with the power snatch. We will focus this cycle on technique with an emphasis on proper hip extension to drive more power. Want to learn more about why we do Olympic Lifts in CrossFit – Check out our post here.
- Echo Bike Sprint Style Work – Can you produce power in short and medium time intervals? This will hopefully push you to build your engine to make those open workouts seem even easier!
Our Metcons will focus on building a strong base in preparation of the open with open style couplets and triplets. We will program several repeat open workouts and practice movements that we expect to see!
Let’s embrace the Echo Bike and the Open – and crush this CFC 2024 Programming Cycle!
