Hey guys,
We hope everyone had an awesome weekend and a happy Halloween! It looks like you all may need a little rainy weather reading material this morning so let’s get cracking into things. We know yesterday was Halloween but if you’re having a case of the Sunday scaries (whether it be from too much candy or too much alcohol) you may find yourself a bit “scared” of this week. It’s definitely going to be tough and it’s definitely going to be a little horrifying in honor of the holiday! All in all we have a really great lineup of creepy conditioning and spooky strength work that should keep things interesting and engaging. Now, without any more puns (maybe) let’s dive into the week!
- Movember Run Challenge: 1 Mile a Day! 1 Mile a day that can be completed by running or walking. Can be broken up over the day but CANNOT include runs from the gym’s warm up or workout.
When: Every day of November (30 consecutive days). YES even if it rains. No you don’t get to “make up” a day for the challenge HOWEVER for a personal goal you absolutely can plan a make up day for missed miles!Challenge Prize: Every person that completes 1 mile a day (honor system) will be entered into a drawing for a $50 rogue gift card, $50 lululemon gift card, or a $50 massage credit with Effie over at Cardinal Chiropractic!
- CFS Winter Gear: All of our winter weather gear has been ordered and we hope to have these items in the next week or two. Remember that you will not be charged until the items arrive at the gym and we will use your payment method on file unless otherwise noted.
- Bring A Friend Day: Our next Bring A Friend Day event will be Saturday, November 14th at 9 AM. DJ-LA will be in the house curating the finest music for your workout and your CFS staff will be here with a great first time friendly workout. Save the date!
Monday: “I see dead people”…or is it deadlifts? Either way I’ve got a sixth sense that today is going to be a pretty awesome start to the week. Today’s workout will be “The Sixth Sense.” This one has a really cool layout with two parts, each following a different sort of rep scheme. Our first part is an E2MOM where we will complete a round of deadlifts and bar facing burpees every two minutes for six sets. Immediately after these rounds we have a short rest and then we go into a “for time” chipper workout of more deadlifts and bar facing burpees. Part one of this workout should be pretty much unbroken each round. We want you guys to be doing the deadlifts touch and go and then dropping directly into the burpees. We want each round done around a minute or maybe just a touch more. Maybe not an absolute sprint but on the higher end of effort and intensity. Part two will be paced a little bit more because this is just a one round chipper with a big set of deadlifts and a big set of bar facing burpees. The deadlift will be the same as round one and should still be something you can knock out in sets of 10 at minimum. Stay moving and try to get mentally tough on those burpees and finish out as strong as you can. I don’t think we will see any dead people after this workout but you should be tired!
Tuesday: Heavy day! We are rolling right along with our strength cycle as we drop to three rep sets on the back squat today. These will follow a similar format to our five reps last week with some slight changes in percentages. We will be hitting a set of three at 70%, a set of three at 80%, and then a set of three or more at 90%. The goal is simply three reps and anything over that is a bonus. Remember that we do not want to get an extra rep at the expense of poor form or potential failure. We are early in the cycle yet and there will be time to push to failure later. After this We have a very aptly named workout to get your heart, lungs, and legs screaming! “Scream” is going to be a quick pyramid style workout with 40/30 row calories, 100 wallballs and another 40/30 row calories. We are actually going to offer a neat little twist on today’s workout as well if you are interested. We will give you the option of doing a heavy wallball (30/20) for 80 reps if you would like to give it a go. The only stipulation is that if you use a heavy wallball your coaches will be keeping you very accountable on your depth and the height of that wallball. If you’re not prepared to squat it below parallel and throw it all the way to the line and stick with your normal weight today. (In general we should always be picking a weight that allows us to perform the movement to its appropriate standards.) We want to be able to knock out sets of 10 or 15 at a time at whatever weight we choose. Pace that first row out, go hard on the wallballs, and then go all out on that last row to the finish!
Wednesday: Weightlifting Wednesday! Last week we snatched and this week we clean and jerk! We will be using the same format as last week and giving you all 10 minutes to work up to a heavy clean and jerk. The goal we want today is a squat clean so try if it all possible to receive that bar below parallel. Do this as long as you can or as long as your mobility allows. Remember to stay over the bar in your first pull, be patient getting the bar back to your thighs in your second pull, and then explode up after making that contact and shrug yourself under the bar into a good upright bottom position. After we put away the barbells we will set things up for a short 15 minute AMRAP. “It” will be shuttle sprints, hang dumbbell clean and jerks, and double unders! This will be a high intensity workout for your shuttle sprints but then you want to bring things back down to a moderate pace for your dumbbell work and double unders. We are looking for about 4 to 5 rounds today so try to stay moving. Also make sure you touch the line at the end of each sprint. Practice these during the warm-up so things won’t feel too awkward!
Thursday: We have some more weightlifting in store for you guys today and also a tough little midline piece that’s another partner workout! Just like our back squats on Tuesday we will be dropping our strict press down to sets of three today. We will follow the same rep scheme. Three reps at 70%, 80%, and 90%. Again on this last set at 90% we will try to get an extra rep or two but do not sacrifice form here today. After this we will partner up for “The Silence of the Lambs.” You and your partner will be responsible for 100 stick sit-ups and 100 jumping split lunges. Just like last week there’s going to be an active rest for the partner not working. While one partner is doing sit ups the other partner will have to dead hang from a pull up bar and while one partner is doing jumping split lunges the other partner will have to maintain a front rack barbell hold. This workout will be pretty straightforward and is mostly about getting in as much work as possible when it’s your time to knock out reps. This one is definitely going to burn the legs and get the midline a little bit shaky though so stay tough.
Friday: This one was an excellent movie and will be a great workout as well. “A Quiet Place” is a descending rep couplet of chest-to-bar pull ups and heavier overhead squats. This one is a great mixture of some skill gymnastics work are still moving moderate loads. It will be taxing on the shoulders today with both of these movements so try to approach the pull ups with a sort of 3-2-1 strategy. Three sets on round one, two sets on round two, and one set on round three. Remember to try to find that sweet spot on the overhead squats and kind of ride that groove up and down all the while breathing through every rep. Pick a weight that you can go unbroken but if you have to break into two sets you should be fine to do so. Try to stay moving on this one and minimize shoulder burn out as best as possible and you’ll do just fine! Easy day!
Saturday: “The Shining” is the workout of the day today! This will be a partner workout with four individual AMRAPs. Each one will have row/bike calories, shoulder to overhead reps, box jumps, and rope climbs. You and your partner will each be responsible for a set of reps and cannot move onto the next movement until both partners have completed their reps. We will have a short rest between AMRAPs and then we will do it all over again four times. This really is an awesome piece with just a great mixture of movements that’s going to get us a great stimulus and an awesome workout. Try to show up ready to do some work and remember to always communicate with and encourage your partner throughout the workout. Good stuff!
This is definitely going to be a scary week but you guys are set to handle it no problem at all! We have some really solid workouts that are going to give you all an awesome mix of strength and conditioning that’s going to be very effective! We have been getting such awesome feedback from you guys on this new program in the form of words but also in the form of performance. It is super encouraging to see all the progress you guys have been making and we want to keep the drive alive! Remember to keep an eye on the announcements and also the other various ways we connect with you guys for gym updates and information. If you’re not currently part of our Facebook group search “CFS Friends” on Facebook and request to join! Now, if you are partaking in our “Movember” challenge then you might want to throw on your rain jacket and get started on today’s mile. Can’t wait to see you all in class!
~Daniel
