CrossFit Hackney – Mesocycle 29/9/14 -14/12/14
A new 12 week mesocycle (Sept-14 – Dec-14) is about to start at CrossFit Hackney. These 12 weeks will have the following goals:
Squats
The mesocycle will kick off with a hypertrophy focus and some challenging tempo back squats for high repetitions. Over the 3 microcycles (4weeks each) the back squat exercise selections will aim to build some muscle mass and strengthen the quality of the movement. Hypertrophy is a question of time under tension (TUT) and quality movement targeting the correct muscle fibres. This is not the time to chase weight! FORM, FORM , FORM is the name of the GAINZ.
After 8 weeks of hypertrophy focus the sports and performance athletes will use a wave loading pattern to test a 5RM Back Squat in week 12. We STRONGLY recommend you record your weights and aim to make some serious progress over the next 12 weeks. The percentages are important and the attitude of “squatting as heavy as possible” every time you walk into the gym will only result in a wasted 12 weeks of training. The percentages are there for a reason, so don’t ignore them.
Vertical Pressing
We will introduce the behind the neck press for members who are flexible enough to perform this movement safely. If your flexibility is a limitation you will need to perform presses from the front and work on this weakness. Stay light and focus on a smooth pressing motion, and finding the sweet spot. Over the 12 weeks the strict behind the neck press will be followed by the behind the neck push-press and the behind the neck push jerk. The aim is to improve shoulder mechanics, pressing strength and most importantly establish an awareness of the correct overhead position. Split jerks will be a part of the future programming to come in 2015 and this is a chance to prepare yourself for what’s ahead.
Vertical Pulling
It is time to improve your pulling strength and to go strict. Starting with sternum chin-ups we will progress towards strict pull-ups, followed by false grip pull-ups on the bar. For those not yet strong enough to do pull-ups we are going to work on some isometric holds and eccentrics to improve strength. “NO BANDS” will be allowed over the next 3 months on strict pull-ups. If you an’t got’em you will need to work on eccentrics, iso holds or the inverse rows to get stronger. If you haven’t read it already, I recommend you do; Why I haven’t tought you to kip!
SLAP (Superior Labrum Anterior Posterior) tears are a common injury that can occur if athletes overtrain the kipping pull-up without the strength to perfrom strict pull-ups.
Pull-ups are always a hot debate in the CrossFit community:
8:50 pull-ups, 11:50 not using bands, 12:40 progressions for strength
Olympic Lifting
There has been some excellent Olympic lifting progress made by all of the members over the last 3 months. The last 12 weeks had a very large Olympic lifting focus and we don’t want to loose the momentum. The objective of this phase is hypertrophy, and we will only be Olympic lifting twice a week (check the time table, as we now have additional Olympic lifting classes if you want to do more Olympic lifting).
We will start with a 4-position clean, clean pulls, tall muscle power snatch and segmented power snatches to work on position, the pull and movement around the bar. Over the 12 weeks there will be a focus on the first and second pull (weeks 1-4), followed by a emphasis on getting under the bar (weeks 5-12).
Horizontal Pressing and Pulling
BIG BENCH Thursdays and BIG INVERSE ROWS will be the initial focus of the upper body hypertrophy. Over this cycle we will start with an isometric pause in the bench to help build strength in the bottom of the movement, and add some quality TUT. In the weeks ahead a nasty 1 1/4 bench press will shock the CNS, and will be a rude awakening for those bench pressing egos. In weeks 8-12 we will test a biacromial bench 5RM and use these scores in future cycles for structural balance testing. The horizontal rows are important for back strength and structural balance of the shoulders. If your pull-ups are weak we recommend you don’t miss this day!
Deadlifts
In one word… OUCH!! Its been a while since some of us did some serious deadlifting. With all the Olly lifting over the last 3 months the deadlift took a back seat. We will wake up the prosterior chain (PC) with some tempo snatch-grip deadlift in weeks 1-4. PLEASE chase the TUT and quality movement in this initial 4 weeks. Only the members with BIG EGOS will chase weight on this movement and trust me, this will limit progress. Our aim is to improve PC strength and endurance during this phase. CrossFit is very demanding on the PC and we all need to get stronger in preparation for the deadlifting challenge ahead. The progressions in the months will be a podium deadlift and then a conventional deadlift. Working towards a 5RM for sports and performance athletes.
Gymnastics movements and locomotions
Love it or hate it, gymnastics is a large part of CrossFit and everyone needs to spend time mastering these movements. Over the last 3 months we separated the gymnastics to be on Wednesdays and Sundays. This time we are including gymnastic movements on as many days as possible:
Monday – working towards pistol squats and handstand holds
Tuesday – strict pull-ups, perfecting the kipping technique, and working towards bar muscle-ups
Wednesday – Strict knees-to-elbows, ball-ups and strict toes-to-bar
Thursday – working on burpee technique (blocking, feet wide, and single leg techniques)
Sunday – lines and locomotions. Understanding and practicing body weight movements starting with shoulder awareness in different planes of motion. What is active shoulders?
Loads of cool stuff happening every single day of the week. I’m guessing there will be a HUGE fear of missing out (FOMO) for a lot of members deciding which days to attend. Use your CrossFit Hackney skills spreadsheet to locate your weaknesses and try to attend the classes that will help you improve. As always, if you need any help or advice please feel free to talk to our AWESOME coaching staff.