We are coming to the end of our first phase of 2018 already, can you believe it?

So, off we go into phase 2 of our 2018 master plan for the creation of total fitness gods and goddesses. In this phase we are focussing on your energy systems, this means you’ll be breathing heavy on some days for short intense workouts and hopefully building up a bit of a sweat and body heat over a more sustained period on others. One of our aims is for you to learn how to work and rest in workouts without having set time domains – if you’re feeling fine and your technique is on point, keep going, if it’s all going to shit, stop, have a break (not too long) get yourself back together and go again. If you’ve watched CF open workout 18.1, although it looks like they are just going hell for leather they are actually working within 70-80% of max effort, pacing themselves and then hitting the gas pedal to finish. Needless to say, we will not be letting your lifting numbers and Olympic lifting skills slip, we are just looking to shift focus for a while.

When you read the program please be aware that on some days there will be experienced (E), and novice (N) items highlighted – this is so the more experienced CFers amongst you can work on your top end skills and weights in workouts. Most of you folks who have been with us some time have a good idea of where you should be working: make your choice, be brave but leave your ego at the door. If you find yourself standing around too much during a workout this might be a clue that you need to downscale.

We are starting week one of this phase with some tough testing. When testing we are looking for you to push yourselves but NOT break yourselves please. This is a hard week folks, and some of the more experienced CFers amongst you might want to pick and choose your tests a little through the week. On our Olympic lifting focused days, we will be looking to work up to a good weight and then choose a sensible % for a complex which can be done with great form. Saturday is going to be a more team-based workout day. Sunday is going to be a slightly longer workout – I hate using the word chipper but more of a chipper style workout. Pick your days wisely, you don’t need to smash yourself into the cold and frosty ground every session.

Eat well, sleep well, train hard and kick some ass.