Programming Note
This is the beginning of our first cycle after the Open. Please read all about it below.
Microcycle Preview
- Monday: lunges
- Tuesday: bench press
- Wednesday: 2000m row time trial
- Thursday: deadlift
- Friday: long conditioning
- Saturday: team workout
Off-season Cycle 1
5 Weeks: 20191118 – 20191220
Strength
Focus: hypertrophy phase
Hypertrophy training involves moderate-high repetitions at low-moderate intensity.
We will be focusing on three main strength exercises for this five week cycle.
Bench Press
- Reps will always be performed with a pause on the chest
- Throughout the cycle, we will be using the same weight across sets (i.e. we will never be building; choose a weight and stick with it)
- Our rate of perceived exertion will never exceed a 7.5 throughout this cycle
Deadlift
- There will be a designated tempo on every deadlift workout throughout this cycle.
- We will be using the same weight across sets (i.e. we will never be building; choose a weight and stick with it)
- Our rate of perceived exertion will never exceed a 7.5 throughout this cycle
Lunges
- A soft touch of the back knee every rep. If that is not possible, it is too heavy
- Throughout the cycle, we will be using the same weight across sets (i.e. we will never be building; choose a weight and stick with it)
- Our rate of perceived exertion will never exceed a 7.5 throughout this cycle
Why a hypertrophy phase to restart the off-season?
- The lower intensity (read: lighter weights) will allow us to recover from a period of intense exercise (i.e. the open)
- Higher repetitions allow us to build a solid foundation of muscular endurance and structural stability (read: healthy joints) which make sustaining periods of higher intensity later in the year possible.
Conditioning
Focus: 2000m Row Time Trial
The 2k row is an important piece of data that allows us to better understand our pacing and threshold on the rower no matter what workout it shows up on. We will be working on our pacing in at least one workout per week.
Testing Dates
We will be testing our 2000m row on Wednesday, November 20th.
Our retest at the end of the cycle will happen on Thursday, December 19th.
If you cannot make class on these days, you are encouraged to use our open gym hours to test your 2000m time trial.
Warm Ups
Warm ups will continue to focus on positioning in basic bodyweight exercises: push up, pull up, and air squat.
Improving your push ups and pull ups is about frequency. We need to be working on them often.
The tempos, time domains, and rep ranges will vary, but those three exercises will remain a staple in our warm ups.