Over the past couple of weeks you may have noticed a percentage prescription attached to our strength workouts. We’ve tried to give everyone a quick run down on the reasoning for this, but i feel like a more detailed description will allow you to appreciate it and plan  in accordance to maximizing your strength results.

The particular template we have adopted was developed by Micheal Rutherford out of Shawnee Mission, Kansas where he runs a successful gym and CrossFit affilate. Coach Rutherford has been in the strength and conditioning industry for many years and is highly accredited by his peers including Robb Wolf (NorCal Strength and conditioning) and Greg Evert (Catalyst Athletics). Coach Rut (as he is referred too) along with some of the other mentioned coaches also spoke at the first “Black Box Summit” recently which was a CrossFit affiliate-run event that Chad got a chance to attend and spoke very highly of on his return.

The reasoning for adopting his strength template was to give our clients a more focused and planned approach to strength training.  For each workout there is a specific amount of weight assigned by way of a percentage of your 1Rep Max to each set. This allows you to map out a targeted plan for that session. It gives you a training goal and removes the subjective tinkering we’ve all done to the ladder approach “just lift as heavy as you can, every time”. A successfully executed workout is one that lets you know your heading towards your goals and a unsuccessful execution allows you to dial in more closely a goal that is appropriate for you.

Now this is all fine and dandy for someone who has a solid idea of what their 1 Rep Max is for the various lifts, but what about the beginner, someone who doesn’t know their 1 rep max value? The beginner will approach the work out similar to how we used to, in that, over the assigned amount of sets the individual will lift up to a weight that feels close to a max in 1, 3 or 5 reps . Then a coach will help estimate a 1 rep value for you.  For example if the work out was a Back Squat with 5 sets of 3 reps prescribed to it, a beginner will lift their first set based on what a coach may suggest and then increase the weight each set until the weight feels substantial. With the help of a coach you will be lifting a weight that is appropriate for your level as your heaviest set.  If this all seems complicated, don’t worry, the details of the design is not important to you coming in and doing the work out, as always a coach will be there to guide you through each step.

With the benefits and the logistics laid out loosely we can now discuss how to maximise your strength gains. The percentage based strength program is threaded into our monthly planning in a particular way. To maximize the results of this method, it is important that you attend the specific classes in which the strength thread is prescribed. The following is an example of a 3 week cycle in which the target is to lift a previous 1 Rep max or set a new 1 Rep max.

Percentage based strength program- 3 week cycle

Percentages for 5,3 and 1 rep work outs are:

If your still with me at his point, the importance of knowing this is to allow you to see forward what days will be strength days and allow you to plan your attendance accordingly. This is important because to best obtain your strength goals you must complete the 5 and 3 rep workouts leading up to the 1 rep test day. But don’t worry, you will still see great results in your fitness by attending the classes that you can when you can. This system is for the individual who hasn’t seen the types of gains they once did and is interested in dialling in the strength training a little more. If this is you then feel free to ask Auty, Chad or Suzanne any questions.

Seems like certain coaches do ALL the work around here…

Did you know that you can sign up for all of our classes online!

Starting on March 1st we will be requesting everyone to pre-register for every class. This is to prepare for the eventual class caps that may be implemented as class sizes continue to grow.

As an added incentive to learn and use our registration system, we are proposing a Class Registration Challenge. For 3 months; March, April and May, we will be tracking everyone’s pre-registration for classes. Every time you pre-register for a class online, you receive one point. If, however, you don’t show up for that class, you lose a point. You can avoid the point loss by early cancelling your registration up to 60 minutes before the class. You can register for classes up to 14 days in advance.

1st Place will receive a free WOD Log Book.
2nd Place will receive a $25 credit towards services or product.
3rd Place will receive a $10 credit towards services or product.

**Sign up by clicking the “Online Scheduler” link at the top right of our website**

4 people, 1 workout and a whole lotta weights!!!

There’s always a lot going on at CrossFit Edmonton so here is the latest:

New Schedule Changes
A reminder that our new schedule changes start today. Check out Schedule Page for class times.

Paleo Challenge Almost Done!
A reminder to all of our Paleo challenge participants that this is the last week of the challenge. Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far! Your “After” photos will be due by Tuesday next week at the absolute latest to be able to qualify for the prizes.

Central Canada Sectionals
There are only 5 weeks left until the sectionals! There are only 4 Male Athlete spaces and 17 Female Athletes spaces remaining. Also, volunteers and sponsors will be needed. Please email us for more information.

New Faces
We have 3 new faces that recently started and a bunch more as our fundamentals course will be finishing up. I just thought I’d take this opportunity to remind everyone of our New Faces Rule: If you see a face you don’t know, go up and introduce yourself. I know it may seem simple but it helps to strengthen our fitness community.

Some WOD's get a little sweaty!

There is no secret as to why CrossFit training is effective for developing fitness: Athletic, full body exercises combined into a multi-modal format ramped with high intensity. The equation is flawless for improving work capacity. But how do these work outs fair against the needs of individuals. For the able-bodied folks our scaling and modifying systems work great for matching individual strength to weight suggestions and offering modifications to exercises difficult in strength or technique. But what about for those with sore elbows, shoulders or knees?

Chronic inflammation is a common thing amongst our society. Many factors contribute to these types of injuries including poor diet, repetitive stress in the work place or home, sedentary lifestyle, poor technique in the gym and lack of recovery. A lot of the time an individual may not even have noticed these sore spots until endeavouring in some kind of fitness program. Thankfully with some adherence to solid technique and light ramp up these things are rectified with ease. However if these nagging pains go un-checked a far greater inconvenience could be looming. While exercise can be a fantastic fix for chronic inflammation injuries it can also exacerbate the issue. An injury that is repedativley stressed and not given sufficient recovery will worsen. This is an important point in your training where using your coaches becomes crucial. You have to speak up!

At CrossFit Edmonton we employ competent coaches with ample experience. We are there to instruct and help individuals set up for their workout to ensure everyone is able to safely and effectively execute the WOD. However, if you neglect to inform us of a pain or issue, you may be setting yourself up for problems in the future. As coaches we understand these issues and we know how to modify your workout so you can continue to forge towards elite fitness while working on proper recovery from inflammation. We may have suggestions for speeding up recovery or recommend you make alterations to your training schedule. The quest for ultimate fitness is a valiant one, but in our experience, it is unique to each person. Speak up if something bothers you whether it’s at the beginning of the work out or half way through. There is no bad time for us to help you, but you have to speak up. Your coaches are there for you.

Have you experienced working through an injury in CrossFit? Are you currently experiencing any issues? If you’ve felt like a CrossFit Edmonton coach has helped you by making modifications, please share in comments.

To bring back the excitement for next day WOD postings, we will be adding a post entitled: “Benchmark Advisory”. This post will get published at 6pm on the night before a benchmark workout. It will not give details of what the benchmark will be, but it will let you know that there is a performance WOD the next day so you can better prepare yourself.

The post will be easily recognized by it’s simple content of a Benchmark Advisory sign:

This Monday February 15th is Family Day.

We will run holiday hours AND evening class and Fundamentals as usual.

Classes at: 9am, 10am and 6pm
Fundamentals: As usual at 7pm.

Last weekend  CrossFit Edmonton hosted the 3rd “Inner City Challenge” and once again the event was a great success! I want to send big thanks out to all who participated.  We had members from other affiliates as well as a handful of Crossfitters not associated to a particular gym. In the spirit of competition we all gathered to sweat, bleed and burn through what can be argued as the most intense physical sport on the planet.  In the end we had many outstanding performances and a close race for the podium spots.

CrossFit Edmonton members Lisa Dika(1st) and Aaron Chetek (3rd) both finished with podium placements. Congratulations to them and great job representing our club. We also had great performances from a number of other members, both seasoned veterans of our program along with new recruits battled through the vigorous work out and all finished! Congratulations to all of you!

In the spirit of competition many things can happen, but what is assured, is a strengthening of community. Whether you’re a competitor in the ring or a volunteer helping out you equally contribute to this. If you’ve been involved lately with a competition as a competitor or a volunteer what are your thoughts? What things did you find exciting? Are there things that can be improved?

Starting Monday February 22nd, we will be making a couple of changes to our class schedule.

1) There will be no more 10am classes. However, we will be introducing a new Mamas class on Friday’s at 10am. All are welcome but registration online is mandatory and parents will get priority.

2) There will be no more 7pm group classes on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s.

Please see the calendar below for a details.

**UPDATE**

The event pictures are now online in our gallery. You can see them here. You may download them if want them and you can even upload to the gallery if you took some of your own.

Details:

WOD

5 Rounds for time of:

5 Ground to overhead 135/95 lbs
10 Pull ups
15 Box jumps

Movement standards:

Ground to over head

- You must grip the bar with a clean grip (Not a snatch grip).
- The bar must touch the floor each rep.
- The bar must be locked out overhead with some or all of the ear visible from the profile.

Pull ups

- Arms must be at full extension in the bottom.
- Chin must clear the vertical plane of the bar at the top.

Box jump

-You must achieve full knee and hip extension at the top of the box.

We look forward to seeing you there!!

-CrossFit Edmonton Staff

Reminder: New Fundamentals course starting Feb. 8th @ 7 pm. Sign up today here