Happy Sunday CFTP!
Good to have my site up and running again and to be able to continue my weekly blogging here!
65 Roses
Huge shoutout to our CFTP Team representing at 65 Roses! I wasn't able to make it but I asked the team to give me some highlights from their experience.
Jared Vogl:
"It was a unique competition. The fact that it was a 4 member team, had swimming WODS, and only evening workouts made it fun. There was plenty of rest from day 1 to day 2 so I felt pretty fresh on day 2. My favorite WOD was the bench press AMRAP/Olympic lift event. Our team worked hard in every WOD and just had fun competing."
Tracy Lee
"I’ve been doing xfit for 10 years and this was my first Comp- thanks @Derra Nicole for pushing me. I had to tell myself several times that the comp was just for fun to get past my mental anxiety. But overall an extremely well attended and put together event. I agree with @Jared Vogl favorite wod was the bench and oly duo."
Derra Gullickson
"65 Roses is my favorite comp of the year because it’s a four person team! I have been waiting since 2018 to do this competition and it was so much fun! 2019 I was out with a back injury, 2020 it was canceled, and 2021 I was out with a shoulder injury so I was so excited for Tracy, Jared, and Colby! Swimming was scary for me because I have never swam outside of summer fun ever before but I was impressed with myself and everyone for doing so well. Thank you for getting me into the pool for practice Tracy! Jared surprised is all with his fast swimming haha! The guys covered major ground on the Bike Erg and curvy treadmill thing while Tracy and I chipped away at the Ski Erg! Colby was also a great captain for getting us through synchro burpee’s!"
I'll add Colby's impressions if and when I get them.
I love competing and I love seeing my members compete. It can be intimidating and it can be scary but I've never had anyone say they were sad they signed up. I can't wait to see more and more of you compete in upcoming events.
Speaking of events... Be on the lookout for a beast mode possibly this Friday or next Friday night... I'll create an event and announce it as soon as I can figure out a couple of details.
Programming
I have had a few people ask me about strength cycles and focuses that we are currently on so I wanted to address that here. First of all, it's good to see that people are enjoying the programming since I took over. I did a little poll in our Facebook Group and these were the results:
This doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement and definitely room for better communication about some of the work behind the scenes. So I wanted to touch on that today. Each month I plan to have a theme on a few elements of fitness. This will change month to month but there will always be a focus. For the month of June the theme is:
Discipline: Weightlifting
System: Ventilation
Virtuosity: Kettlebell
Assessments: Front Squat, Flexibility
This will give us a framework to work from so we can constantly be improving in specific areas. So within this theme we will be including different cycles. With Front Squat being an assessment, you will see us go through a Front Squat cycle. With Kettlebells being the virtuosity choice, you'll see quite a bit more kettlebells involved in the workouts and discipline being Weightlifting, you'll see more snatching and clean and jerking (pressing).
I hope that this at least gives you an idea of what the plans are and what thought processes are going into the programming. I am always open to discuss changes and adjustments because this programming is for us. It's for you. If you aren't excited to come in every day and aren't improving then adjustments will be made for sure.
Adjusting to the Level Method
I love the Level Method for many reasons. I love the choices it gives each athlete in each level. I love that it gives you as members more power to know what your true fitness levels are. I believe that this is one of the best ways for new people to get comfortable with the movements without killing them from day 1.
With that being said, I have already noticed a couple of issues that can arise with the Level Method that take away from some of the main staples that we have come to love within the CFTP framework for the past decade. The biggest one is getting too comfortable in your level. In the past we had Rx and Scaled. The benefits of having that Rx target is that it created a drive to improve and get that first double under, first pull-up, first box jump, first muscle up, etc. With that drive, we saw many people doing things they never thought they could.
The level method shouldn't take away from that and honestly I believe it should improve on this. We should always be striving to get to the next level and in order to do that, when we select our colors each day, we should try and challenge ourselves. Challenge yourself while staying within the stimulus of course. As your coach I need to learn how to do this as well... So going forward I am going to do a better job of creating the time and the atmosphere that allows for you to try the next level up. It can get very easy for me as your coach to throw you in the color that you have tested to and roll with it.
So let's commit together that rather than just going through the motions with the level we are in, let's push ourselves to try the next level up. Let's try new things like a pull-up or a double under or a little bit heavier weight. We should be constantly striving to improve.
On the flip side... If you are so sore that you can't walk or function each and every week, let's have a little talk about going down a level or two on certain days. These workouts are suppose to make you fitter, not destroy you. You should be choosing the level that allows you to come in each and every day and get your fitness in.
Hopefully that all makes sense. I believe that once we get everyone tested out and get your full levels, it'll be easy to push ourselves and improve. For now, keep on coming in and working hard and as we work towards the tests at the end of this month and then the full test at the end of Summer, we will be ready.
Coach Dan
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