Author: cfdavis

Skill
Strict Press
5-5-5-3-3-1-1

Take about ten or fifteen minutes to work up to a heavy single or one rep max on your strict press. Shoot for 60-75% on the sets of 5, 70-85% on the sets of 3, and 85-100% on the singles. Be very strict (ha!) about using only your arms on this movement; if your legs start to creep into it, it’ll throw your numbers off.

Workout of the Day
AMRAP in 13 minutes:
10-20-30-40-50… etc
Kettlebell snatch
Weighted step up
50 double unders after each round

Pick a relatively challenging jump rope volume to complete each round; the snatches and weighted step ups will escalate quickly, so the jump rope will be a good break from the kettlebell. Complete half of the KB snatches all on one arm before switching to the second arm to finish them out.

standard: 16/12 kg, 20/12 inches
rx: 24/16 kg, 24/20 inches
sport: 28/20 kg, 24/20 inches
metcon: 3×4:00 on, 0:30 off

Workout of the Day
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
5 pull ups (strict or kipping)
10 push ups
15 air squats

This one’s a classic! For most people, the push ups are the portion that slows down and becomes the most challenging. Feel free to take that challenge on, or scale them just a little bit more so that you can keep moving throughout the 20 minutes. The pull ups shouldn’t ever take more than about 30 seconds to complete.

standard & rx: as written
sport: bar muscle ups, strict handstand push ups, pistols
metcon: 4×4:00 on, 1:00 off

Workout of the Day
6 minutes of lateral burpees
1 minute of rest
6 minutes of clean and jerks
1 minute of rest
6 minutes of calories

Record your reps for each of the 3 movements individually. If you switch up the order that you do the movements in (because of partnering up to share equipment), be sure to record them in the order that they’re written above (burpee-C&J-calorie).

The main thing to focus on in this workout is relaxing into a mentally and physically sustainable pace. 6 minutes is a long time to spend on these movements, and you’ll have to actively make decisions to speed up or slow down several times throughout each interval. The goal is to have a relatively consistent cadence, rather than working in short bursts and then resting in between. That consistent cadence will be far more sustainable than the alternative.

This is not a sprint!

standard: 95/65
rx and sport: 135/95
metcon: 6×3:00 on, 1:00 off

Skill
AMRAP in 8 minutes:
3 strict toes to bar
5 kipping toes to bar
15 second handstand hold (against the wall, or freestanding practice)

Try getting some toe-to-bar practice in today, even if it means scaling the target range of motion down to hip or knee height. Feel free to do a low wall walk for the handstand hold. Everyone will quickly diverge as far as where they are in the sequence, so just count off 15 seconds in your head instead of relying on the clock.

Go for quality instead of speed!

sport: 18 foot (3 mat-lengths) handstand walk instead of 15 second hold

Workout of the Day
AMRAP in 12 minutes:
8 dumbbell snatches (right arm)
8 overhead lunges (right arm)
8 dumbbell snatches (left arm)
8 overhead lunges (left arm)

It will be easy to let the fatigue that you’re feeling in the right shoulder delay your decision to start the sets on your left; try to start just a little sooner than your instincts tell you to, and see if the change in arms refreshes your ability to complete reps.

standard: 35/20
rx: 50/35
sport: 50/35, unbroken rounds (8-8-8-8 without resting or setting the dumbbell on the floor)
metcon: 4×2:30 on, 0:30 off

Skill
EMOM for 3 minutes:
Clean pull + power clean + squat clean
EMOM for 3 minutes:
Power clean + squat clean
EMOM for 3 minutes:
Squat clean

As the reps decrease and the skill sequences simplifies, add weight. Touch-and-go or dropping every rep for singles are both options, but stick with one once you’ve started it. The focus of these drill sequences is on establishing good power production and then letting that translate to the more complex movements in the sequence.

Workout of the Day
For time:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Kettlebell swing
Box jump over

15 minute time cap

Pick your Goldilocks kettlebell today: not too heavy, not too light. The box jump overs take a lot of energy, so we want to be sure that the kettlebell swings aren’t so easy that you’re spending your whole workout on the box.

standard: 16/12 kg, 20/12 inch box
rx: 28/20 kg, 24/20 inch box
sport: 32/24 kg, 24/20 inch box
metcon: 3×3:00 on, 1:00 off

Skill
8 sets of:
3 ring muscle up transitions (standing, banded, jumping, or on the high rings)
3 ring dips
3-10 second support hold

Ideally you’ll hit your 3 muscle up transitions, 3 dips, and 3-10 second support hold all in the same unbroken set. The goal is to pick a difficulty that lets you accomplish that without too much trouble for all but one or two of the 8 rounds. We want to practice ring and muscle up work in a way that lets us succeed with confident technique on about 90% of the drills that we practice. Once you’ve established that consistent level of performance on the skills, the difficulty of drill that you’re able to tackle will rise very quickly.

If you’ve been eyeing the muscle up as a skill, do this sequence about twice a week. Avoid repeat attempts at a full muscle up unless you’re succeeding on them the majority of the time.

Workout of the Day
For time:
210 double unders
150 sit ups
90 wall balls

20 minute time cap

If you like the rep scheme of 21-15-9, you should theoretically like this rep scheme ten times as much! Your jump rope should take no more than 5 minutes, your sit ups about 7, and your wall balls about 8. If your aren’t sure what volume to pick to hit those targets, you can always just keep an eye on the clock during the workout and move on if it feels excessive and you’ve gone past that recommendation.

Skill
EMOM for 3 minutes: Two power snatches plus one squat snatch
EMOM for 3 minutes: One power snatch plus one squat snatch
EMOM for 3 minutes: One squat snatch

As the power snatches drop out of the complex, add a little more weight. Feel free to hit these sets as either singles or touch-and-go, but do try to stick with whichever option you choose throughout all of the rounds. If you aren’t able to hit a full depth squat snatch because of flexibility restrictions, see if you can at least make those reps a tiny bit lower than the ones meant to be power snatches.

Workout of the Day
3 rounds:
90 seconds of strict pull ups
90 seconds of push jerks
90 seconds of calories (row, bike, or ski)
90 seconds of rest

Use a barbell weight that lets you hit a couple sets of 5-10 reps every interval. Scale your strict pull ups so that you’re able to get at least 10 reps every round. It’s ok if that movement is a little slower and more challenging.

standard: 75/55
rx: 115/85
sport: 135/95, bar muscle ups instead of strict pull ups
metcon: 3×4:30 on, 1:30 off

Skill
Front Squat
7-7-5-5-3-3

Target percentages:
Sets of 7: 65-75%
Sets of 5: 70-80%
Sets of 3: 80-90%

Get after some heavy front squats! Be sure to back up far enough that you can drop the bar without potentially hitting the rack. Pay attention to your knee and torso positioning; if you start caving in and forward on the way up, it can be useful to not count that rep as a success when it comes to deciding the next weight to tackle. If you aren’t able to keep solid and safe positioning at a certain weight, there’s no benefit to adding a few more pounds just to see if you can stand it up.

Workout of the Day
AMRAP in 12 minutes:
10-20-30-40-50-60… etc
Push up
Goblet squat
After each round, run 200 m

Today’s goblet squats are written at a pretty heavy weight; grab a challenging kettlebell that’s 4-8 kilograms above the weight that you normally swing. Do remember that the load on the legs is essentially the same as a front squat though, so try not to be too intimidated by the heavy kettlebell. 32/24 kilograms might seem like a lot for a goblet squat, but consider that a front squat at the same weight (about 70/55 pounds) is relatively light.

standard: 24/16
rx: 32/24 kg
sport: 32/24 kg, handstand push ups
metcon: 4×2:30 on, 0:30 off

Workout of the Day
5 rounds:
1 minute of burpees
1 minute of box jumps
1 minute of burpee box jumps
1 minute of rest

You get to be a connoisseur of plyometric combinations today! It’s all just cardio in disguise, so settle into a steady pace right out of the gates. Feel free to do step ups instead of box jumps if that volume of jumping doesn’t work for you.

standard: 20/12
rx: 24/20
sport: 30/24
metcon: 5×3:00 on, 1:00 off

Workout of the Day
For time:
800 m run
50 thrusters
50 toes to bar
50 thrusters
800 m run

25 minute time cap

Today’s thrusters should be light enough that you can easily maintain sets of 10-20 throughout the workout. Scale the toe to bar to a difficulty that lets you sustain quick sets of about 5 reps across all 50. Be patient with the large rep counts!

standard: 45/35 pound bar, 35 thrusters each time, med ball sit ups
rx: 45/35 pound bar
sport: 75/55 pound bar
metcon: 3×6:00 on, 1:00 off