The Open will be over in just a few days, and it feels like these last 5 weeks have moved incredibly quickly. I teared up today looking through the beautiful photos of all the Solcanauts supporting one another during 17.4. This truly is a special time of year for camaraderie, teamwork and pushing out of your comfort zone. It will be sad to finish the open but will hopefully offer a huge sense of relief and a feeling of accomplishment.
As we turn our attention toward spring, there is a feeling in the air of renewal. The spring is a time to try new things, put yourself out there and stretch your wings. Time to shake off the winter dust to see what this body can do! Starting next week we are going to do exactly that, with the beginning of our spring cycle.
The spring cycle has a major theme: Olympic Weightlifting.
If you didn’t know already, we are going to be holding a Beginner Olympic Weightlifting Meet right here at Solcana on May 13th. This is one of my favorite events of the year and I spend a lot of time wrangling slightly unwilling athletes into competing in the meet. My goal is to convert you to a Snatch & Clean + Jerk fanatic.
Here is the facebook event for the meet: https://www.facebook.com/events/270896063348571/
And here is the registration form with details: http://bit.ly/2nNjEDV
Some quick FAQ about the meet:
- I don’t care what gender you choose. Unfortunately USA weightlifting is a gendered sport, but you can pick the category that feels right for you. If USAW is going to have an issue with it, that is their problem. If you want to avoid any issue or want to talk it through with me, please reach out and I would be happy to help.
- EVERYONE is good enough and strong enough to do this. Even if you aren’t sure yet, the rest of this cycle is exclusively dedicated to making you a badass at the snatch & clean + jerk, so you will be confident before the meet.
- Every Thu night at 7 pm Ryan holds a beginner class for those of you who want more time to focus on technique!
- We will hold a “mock meet” before the actual meet so you can come and practice with a judge and figure out how the meet will actually feel.
- You need a singlet. You technically can get away with some other options, but you should just get a singlet to make it easy on yourself. I recommend the Adidas singlet as an affordable option: http://amzn.to/2mVvLd9
- You will be required to “weigh-in” on the day of the meet, but you shouldn’t worry about your weight at all. More experienced lifters might “cut weight” before a meet, but please don’t even think twice about it for your first meet.
- Even if you have done a meet before, you can still do this one if your total (snatch + clean & jerk) is less than the listed totals.
- Also, everything for olympic weightlifting is always in kilos (1 kg = 2.21 lbs) so get used to that conversion.
- Once you sign up, I will continually give you more information about what to expect and how to best prepare for your first meet. Don’t worry, you will be ready!!
What to expect during the Spring Cycle
Like I said, the overwhelming focus will be on being technically sound with the snatch and clean + jerk. You will also squat heavy twice per week and have accessory work built in. Body weight skills will be focused on handstand work, bar muscle-ups (or pull-ups), and natural movement patterns (SO EXCITING). You will also see lots of unilateral work so you can even out those instabilities and leg/arm dominance issues you might have.
Here is the general run for the week:
Monday – Snatch technique
Tuesday – Jerks & Front Squats
Wednesday – Clean technique
Thursday – Accessory skills, pull-up strength, metcon fun!
Friday – Back Squats
Saturday – Snatch + Clean & Jerk
Sunday – Rest
The best way to figure out your schedule this cycle is based on your goals:
Planning to do the meet: Make sure you attend MW and either TF, PLUS either Sat class or Thu night. You need to do heavy squats 1-2x per week, and you must snatch and clean + jerk every week. Make sure you mobilize as often as humanly possible because this is A LOT of shoulder work. Roll out your quads and stretch your hips often, and make sure you plan in 2 days of rest per week.
Fat loss goals: If you aren’t doing the meet and are focused on doing a fat-loss protocol for the spring, focus on doing CrossFit for 1-2 heavy days (Tue or Fri for example), and introduce 2-3 days of Endurance class (prioritize cardio, hybrid or tempo days), + 2 days of mobility or full rest. You MUST include more rest if you have a goal for fat loss, so prioritize those restful days, increase your sleep and recovery and make a plan with Lucia the guru.
Bulking: Are you interested in putting on some serious muscle for you spring/summer goals? Prioritize heavy squat days, avoid long metcons, and generally put 100% effort in your lifts and 70% effort into your cardio. Also EAT MORE, mobilize more and recover harder. 2 days off with some serious food gainz. Talk to Lucia about how to add healthy cals into your diet that will help you build some big ole muscles.
Running or Sport-specific: Looking to run the Solcana 5k or some other endurance goal this summer? Now is the time to jump on board with the endurance classes and get your training started now so you are in condition to excel at those events. Reminder that the days of the week (M-Sa) run as speed, tempo, long-cardio, hybrid, rest, long run, rest. If you follow that right along as written you will see major improvement in your ability to be a long-distance athlete!
The Overall Solcana Experience: If you want to be a sampler and take advantage of everything we have to offer without totally overdoing it – I recommend coming to CrossFit for Snatch & Clean + Jerk technique days MW, and then filling in with endurance on Tue and Thu. Rest or mobilize on Fridays and join the long runs on the weekend with Coach Adam. Sundays morning either rest or use open gym to work on the gymnastics skills you missed from the week.
If you have an additional specific goal and need help picking the right classes for you, just let us know. This upcoming cycle runs from March 27th all the way until the 3rd Anniversary party on June 3rd (SO EXCITING!), with a purposeful de-load before the meet (or before maxing out in class) the week of May 13th. Have a ton of fun with this cycle and set yourself up for success now!