Solcana blog

Hello everyone! Coach Jerik here. I just wanted to put some word out about the next programming cycle so you know what to expect.

As you may know, the Pull-Pull Challenge starts next week on October 26th and ends November 25th. To coincide with this, our next cycle of programming indoor classes is going to focus heavily on the two movements included in the challenge: the 3 rep max deadlift, and a max effort set of pull-ups (or a challenging pull-up variation)

Here’s a breakdown of what indoor classes will look like for the week:

Monday Deadlift Pullups
Tuesday Shoulder Press and
Wednesday Front Squat pulling
Thursday Deadlift Pt 2 related
Friday Overhead Squat things
Saturday Olympic Lifting all the time

Mondays will be our primary deadlift day. October 26th we will test our 3 rep max. After that, expect Monday to have heavier sets in the 1-3 rep range. We want to get our bodies used to picking up those heavier weights and getting really good at that rep range.

Tuesday we will start doing the shoulder press (aka strict press) to throw some variation into our pressing strength after a long period of bench pressing. We will be doing a LOT of pulling in the next month, so we want to even it out with some pressing here and there.

Wednesday will be front squats. While the front squat is a phenomenal exercise to get our quads nice and strong, it also has the benefits of strengthening the lats and the lower back – both of which are crucial muscle groups in the deadlift!

Thursday will be a second deadlift day. We don’t want to do heavy deadlifts twice in the same week, as that will make us build up too much systemic fatigue and after a week or two our quality of movement is going to take a nosedive. We DO want to have a 2nd lighter deadlift day to get in a little extra volume and also help us maintain or technique. This day we will focus on deadlift in the opposite of your primary stance. If you typically use a conventional deadlift stance, on Thursdays we will do sumo deadlifts and vice versa.

Friday we’ll throw in the beloved overhead squat. Another great leg strengthener, but the overhead element not only works our upper body but turns the movement an intense core workout – another crucial part of the deadlift AND the pull-up.

Finally we have Saturday which will be olympic lifting. We’ll do a mix of the snatch and the clean and jerk, plus accessory movements for those lifts. Coach KK has some great stuff in store!

All these days will include a pull-up movement, or a pull-up-adjacent movement. Beyond actual pull-ups you can expect lots of rows and pull-downs, plus tons of other upper back and core strengtheners . A strong upper back and a strong core are the foundation of a good pull-up, so we are really going to drive it home.

Virtual and Outdoor classes won’t have much change in terms of programming, although for outdoor we will change movements as needed to reflect the weather (ex: We won’t do sit-ups on cold cold ground or swings during an avalanche, etc)

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