Programming Corner: Conditioning Phase

As Written by HWPO

Conditioning Training Phase: January 13th to March 17th

Goal: Increase athlete’s general fitness (GPP)

Our Conditioning phase is a phase where we put everything together and work on our general fitness with some Open specific time domains and movement combinations. In this phase we will maintain our strength and apply it in different ways such as integrating it into our metcons and some strength components done after our metcons. Our goal is to get members really fit here and so we can expect some intervals using lighter loads, more machines / running and accessories that will be mixed between additional strength work, core work and some rowing intervals.

Below is a list with our priorities of the cycle.

Metcon

- Machines 3x/Week

- 7, 12, 15, 20 Minutes

- Intervals 2-3x /Week

- Specific movement combinations

Strength

- Maintenance

- Squat 1x/Week (any variation)

- Press 1x/Week (any variation

- Olympic weightlifting in metcons, 1-2x/Week

Skills

- High skill gymnastics in metcons, 1x/Week

Accessory

- Rowing Progression

- Additional strength work

- Core work

Tests:

We will not be testing in this cycle since the open will provide us with a goal (for those who are participating).

Context:

The goal here is to use variety in workout formats & in workout orders to stimulate some strength & aerobic adaptation while providing SOME consistency in movement combinations and or movements we commonly see in the open or used to work on conditioning. This is very broad but it is in its essence the goal of a GPP program and approach. There is no in class linear progression in this cycle however in order to maintain strength we do need some consistent exposure to heavier workout & movements. This is why we will have a squat, a press and some heavy metcons every week. 

The gymnastics skills we will be seeing every week will be a mix of pulling skills: Muscle ups (ring & Bar), Rope Climbs, Pull ups & Toes to bar. 

Cycle Priorities: 

- Metcon

- Strength Maintenance

Squats (Maintenance): 

We will maintain squat strength by including a heavy/max squat session every week. We will use any squat variation (Back, Front, Overhead, Unilateral, etc)

Metcons: 

This is our meat and potatoes for the next 9 weeks. Metcons will be varied in structure but consistent with some common movement combinations (and some not so common). We will play around with heavy metcons, interval metcons, longer metcons and higher skilled metcons. The time domains that we will see in this cycle are 7, 12, 15, 20 Minutes. This doesn’t mean that the workouts will be this exact time. For example, working to improve a 7 minute time domain can be in intervals of 5 minutes or 7 minutes, etc. 

Note about the Open: We use the open to help guide us through this cycle but whoever is not interested in signing up for the open will most likely simply see more focus on metabolic conditioning. The open provides us with dates and structure but it is not our goal to have everyone “peak” for the Open. Our goal is to get your members strong, powerful, fit, flexible, & skilled. 

Accessories: 

Our accessories in this cycle will focus on some additional strength, mostly core and we will have a rowing progression included on the Thursdays. This will be our only linear(ish) progression for the cycle.