blog

To be continued…[/caption] As most of you saw yesterday, we will not have a team at Regionals this year. As we said earlier, we did not expect to qualify, but fingers were still crossed. With our top four individual scores removed, we finished in 36th, six spots out of qualifying. While some of you might be disappointed, this result just indicates we have a bit of work to do, and your coaches are more than motivated to get you to Vancouver in 2015. As mentioned in our Regional Team Training post, the Regional workouts will no longer be listed on the website, though our individual competitors will be able to do them. In some cases, certain athletes will be asked to join the individual athletes to keep them company. The coaches will make that decision based on the skills of each athlete. This is just the same as if you had a 2-minute Fran time and we recommended you do Fran at 115 lb. Scale up, scale down–modified for everyone according to his or her skills. If you have enjoyed the very challenging Regional programming, please note that these workouts are designed to increase volume and intensity to peak on May 9. They are not designed to be the foundation of long-term training. Our group workouts are the foundation, and they are programmed to maximize fitness and bring success in competitions, with the official Functional Fitness Games season being the main focus.Our philosophy is that more is not better, and we are certain that most people underestimate the potency of short, intense workouts. With that in mind, our group workouts will remain challenging but appropriate doses of intensity. If you are looking for a bit more work and perhaps training for 2015, you should be doing the group workouts and then hitting the workouts programmed for our skill sessions. These workouts are designed to specifically complement group workouts without increasing volume to silly levels. They will often include skill work, and all of us can get better at jerks, L-sits and handstands. If you want to go to Regionals in 2015, hit the skill sessions. Following the Canada  West Regional, you’ll notice a shift in the skill work as we start building toward 2015. Tyson will helping out with the programming of these sessions, and the prescriptions will be designed to eliminate weaknesses and improve your athleticism. Stay tuned. In the meantime, cheer on our individuals who will represent us in Vancouver, as well as all the teams who will be working to represent this half of the country in California.Finally, we’ll offer five pieces of advice to remember as you train for 2015:1. Don’t train like current Regional and Games athletes train. Train like current Regional and Games athletes trained a year ago or two years ago. Skipping this step is the worst mistake you can make. Train smart and at your level. Be prepared to take a few steps back before you sprint forward (see below). Be patient and stick to the long-term plan. 2. Don’t focus on 1-rep maxes. Always maxing out is like taking a test every day when you should be studying instead. Realize that 1RMs increase because of a lot of work done in sets of 3, 5, 8 and beyond. Also realize that form seldom improves when you’re lifting above 90 percent of your max. Want to add 20 lb. to your snatch? Spend a lot of time fixing your form errors while lifting 65 percent of your max. Don’t worry: we’ll still test maxes from time to time.3. Do the things you dislike. Your goal should be to see every 2015 Open workout announcement and think, “Perfect. This is my workout.” If there’s a movement you don’t want to work on, that’s exactly the one to work on. 4. Address form issues and always hit movement standards. If you know your press-out jerk isn’t great, reduce the weight and fix it. Park the ego for a few months and put in the work. Then expect PRs to follow. Along the same lines, no-rep yourself. If your chest doesn’t touch the bar and no one sees, don’t count it. Hold yourself to the highest standards. 5. Rely on your coaches and training partners. Within our community, we have all the resources to get you to Regionals. Show up ready to work and learn–and have fun. Always have fun.