hero athlete fitness program
training schedule
montly training objectives
Leaving March with a shoulder pump! We’ve worked hard the past month on strengthening our Shoulders, and building consistency in our movement patterns. We saw different ways to push overhead- from Single Arm, to Single DB, to Strict Press, and Push Press, and even some Pike movements thrown in there! Who knew there were so many options?! We even saw our IGNITE Benchmark workouts shine their light in the middle of March! These Benchmark Workouts made their debut in October 2020, so for any athletes looking to track their progress with these specific workouts, they can look back to their scores from October, and if they are just hitting these for the first time, they have now set their Baseline!
Looking ahead to April, we bring the focus back down to the Lower Body and the Lunge, specifically in Unilateral Stability & Control. We’ll see different variations of the Lunge, along with different variations of Deadlifts that put the focus on one leg at a time. We know the importance of developing and maintaining strength in the Lower Body- after all, our legs carry us up mountains, across finish lines, and wherever else our lives take us. Bringing it one step further and focusing on unilateral strength is integral for a healthy body, improving our balance, stability, and agility- all things that help improve and prolong our quality of life! Get ready to get sweaty this month as we ring in Spring, and ring out those t-shirts!
monthly training objectives
NEW PHASE, WHO DIS?! Get excited everyone because we are diving into Phase 2 of our 2021 program and boy do we have some fun stuff to get into! Before we begin discussing what the future holds let’s review what you’ve accomplished during the month of March!
We hit the ground running March 1 with one of our ELITE Benchmarks “Little Bear” followed closely by “Infinity Loop,” “Elizabeth-ish,” and “The Hulk!” Just as a reminder these are actually benchmarks set for Phase 2, but with the amount of testing set up for April we decided to run the first round of tests during March to space things out a bit and get you amped up for the next phase! While we’re on the topic of Benchmark Workouts, let’s talk about how everyone got a little lucky with “Lucky Number 7” and bowed to their sensei during “Rex Kwon Do!” Everyone also dived into a strength progression that saw them starting at sets of 10’s and gradually dropping to sets of 6’s while increasing weight. This was meant to set them up for their 5-Rep efforts they will test the first full week of April, and we are confident this prep month will see athletes moving some big weight! As we transition into April we have a lot of things in store! Not only are we switching gears with Phase two to be more barbell/ gymnastics focused, but we are also going to be diving into specific monthly focuses that fall under the Phase 2 umbrella!
Our first monthly focus in Phase two is going to be centered around building basic strength/ body awareness with gymnastics movements. Athletes have done some of this work before but there will be a higher focus on this during the next month. That means there will be 2, potentially 3, days of strength that is dedicated to gymnastics work with the remainder of the strength days dedicated to the barbell. It will be common to see a “skill or complex” day focusing on a certain aspect of the common gymnastics movements we see in the ELITE program such as the Pull-Up/ TTB/ Push-Up. These days will be followed by a “practical” day where athletes can put the skill work they learned into action during strength sessions & conditioning pieces. This might seem like a lot of time away from the barbell not building strength, but assure these days where the strength is purely gymnastics focused are still strength building days even if it doesn’t look like it in the traditional sense. Most people have the strength to Back Squat, Strict Press, and Deadlift with little coaching beforehand, but fewer athletes come into the gym able to do a Strict Pull-Up or have the rhythm to string TTB’s together. We’re not promising everyone in your FD is going to get their first Strict Pull-Up, but we are going to work our way towards things like that and get people closer than when they started the month! We will also be testing 5-Rep Heavies of the Back Squat, Push Press, and Deadlift along with re-testing all our Phase 1 Benchmarks. These consist of “Inferno,” “Painkiller,” “Roller Coaster,” and “Fight Gone Bad.” We are very excited to see the progress hero athletes have made and to keep the 2021 train rolling!
montly training objectives
With the 2021 Open in our rearview, we are diving back into HERO COMP training with a focus on fun, getting pumped, and getting strong! April is going to be pure fun, ladies and gents. PURE FUN I TELL YOU! We are going to go hard in the paint with accessory work, bodybuilding, functional bodybuilding, and classic tests of Strength, Conditioning & GPP. But before we get into the good stuff for April, let’s look at how March went. In March, we saw our taper lead into the first week of the Open. This reduction in volume and intensity was intentional. I know you may feel like “I want to do more” but the goal was always to train hard, taper, and then kick butt in the three weeks of the Open. Coming out of the Open, COMP treated us to a FULL WEEK of leading ladies workouts. This should have been a fun test for our COMP athletes to see where their fitness stacks up in relation to 5 Classic Girls, 1 New Girl, and 1 NCFIT Benchmark Lady. Remember, no matter how the Open went for you “result wise” the important thing is that you put yourself in the arena, gave it your all, and came out the other end better for it. Now, let’s talk about the fun stuff.
If you’ve followed along with us through the year you should’ve felt like Jan & early-Feb were months filled with intensity, volume, and challenge. As you made your way to late-Feb and March, you noticed a reduction in the intensity and volume. Ultimately, you ended up in March with a clear runway through the three-week 2021 Open. Again this is very intentional — this is what we call tapering aka specifically diminishing volume and intensity to “peak” and be fresh at the right time. Originally when we wrote our 2021 plans, the Open was scheduled for February…obviously the event was pushed back to March. With this in mind, we are going to switch the focus for April (originally OLY and skills) and May (originally GPP w/ Strength bias). Don’t worry…in May you’ll be getting a heavy dose of Oly and Skills!
In looking at April, we are going to start building the intensity and volume back UP starting with the last week in March. In the Leading Ladies week, we will test our fitness against 5-7 consecutive benchmarks. Additionally, this will be our first week back into Conditioning and Strength assignments. Coming your way in April you can expect to see a heavy dose of accessory work and bodybuilding to focus on building our bodies up. The goal here will be to layer in these valuable (often overlooked exercises) without smashing our bodies or minds too much. I love bodybuilding because it’s physically challenging but mentally refreshing. In your Conditioning, you can expect to see (2) additional metcons weekly that will focus on barbell cycling and (3) additional sessions weekly that will focus on engine building. In the engine building we will be borrowing from our old friend Chris Hinshaw and pushing pacing smartly. A lot of the aerobic capacity work will be sub-max but that doesn’t mean it won’t be challenging…it will just take restraint and discipline. As we make our way to May, we will start to push OLY and skill development at the same time tackling the GPP pieces. LET’S GO!
