We have officially entered the 8-Week Strength Cycle at enduraLAB. To ensure that all of our eL Athletes get the most out of this cycle, we are going to outline a few salient points about the workouts, especially for those coming to the Strength + Conditioning group classes.
FORMAT
The format of the workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be the same for all Strength + Conditioning classes. Note: Tuesday and Thursday workouts are the same for both eL FIT and Strength + Conditioning classes.
- CARDIOVASCULAR WARM-UP. The C/V warm-up will always be on your own. Please come in 10-15 minutes early to complete this step. You can get on a treadmill, erg or bike—get a sweat going. This is also a great time to foam roll.
- SPECIFIC WARM-UP. We’ll start every class with a specific warm-up programmed to get you ready for the movement of the day.
- STRENGTH SET. After the specific warm-up, we will get into our strength set. This is the meat and potatoes of the workout. It’s where you work on the specific lift of the day: deadlift, front squat and bench press.
- ACCESSORY/SUPPLEMENTAL WORK. Supplemental work will help you develop the small muscles around the lift that we are working on that day.
- CARDIO FINISHER. We’ll finish each workout with a short cardiovascular circuit of 10:00 or less. The reason these are so short is because of because of signaling. We are trying to get stronger; we don’t want to signal our body to try and become more efficient at endurance.
NUMBERS
When we talk about the Strength Cycle we want to improve YOUR strength, we are not looking at everyone else. We want you all to focus on what YOU can do well, and then focus on increasing weight over the duration of the Strength Cycle.
PERCENTAGES
Some days you are going to feel good and maybe you are going to add more weight, and some days you aren’t. Don’t take the percentages as what you have to do; you’re going to have to go on feel, and that really puts the responsibility back on you and your coaches.
When your coach tells you that a weight is too heavy, listen because we are seeing something in your form that you need to adjust. Don’t worry if you have to take off the weight, or you are not hitting the percentage on the workout.
FORM TRUMPS ALL
We want to see you move right. This is important! We could care less if you get a 400-pound bench press if, because of bad form, you aren't able to bench correctly for the next three weeks.
Coaches are here, and we know how you guys are supposed to be moving. We are going to be giving you feedback on the quality of your lifts. If your form is bad, we are going to ask that you reduce the weight, and we ask that you please listen to our advice.
RECOVERY
Recovery is super important during the Strength Cycle. Recovery is what you do outside of here, it’s also when you come to the workout and we’ve asked you guys to go easier, that you go easy on that day. It’s also the way you eat. We want to have a big focus on recovery throughout the entire Strength Cycle. If you guys need help, talk to your coaches.
YOUR COACHES ARE HERE TO HELP
During the Strength Cycle we have a lot of weight moving around. We want to make sure that everyone is safe. Please listen to your coaches. Stay on time, and don’t work ahead. We are here to help you. We want to make sure you guys get the most out of the Strength Cycle, and that is you listening to your coaches.
Good Luck. We’ll see you at the gym.
