We had several people in the gym hit their first ever Ring Muscle Up during 18.3 last week. On top of this we have seen some incredible performances to date from various members in our community. Even without athletes such as Lindsey Deitsch, Jessica Goeser, and Daimino Stewart who have taken the year off or moved away. We have managed to prove after 3 weeks that we are not only a top So Cal Team, but a top Team among the entire world. Sitting 5th in the West and 31st in the World is no easy task and we are doing so gallantly. This is all so very exciting, but what makes it fun, well at least for me, is to geek out as to why?
We have seen some shocking performances out of some of our favorite people. All of your improvements have put a massive smile on my face and your shout out’s warm my heart. But I am not surprised in the slightest by all your accomplishments. After all, when I set out on this journey with you roughly 48 weeks ago, I had a plan. I knew what I wanted to accomplish. Every year I strive to create a system that surpasses ordinary CrossFit modalities because, let’s face it, just doing CrossFit wods alone will not make you better. Throw in the naysayers and all the noise of the people who said Precision was done. That we would not make in the new format. Everyone who questioned our abilities, and well… a fire was lit. Never tell me I can’t. I will give it everything to prove you wrong. Which is exactly what we are doing currently.
As a strength & conditioning expert, it is my duty to use my knowledge and expertise to help you all improve. So when creating this year’s programming, I did just that. You are all seeing significant improvements because I really focused on building a stronger overall you. Sure, doing multi-jointed lifts such as the squats, weight-lifts, and various power lifts make you stronger, but they don’t strengthen the smaller muscle groupings. To be successful in CrossFit and become stronger in general, you need muscle stability and overall muscular development. So when programming this year’s cycle, I researched and learned additional strength & conditioning components to place into the programming. For example, I used the Overhead Walks to work on stability and various abdominal circuits to work core stability. In addition, when breaking down the gymnastic movements of CrossFit, I realized that we spend a ton of time drilling movements, but no time actually strengthening the muscles required to do those movements. This is why you saw the various rows, vertical presses, and strict elements thrown into the skills. Moreover, I began to see a ton recurrence of quad dominance in our athletes along with weakened back and shoulder’s. This is often due to an underdeveloped posterior chain along with a weakened transverse abdominis region and lack of shoulder girdle strength and mobility. So I threw in some new exercises to further develop these areas, such as the Bulgarian split squats, and the Swimmers, Wall Slides, and Wall Facing OHS to name a few. There have been a plethora of various skills that I have programmed throughout the weeks, and they have progressed based on the gym’s ability levels.This year they have actually progresses quite a bit. Yes, we did not focus 100% on developing movements, such as Muscle Ups and stringing t2b together. We focused on getting strong enough to do these movements well. We did more strict work then ever before and I must credit a lot of my skills programming to Jose Cobian. He really helped me see many holes in our skills and gave great idea’s as to how to fix. This is most likely why he was able to coach so many of you through your first ring muscle ups during 18.3. When it came to the wods, I made sure to rotate through the various energy systems, changing the focus to them throughout the 3 quarters. Quarter 1 was about creating general fitness; quarter 2 we focused more on slow glycotic and fast gylcotic system style workouts; and quarter 3 we focused heavily on fast gylcotic and phoshagen system workouts to prep 100% for the open.
I know other competitors look at our blog all the time and attempt to try and replicate or beat what it is we are doing. But in all reality it is not rocket science. I am ok with taking my time to develop all my athletes. I am preparing you all for life and the occasional CrossFit competition from time to time. We used the 2017 Open as a marker to test progress over the past year. I would say we are certainly exceeding expectations, but I am not surprised. This gym has always had the ability to shock me and make me say… “wow.” You have all had several pretty awesome experiences over the past few weeks. I look forward to programming the next 52 weeks, leading us into 2019 after the Open. Heck, I have already started to make changes as you have all witnessed. In fact I can’t wait to truly dive into using those Assault Bikes. I will continue to make you strong. However, now I will begin to focus on developing your newly found skills further.
Precision CrossFit is a full-fledged strength & conditioning facility. What makes it special are three very important things. First, we have fantastic coaches, the best in the business as far as I am concerned. They know the plan and can see the end game. They have bought into our system and believe that they are better coaches because of it. I make it a point to educate them along with you all whenever I can because it is my duty. No one should be doing this stuff blind, asking themselves, why? Throw in the tremendous development of Jose Cobian. A great coach in his own right and you’ll be hard pressed to not find success. Second, we have an amazing training environment. This is a huge reason why you are all setting PRs. You want to see each other succeed. It is genuine. Everyone wants to get better. This creates positive energy and makes the body react positively. Precision CrossFit is successful because of its members and the community we have all created. This community breeds success and not only accepts it, but is hungry for it. It is not about individualism; it is about togetherness. Because together we are one, always. Third, you all bought in and respected the process! Sure, it was hard for some, but you did it and now look at your progress. You’re some of the best in the world. Own that and appreciate it as we finish the next two weeks strong!
Precision CrossFit, you are all the reason for the PR’s and the top Open ranking. We layed out the pathway. You all chose to walk it. It is because of every one of you! See you Thursday night.
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