Know Thyself: Train Like An Athlete

If you’ve been at Arena Ready for a while you’re familiar with the WOD format of Tuesday’s workout. Occasionally we do these medium-longer EMOMs with the intention of a higher intensity output (think of the ones where you thought to yourself “OMG Rob I HATE YOU RIGHT NOW”) — generally those days have a very specific/set number of reps and loading, and sometimes we make it even spicier by seeing if you can “hold a number throughout the entire WOD” (like a type of expanded Tabata torture method HAHA).

In other instances we allow for a range of experiences in our athletes by giving the choice of loading, and in many ways intensity, to the person doing the workout. Another way of thinking of this is “Choose Your Own Adventure” — lighter loading and a more intentional focus on movement quality for those who seek movement in the vein of a recovery day or lighter intensity stimulus, and heavier loading for those who feel primed to take on more intensity and/or work. The WOD can feel very different to different people, and that’s exactly our intention on these days.

So, check-in with yourself and take a quick inventory of how your body is feeling this week — have you trained consistently over the holidays, how has your sleep/nutrition/recovery been, what’s the climate like at work and/or home, did you travel recently, etc — and make a smart decision on how to approach this WOD in your first “full week back” (for some, perhaps second week back for others) so that you get the most benefit. Remember that the goal is to be able to come back tomorrow and/or for the balance of this week and continue to train productively and intelligently. Opportunities abound for intensity, speed, and other outputs in the days to follow — so when given a clear choice of how to guide your ship make sure to point it in the direction that best suits your current training/recovery/life situation.

On the other hand, if you look at this workout and think “that’s it?” or think that the Monday program was “too easy” then I have a message for you — you don’t need harder workouts, you need to go harder. Trust me, I see all the scores (from in the gym, from remote athletes, from coaches and competitors testing the WODs for me) and NONE of the people posting the fastest times and highest scores report that the workouts are “easy” (e.g. doing Monday’s met-con in 2:30 or under HURTS YOUR SOUL REAL BAD, just like an “all out” 800m sprint does).

Know thyself, train smart, train hard, be an athlete.

WOD FOR 01-14-20:

Alternating EMOM For 7 Rounds (21 Minutes):

Minute 1) 5 Back Squats @ pick load

Minute 2) 5 Explosive Box Jumps @ 30/24 in THEN 10 Russian KB Swings @ pick load

Minute 3) 0:45 Second Plank Hold