Thursday, 21 February 2019

“Goat Day"
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: Movement 1
Even Minutes: Movement 2
“Goat” is CrossFit slang for a movement that challenges us. Examples: Double-Unders, Pull-ups, Overhead Squats, Handstand Push-ups. These are the best days to turn perceived weaknesses into strengths. No better way to do that than today. We don’t improve our technique with a high heart rate – that’s what we refer to as “training”. Today is geared towards “practice,” dialing in our mechanics with a controlled heart rate. As an example, to improve the technique of double-unders, we want to practice at a low-intensity where we can really focus on the mechanics of the hands and the timing of the jump. When we couple “training” with “practice” throughout the week in the right doses, we set ourselves on the fast track to results. Choose two “Goats” to work on, and we’ll alternate between them on each minute. Choose an appropriate rep scheme for each movement that keeps things in the practice intensity range.
For the next five Thursdays during the Open, we will run these Goat Days. Since we do not know what movements will come out for Friday’s workout, this is an opportunity for athletes to choose what they would like to do as opposed to programming movements that may or may not show up tomorrow. Athletes have the option to stick with the same movements each week or switch things up. There are pros and cons to both. Sticking to the same movements and creating a “mini progression” can be very helpful. If the movement athletes are working on come up in the Open, they may want to switch to something that hasn’t come up yet to get prepared for that. No right or wrong answer here.
Knowing these Goat Days are coming, we can be proactive and get out ahead of things. Start brainstorming ideas on movements and rep schemes with your athletes before the day of the workout. This makes for a smoothly run class on the day of.
There may be athletes who just want to come in and get a killer workout in. Turning these into more of a conditioning piece is also an option. Athletes can alternate between two cardio movements for 20 minutes if they’d like. Below are examples of a few different options for Goat Days.

Practice Option 1:
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: 30 Seconds Double Under Practice
Even Minutes: 3-6 Handstand Push-ups

Practice Option 2:
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: 1-2 Ring Muscle-ups
Even Minutes: 30 Seconds Handstand Walk

Practice Option 3:
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: 5 Power Snatches (40%)
Even Minutes: 1 Rope Climb

Cardio Option 1:
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: 1 Minute Bike
Even Minutes: 1 Minute Sit-ups

Cardio Option 2:
On the Minute x 20
Odd Minutes: 12 Calorie Row
Even Minutes: 12 Burpees

WOD BRIEF + GROUP WARMUP (0:00 - 20:00)

Partner Rowling
* 2000 meters for time split between two partners.
* 10 rounds each on the rower, looking to land exactly on 100 meter intervals until the screen says 2000 meters.
* There will be a penalty for the partner who gets off the rower for every meter they are under or over the 100 meter interval.
* If they land at 97 or 103, penalty is 3 burpees.
* Partner getting on the rower must wait until their partner completing the penalty is finished before they begin rowing.
* Line people up from tallest to shortest and partner up athletes on the end first, working your way in.
* This ensures that the bigger and stronger athletes do not finish far ahead of the others.
* Also a great opportunity to chat with the athletes off the rower about structure of their Goat

Movements.
30 Seconds
Active Spidermans
Active Samson
Push-up to Down Dog
Air Squats

MOVEMENT PREP + REHEARSAL (20:00 - 35:00)
Movement prep will be different for each athlete based on their movements. This is where athletes setup equipment if necessary and coaches can continue to assist with structure and teaching points. Before the real thing, we can run through a quick practice round to ensure logistics.

1 Round
:15 Seconds Movement 1
:15 Second Transition
:15 Seconds Movement 2

WOD (35:00 - 60:00)
No strategy for this, as today is more of a focused practice session. The only think to keep in mind is the why behind the day. Rather than competing or training hard, athletes can look to maintain a high focus and lower heart rate. With this day being lower intensity, the minutes will not likely be full of work. This allows for more teaching within the workout than most days.