Weekly Roundup * November 20th – 27th, 2022

Here’s what’s going on this week at the gym!

Week of November 20th – 27th, 2022

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InBody Scans

All Vernal Fitness members are eligible for a complimentary InBody scan each month. Aside from tracking our performance in Wodify, body composition scans are the best way to track progress and measure results.

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PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW

November 21-27

It’s max-out week! After a long cycle of snatch pulls and snatches, you will have 20 minutes on 11/22 to build to a new 1RM Snatch. On 11/30, you will also have the opportunity to build to a new 1RM strict press. 

Additionally we’ll wrap up “Clean Complex 2,”building to a heavy set of 1 clean + 1 front squat before we re-test our 1RM clean in early December.

Aim to add tempo or weight to your strict pulls this week during our “Push + Pull” cycle while prioritizing a full range of motion and form as the push-up reps increase.

We will test our endurance this week with the classic “Filthy Fifty”. Sprint-style workouts this week include “Monkey See, Monkey Do” and “Muscle Beach.”

Monday

Workout formats like today’s can help us become more metabolically flexible (able to use the fuel that is available to us at the time and in response to the demand). Becoming more metabolically flexible means we get better at burning fat as a fuel at higher intensities before flipping the switch to carbs as a primary fuel source.

Approach these workouts with the goal of achieving a 8-9/10 level of effort through the entire WOD.

Consider scaling HSPU today if prolonged rest is needed between reps. KB Swings can be heavy, but should be doable for 10 reps when fresh.
Goal is to achieve similar round/rep numbers from set one to set two.

Tuesday

Some ab work gets mixed in with our upper body focus in this WOD!

Set a goal of performing the highest quality of work possible as you attempt to continue moving for as much of the 10 minute cap as possible. work to crank out reps as consistently as possible.

Moderate, continuous movement for 10 minutes is our goal.

See you at the beach!

Wednesday

Big, multi-joint movements are the best way to increase strength and build muscle. Your body adapts to the stresses of lifting heavier weights by releasing the hormones needed to help you recover and grow while simultaneously revving up your metabolism to increase the number of calories you will need to consume post-workout.

Choose a moderate to heavy weight for the front squats that you should be able to perform at least 5-7 reps of their chosen weight when fresh.

Aim for at least 20-30 seconds rest between movements.

Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Go Support The Gobbler Thanksgiving 5k!

You’ll want to maximize your time working with an elevated heart rate by finding a moderate but sustainable pace. 

Intensity level should challenge your comfort zone, but it shouldn’t result in having to take long or frequent breaks!

Solid pacing on the first longer run will set you up for success. Goal is to keep moving as much as possible on the run.

Set up and bracing are key on the deadlifts, especially if you are out of breath from the run.

Weight selection should allow you to perform 5-8 reps at the start.

Friday

Approach this workout with the goal of achieving 80-90% of max HR or an 8-9/10 level of effort through the entire WOD. 

The result is guaranteed to be muscular and respiratory discomfort. Efforts like this can boost the size of our engine and help us to push harder in future efforts before fatigue rears its head and slows us down.

Saturday

With some moves we haven’t seen in a while, this partner WOD should be fun!  Grab a friend a get ready for a good time!

Full workout descriptions and notes are available to all members of Vernal Fitness & Nutrition. For more info, email us here.

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MEDITATION

There’s no wrong way to take care of your mental well-being and stress.

There’s no wrong way to meditate. If the word meditation turns you off, seems gooey or hippieish, think of meditate as simply giving your mind
time to recover the same way you give your body recovery.

To give yourself the gift of quiet time, all you need to do is set a timer for 2 minutes and slowly go through these steps

• At the start, deliberately declare to yourself this time is for your mental well-being
• Give yourself 120 seconds to just be. You can notice the thoughts in your head, do some deep breathing, a body scan, or just listen to the sounds
  in the room.
• There’s no wrong thing to focus on
• Just notice what you’re paying attention to right
  this second
• When you get distracted or lost in thought, just come back to the present
• At the end, give yourself a little pat on the back. You have given your mind a chance to sort through some things and be a little more present. 

BE STILL, IF JUST FOR A MOMENT

Here’s another meditation that can help you to notice your thoughts and feelings.

• Set a timer for 2 minutes
• Notice your breath, is it shallow, deep? Do you notice it at the nostrils, chest, or belly?
• Is the air warm or cool? Is your out-breath longer
  than your in-breath?
• Can you notice the space between breaths?
• Notice what you’re thinking. No need to label it good or bad, right or wrong.
• Notice your body sensations? Where does your attention go? Is it pleasurable/uncomfortable? Still or fidgety?

No right or wrong here, just noticing.

Now notice every time you get distracted. It’s not about not getting distracted, it’s about noticing it and bringing your attention back.  

SELF TALK

Here’s a quick way to bring awareness to the way we talk to ourselves.

Set a timer for 2 minutes, slowly go through these steps:

• Start by taking a few deep breaths just to arrive
  in the moment, and get settled
• Notice your thoughts about today. We’ll assess
  them using the THINK method
• Are they true?
• Are they helpful?
• Are they inspiring?
• Are they necessary?
• Are they kind?
• You don’t have to change anything about these thoughts, just use the questions to be curious about them.

If you change them, awesome.

If you keep them, or they still reoccur, that’s okay too. 

HAVE TO vs GET TO

At the time it’s not much, but we can see in workouts how a second or a rep made a big difference.

Like our nutrition, if we eat a few calories over or under maintenance, over the course of a year it’ll mean a big difference in how we look.

We’ll focus on a few key words and look to subtly shift our self-talk!

Let’s re-shift that focus from “have to” to “get to”. We don’t have to do pull ups and thrusters, or silly wall walks, we get to test and express our fitness with pull ups, thrusters, wall walks, etc.

The difference is one is the victim mentality, and the other is focusing on the opportunity we have.

To make it fun, let’s help each other by pointing out, in a friendly way, whenever anyone says “have to” in class, bonus points if you catch the coaches doing it!

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Below are the two individuals who we will be running for at the Gobbler Thanksgiving 5K.  Click on either of their pictures to read about them and register for the race.