We will soon be changing up the programming. Again. We always have and we always will. As Greg Glassman (founder and CEO of CrossFit) said, "Routine is the ENEMY!" Here are some other great quotes from Coach:

“Be impressed by intensity, not volume.”
“Just because you’re 250 pounds doesn’t excuse or exempt you from needing 25 pull-ups.”
“Why is it that strength training is commonly recognized as a discipline across several training modalities yet there is no equivalent metabolic conditioning recognized across multiple training modalities?”
“If you can brag about either a low 4′s mile or a high 4′s bench press you could also be a lot fitter.”
“Stick to the basics and when you feel you’ve mastered them it’s time to start all over again, begin anew – again with the basics – this time paying closer attention.”

Trust that the coaches here at CrossFit Milpitas have extensive knowledge on CrossFit methodology. We’ve learned about it, have been tested on it, we know it and understand it in great depth, and we are passionate about it and BELIEVE IN IT. Sometimes I think other boxes lose sight of what CrossFit actually is and should be. They may start programming based on what is “sexy” and popular at the time. Remember that CrossFit programming is not RANDOM although it appears that way to some. CrossFit is VARIED, and has been battle tested through more than a decade. If CROSSFIT never worked, it would have never taken off.

We are at the end of a strength cycle. This week will be full of testing so we encourage you to make it to class! After that Vito and I have agreed on a specific block of CrossFit.com programming for our box. Will we continue having structured strength every day? We will not. Was it popular with our members? For a lot of them, yes. Why would we change something that seemed to be popular? I will stress again that we hope you know we have your best interests at heart. We care about your fitness, and we would never do anything we didn’t feel wasn’t going to keep you on the path to a better, healthier, fitter life. We will still have plenty of barbell but like I often say, you shouldn’t be worrying about your bench PR when you can’t do 5 strict pull-ups and dips yet! I truly believe Vito does an EXCELLENT job of staying true to CrossFit when he programs. He knows what he is doing. Honestly, I bet if we didn’t mention we were following Main Site, most might not even know the difference except for the fact that some WODs are going to appear extremely difficult. Those of you who are used to completing workouts as Rx’d may be scaling reps and modifying more than you have before. Do not feel that we are setting impossible standards for you. Remember prescribed CrossFit.com is designed to test the fittest in the world and it is meant to be modified and scaled as needed. Even as a regional athlete, main site WODs sometimes terrify me (in a motivating way). Even I have to scale and modify an occasional “.com” workout. Your coach will help you decide how to tailor WODs so they are right for YOU. CrossFit.com main site WODs are truly varied and unbiased.

The 4:30 Strength/Competitor class will be following Invictus Performance inspired programming with additional structured skill work. Invictus is just a big-name CrossFit box/program that publishes 3 categories of WODs (Fitness, Performance, and Competition). They do this because they have multiple locations with many members including a large group of elite competitors. Some travel long distances to train there. Is there something magical and special about Invictus programming? If you do it are you going to automatically qualify for the Games? Absolutely not. But there is some good accessory work and skill work that goes a long way. This additional work is why the class is an hour and a half.

If you would like to read about CrossFit programming please see the following: http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/06_03_CF_Template.pdf

If you feel you are beyond GPP for whatever reason (maybe you have been doing CrossFit for 5+ years, or perhaps you feel your training needs to be different because you are competitive) please read the following: http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_2014_10_Competition_Cecil.pdf

If you would like to learn more about how brilliant CrossFit.com is please look at this: http://blog.beyondthewhiteboard.com/2014/04/23/crossfit-com-programming-analysis-part-1/