It is hard for any athlete to see any real progress without following a program. That's why we've created the ultimate 8 week competitive Fitness program to help build strength, skill and fitness leading to a competition.
No matter whether you are competing in a scaled competition, team or RX, this program covers everything functional fitness, strength and skill that you need in CrossFit.
It is no secret that performing well in CrossFit is demanding. It takes time, effort and the knowledge that to get better, it is going to hurt. Badly.
There are so many other elements to be successful in CrossFit that go alongside a Fitness Program for building fitness and strength. Recovery is super important to enable athletes to perform well every single day as well as allowing their body and mind to grow and adapt in the right way.
Nutrition is also a huge factor in CrossFit performance. Ensuring you have a well balanced diet that provides enough of the macro nutrients required to perform and recover for all 8 weeks of the program. It is also important to note that many people underestimate the amount of calories required to both workout and recovery efficiently. If your body fat percentage is not an issue (if you are sitting at 12-16% for men and 17-25% for women) then you want to be overestimating calories burnt as your body fat percentage is optimal.
Mindset is also really important with any program that you follow. You need to be following this program for the right reasons, ensuring that you know why you are investing this much time and effort into performing well. You don't need to sacrifice relationships you have with others to perform at a high level if you have the right mindset and mental space to allow balance within your life.
Following an 8 week Fitness Program for strength can really provide a wide range of benefits for athletes wanting to take their training to the next level.
Why should I follow a CrossFit Program For Strength?
Having a program to follow is a great way to track your progress. By having set weights that you need to hit every day or week, you can easily see your numbers change week on week. If you are a seasoned athletes, the changes may not be as drastic as if you were following a program for the first time.
If you are however, then this Fitness program will massively help you to boost your numbers almost immediately.
Recovery is key for any program no matter if you are CrossFitting, a powerlifter, bodybuilder or strongman. If you're breaking down your tissues and firing your central nervous system, you need to recovery optimally. we have written a guide on how to recover from a CrossFit workout so check it out here.
Following a Fitness program where you know when your next workout will be will help you plan your recovery, nutrition and other daily activities around your workouts and your program requirements.
Following a program will also massively help with motivation in the gym. We know that with training, sometimes you can get a bit stale with your progress, miss one or two workouts a week and the next thing you know you haven't been to your gym for 2 weeks. A CrossFit program will help keep motivation at an all time high, helping you stick to your guns and really make progress. Even if you're feeling a bit under the weather or not up for working out, you are still able to scale your program to what you CAN do.
Why is this an 8 Week Fitness Program?
8 weeks is a perfect training block for a program to run as it gives ample time for the program to generate habits into your training. Ensuring you're hitting every session with the right amount of intensity can be difficult at first but 8 weeks gives you time to dial in your approach to this.
8 Weeks also gives your body enough time to grow and adapt, a lot more than say 4 to 6 weeks does but then also is short enough to not experience burnout. It is also a good idea to take a test week before and after where you test your max strengths, aerobic capacity and skill test too. This way you can really see the progress and the changes that the program has helped you achieve.
What do you need in an 8 week CrossFit Program?
To make a program as effective as it can be you need to have a range of elements, which we have of course included into this 8 week Fitness program:
Strength of major muscle groups - Building essential strength of major muscle groups (Squat, Lateral Push, Pull, Vertical Push, Hip Hinge) by tried and tested methods (5x5 tapering to max singles) will boost strength over the duration of the program
Skill and gymnastic building - Essential skills that require coordination (Double Unders, Olympic Lifts) and gymnastic abilities (Handstand walks/push ups, Kipping pull ups and muscle ups etc) require practice as well as training in with conditioning workouts.
Different time variants - Ensuring that you call on and train all of your different energy sources using different time variants and training methods for conditioning is essential to become a well-rounded CrossFit athlete.
Ample rest times - Ensuring you have active rest and full resting days will benefit your training throughout the 8 week program.
If your CrossFit program doesn't have all of these elements, don't be afraid to bring it up with your coach, discuss your requirements and see whether you can add them in.
Week 1 of the Competitive Fitness Program
The first week of this Fitness program is all about acquiring base line volume. We start off assuming that as a CrossFit athlete you already have pre-requisite strength, so starting at multiple sets of medium weights will be comfortable for you.
We also assume that you have the basic competitive skills such as double unders, handstand walking, pistols, kipping pull-ups etc If not, sub out these to skill building and scale these as appropriate.
This first week should be tough and depending on your relative strengths, should be a good stepping stone for at least the first 4 weeks to come, the second 4 weeks should see an increase in intensity and dialling in of peaking for you to crush your comp.
Day 1
Strength
5x5 Back Squat- Build to medium weight
Accessory
5x10 Pistol Squat Skill & Strength Practice
5x10 Bulgarian Split Squat - Build to a medium weight
Conditioning
Running Intervals, for time:
1600m run
rest 4 mins
1200m run
rest 3 mins
800m run
rest 2 mins
400m run
Day 2
Strength
5x5 Bench Press - Build to medium weight
5x5 Push Press - Build to a medium weight
Accessory
15 mins handstand hold/walk practice
25 reps x 5 hand release press ups
Conditioning
Five rounds ,For time:
50 Double Unders
15 Burpee Box Jump Overs
10 Heavy SA DB Snatch 30kg m/22.5kg w
Day 3
Active Recovery Day - SLIPS and stretching
Conditioning
Easy 3-5 mile run
Day 4
Strength
5x5 Barbell Row - Build to a Medium Weight
5x10 Strict Pull-Up
Accessory
5x5 Barbell Hang Cleans - Build to a Medium Weight
5x10 Cable Rows - Build to a medium weight
Conditioning
3 Rounds for time:
10 Pull Ups
10 Calories Assault Bike
10 Toes to Bar
20 metre sled pull
20 metre sled push
Day 5
Strength
5x5 Deadlift - Build to a Medium Weight
5x5 Barbell Glute Bridges - Build to a Medium Weight
Accessory
5x10 Barbell Good Mornings - Build to Medium Weight
Conditioning
20 minute AMRAP:
25 calories on Rower
20 Wall Balls
10 Pull Ups
Day 6
Strength
12x2 Clean and Jerk - Build to Medium Weight
8x2 Snatch - Build to a Medium Weight
Accessory
Every 2 minutes complete:
2 Strict Muscle Ups
4 Kipping Muscle Ups
6 Strict Pull Ups
8 Kipping Pull Ups
For 8 rounds.
Conditioning
10 minute AMRAP:
6 heavy sand bag throws
400m run
10m handstand walks
Rest 4 minutes.
10 minute AMRAP:
15 cals assault bike
6 bar muscle ups
4 Heavy power cleans
Day 7
Rest Day
Take it easy with a light walk, cycle or swim.
Week 2 of the Competitive Fitness Program
The second week of this Fitness program is all about sustaining the base line volume we acquired in week 1 of the Program and building on your strength.
Your body should be adapting to the increase in volume of both reps and weights in the program so you may find you need to dial in your recovery more. That means sleep more and eating higher volumes of better quality food.
The Fitness program for strength should really start testing you in the next few weeks so keep going
Day 1
Strength
5x5 Back Squat- Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Accessory
5x10 Box Jumps - Build to a medium height
5x10 Bulgarian Split Squat - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Conditioning
Running Intervals,
For Time, 8 rounds of:
400m
45 seconds rest
Day 2
Strength
5x5 Bench Press - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
5x5 Push Press - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Accessory
15 mins handstand hold/walk practice
25 reps x 5 hand release press ups
Conditioning
Four rounds, For time:
12 Handstand Push Ups
12 Devils Press (30kg men, 22.5kg women)
Day 3
Active Recovery Day - SLIPS and stretching
Conditioning
Easy 45 mins Swim
Day 4
Strength
5x5 Barbell Row - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
5x12 Strict Pull-Up
Accessory
5x5 Barbell Hang Cleans - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
5x10 Cable Rows - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Conditioning
15 Minute AMRAP:
5 Bar Muscle Ups
15 Calorie Row
10 Clean and Jerk (60kg Men, 50kg Women)
50 Double Unders
Day 5
Strength
5x5 Deadlift - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
5x5 Barbell Glute Bridges - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Accessory
5x10 Barbell Good Mornings - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Conditioning
5 Rounds for Time:
10 Hang Snatches (50kg Men, 40kg Women)
10 Overhead Squats (Same Weight as Above)
10 Burpees over the Bar
Day 6
Strength
12x2 Clean and Jerk - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
8x2 Snatch - Add 5% of your previous weeks weights
Accessory
Every 2 minutes complete:
2 Strict Muscle Ups
4 Kipping Muscle Ups
6 Strict Pull Ups
8 Kipping Pull Ups
For 8 rounds.
Conditioning
10 minute AMRAP:
20 Calorie Assault Bike
15 Metre Handstand Walk
20 Wall Balls
Rest 4 minutes.
10 minute AMRAP:
400m Run
16 DB Hang Power Snatch (25kg Men, 17.5kg Women)
10 Burpees
Day 7
Rest Day
Take it easy with a light walk, cycle or swim.
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Purchase the full 8 Week Fitness Program
When you purchase the 8 Week Competitive Fitness Program, you will receive our 28 page eBook via email which contains how to use the program, what's included, weekly direction and a daily workout for 8 weeks.
