Cycle #8: Unilateral Strength, Vertical Pulls & Muscle Up Progressions

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Monday, September 14 – Sunday, October 11

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Welcome to Cycle #8! Starting Monday, September 14, we’re stepping into the next phase of our training year. Building off the foundational split squatting and overhead time-under-tension work from Cycle #7, this 4-week block refines our single-leg power, sharpens our Olympic lifting trajectory, and elevates our gymnastics high onto the rings.

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Why We're Doing This: The Outcome

This cycle bridges structural balance with technical precision to build peak power before we round out the year.

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• Unilateral Power: Moving to reverse lunges fixes asymmetry, builds hip and glute stability, and protects the lower back under heavy loads.
• Vertical Path: Refining the high pull keeps the barbell close to the body, teaching you to drive force vertically through your legs rather than letting the bar swing out.
• High Ring Confidence: Building ring support, dip, and transition strength lays the prerequisite groundwork needed for future Ring Muscle-Up efficiency.

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Strength Progressions: Single-Leg & Overhead Development

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Squats: The Reverse Lunge Progression

Building directly on the Split Squats from Cycle #7, we are stepping into the more technical Barbell Back-Rack Reverse Lunge.

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• The Progression: Reps will decrease weekly as the intensity climbs, culminating in a Heavy Single on Week 4. Your baseline strength from Cycle #7 will allow you to confidently push heavier weights each week.

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Overhead: Pressing & Jerk Alternation

Continuing our shoulder-to-overhead development from last cycle, our pressing day will alternate focus each week:

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• Odd Weeks (Weeks 1 & 3): Seated Press + Push Press strength work.
• Even Weeks (Weeks 2 & 4): Power Jerk + Split Jerk technique and power builds.
• The Goal: Building raw strength and confidence overhead so we can seamlessly pair shoulder-to-overhead capacity back with the Clean later this year.

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Olympic Technique: High Pulls & Speed Work

Our third lifting day focuses on mastering the vertical pull:

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• High Pull Focus: Odd weeks will target Clean High Pulls; even weeks will target Snatch High Pulls. Focusing on driving force up through the legs keeps the barbell tight to the body.
• Complex Build: We will immediately follow high pull work with Hang Power Cleans and Hang Power Snatches to turn that technical vertical path into speed, power, and efficiency.

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Engine, Gymnastics & Seasonal Shift

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Day 4: High Rings & Benchmark Metcons

Our fourth training day delivers longer conditioning pieces — incorporating deadlifts, Hero WODs, Open benchmarks, and classic CrossFit metcons — paired with high-level ring skills.

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• Ring Muscle-Up Prep: We are building exposure to ring and bar dips, ring/bar muscle-up transitions, and strict pull-up strength for those refining prerequisite capacity.
• Inside Conditioning: As the weather cools and running winds down, we are shifting our conditioning focus toward the rowers and ski ergs.

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Side Notes & Staying the Course

• Hyrox & Schedule Expansions: As we transition into Fall and Winter Hyrox training with Coach Reid, Sunday’s conditioning sessions will expand to include varied, non-Hyrox conditioning elements alongside dedicated specialty classes.
• Functional Strength Specialty: Our Thursday and Saturday Functional Strength classes will continue filling training gaps, maintaining a strict Upper Body vs. Lower Body split to deliver elements outside our primary cycle programming.

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Finish the Year Strong!

Cycles #9 and #10 will round out our training year. As we head into the last three months, it’s easy to let the holidays disrupt your rhythm and lose sight of your "why." Let's stay motivated, keep hitting the Defined Committed Club, and remember that consistent daily movement keeps us strong, healthy, and young! See you on the training floor.

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