Mechanics, Consistency, Intensity.

Why MCI?

Mechanics, Consistency, and Intensity. It’s the way we teach all movements, not only for technique purposes but for safety too, as well as longevity of training. When sticking to the MCI of training you are able to learn the proper way to do your movements, how to do them consistently well, and able to slowly increase difficulty over time so as to not overtrain or increase the risk of injury. When an athlete is brand new to this style of training their body will take on a fair amount of shock at first before it learns how to recover and adapt. Sticking to the MCI allows time for the new athlete to get in great workouts while increasing their ability over time.

What Is MCI?

As stated above, MCI stands for Mechanics, Consistency, and Intensity. When these three things are integrated into training the risk of injury goes down, the body’s ability to recover goes up, and gains/improvements can still be made at a steady pace. Aside from the obvious, reducing the risk of injury is crucial to achieving goals because it reduces the number of setbacks you may encounter. This goes hand in hand with MCI because of the “C” being consistency. So we have mechanics being your technique, consistency being frequency of good technique, but also how frequently you train, and intensity being what makes your workouts more difficult.

Mechanics

Mechanics are your technique. Every exercise, every movement, has certain mechanics that allow your body to perform said movement. This can be described as holding/achieving certain postures throughout a range of motion. For example, an air squat: chest up, knees out, feet flat, hips pass below the knees, and then stand to a full hip/knee extension. The chest up, knees out, and feet flat would be our posture. Passing below parallel and then standing to a full hip and knee extension is our range of motion.

Consistency

Air squat mechanics have been established. Now we need consistent mechanics throughout our workout. Consistently achieving the proper mechanics of the movements is crucial to longevity and reducing injury. This consistency is not just to the end of a workout, but also to the end of a week of workouts. Alongside consistency of mechanics, we need consistency of activity. The more consistently you are active, the faster your body learns and increases its ability to recover; recovery-ability is key in making gains and improvements.

Intensity

Intensity is any variation that increases the difficulty of a movement or workout. This could be a tougher movement, more weight, more reps, less rest time, etc. Continuing with the air squat example, the mechanics have been established and consistent, now to increase the intensity, so back squat will be the example. Starting with an empty bar, the mechanics are still going to need to be the same: chest up, knees out, feet flat, hips pass below the knees, and then stand to a full hip/knee extension. The difference now is there has been the added intensity of a load being a barbell. If able to maintain the proper mechanics under the empty bar, then begin to add weight. Only increase the weight if the mechanics can remain consistent to keep injury risk low, refine the movements patterns, and still make increases in performance/strength over time.

Introducing… CFK Go!

It’s GO Time! CFK Go is all about convenience, hard work, and results. In a fitness world where everything is too complicated, we’ve stripped things down to create an easy to use and insanely effective new workout track.

CFK Go doesn’t mess around – we get after it every workout, every day, every week with a training program built around dumbbell-focused, time priority, high-power output workouts. We took everything we love from different disciplines and brought them together in one simple, effective program.

Specifically, CFK Go combines the power of functional movements with the regime of traditional strength and conditioning. Each week of training consists of Full-Body and Push x Pull days through the week, and special weekend focuses of Saturday Squats and Sunday Sweat.

Scroll to the bottom to get a free sample week of workouts!

CFK Go Weeklong Snapshot…

MONDAY — Full-Body
TUESDAY — Push x Pull
WEDNESDAY — Body Pump & Full Body (Grind)
THURSDAY — Push x Pull
FRIDAY — Full-Body (Sprint)
SATURDAY — Saturday Squats
SUNDAY — Sunday Sweat

Whatcha Need for CFK Go…

Now, to get started with CFK Go, you can get by with only (1) pair of Dumbbells even if you don’t have a Jump Rope. The Jump Rope is highly recommended, but you can perform most of our CFK Go workouts by making a few easy substitutions.

Without a Jump Rope, you could substitute Mountain Climbers, Running in Place, “Phantom” Jump Rope Hops, Jumping Jacks or Plate Hops. These fast-paced cardio moves will give you a similar stimulus to the Jump Rope.

When choosing your Dumbbells to start CFK Go, we suggest you select your starting pair based on your goals. Are you STRONG, FIT, or CARDIO focused…

CFK Go | Your DB x Your Goals…

This is, of course, relative to each individual, but we can break it down by your individual goals and fitness levels.

If you’re new and just learning the movements, go for a lighter pair (10-20lbs) and shoot for a cardio-focused approach. Otherwise, see below:

STRONG — If you’re looking to get stronger and build more muscle, we recommend a pair of DBs between 50lb-35lb.
- Athletes with this goal should be able to perform 5-7 unbroken reps of most movements with their DBs
FIT — If you’re looking to develop amazing fitness and lean muscle, we recommend a pair of DBs between 40lb-20lb.
- Athletes with this goal should be able to perform 10-12 unbroken reps of most movements with their DBs
CARDIO — If you’re looking to get more cardio and burn fat, we recommend a pair of DBs between 25lb-10lb.
- Athletes with this goal should be able to perform 12+ unbroken reps of most movements with their DBs

A Few Final Points…

What if You’re Just Learning the Movements?

As with any new program (or new movements), it might take some getting used to the weight as you learn the ropes. We always recommend that you focus on moving well and at a pace that you are comfortable with. You are always in control of the intensity in every workout. If you want to push it a little more on some days, go for it. If you want to pull it back a little on other days, it’s all good. Always do you!

What if You Want a Little Bit of Everything?

We love that! Our recommendation would be to have a pair of DBs that are a little bit on the heavier side for you, another pair that’s a little bit on the lighter side for you, and a third pair that is right smack in the middle between heavy and light. This way you can mix up the DBs you choose for each workout depending on your goal!

Get your FREE sample 1-week program!

Just fill out the form below and we’ll send you your first week of workouts!

Name
First Last
Email
Phone
Primary Goal
- Lose weight
- Gain strength
- Stay fit
- Improve long term health

Week In Preview, March 22nd, 2020

“Don’t paint a dirty car” (on hiding poor form with more weight and/or speed).

-Greg Glassman

The Shutdown, Week 1

We’re as bummed as you to have to stay out of the gym for two weeks, but stay positive! It could always be worse, and as we’ve been saying, FITNESS ISN’T CANCELLED!

The gym is closed & the weather is gloomy, but you can’t control that. If fact, if you think about it, you have very little control of anything! However, the few things you DO have control over can mean everything, when given the right amount of focus. Here is the comprehensive list of everything that is 100% within your control:

Your thoughts
Your actions

Stay positive, and look for the opportunities in every situation. The obstacle IS the way! Gym closed? Here’s a chance to become a better runner. Raining outside? Burpees in the living room (or, run in the rain!!). When you see the opportunity, instead of the obstacle, you become UNSTOPPABLE!

Of course, we’re still here for you and will continue providing massive support, accountability, and guidance. Here are a few things we have planned.

Home Workouts

We will now have 2 programming tracks to follow. The Home/Travel WOD program will have the backpack workouts we’ve been putting out. The CFK Power program will be strength + metcon style, and all you’ll need is a set of dumbbells.

Equipment Loan

We’ll loan out certain items, free of charge, for the next 2 weeks. An email outlining the details of this program will come out Sunday afternoon, so stay tuned. Pick-up will be from 1 pm – 3 pm on Monday, at each location. Priority will be first-come, first-served so if you’d like something, we recommend showing up at 1 pm!

Remote Classes

Download and sign-up on Zoom to join us for live workouts starting this week!

Knoxville “Strong at Home” Health and Fitness Challenge

Sign-up on the Wodify Rise app for the 4-week challenge. Daily tasks that will help you beat cabin fever and build habits that create lasting success. It’s FREE-Ninety-Nine (everyone’s favorite price!), and open to everyone so share the link with anyone you think it would help! Sign-up HERE.

CFK Supplement Spotlight

Puori C3

In search of a recovery game changer? Vitamin C has been known to restore the immune function of athletes after hard workouts. C3 combines potent antioxidant blends and powerful energy boosting ginseng to pack a punch in your next workout. The coaches all agree, your selling yourself short if you don’t supplement with the C! Take 20% off when you purchase one Puori C3 and Puori D3 together!

Weekly WODs:

Monday – Raise the Roof

Home/Travel WOD

You’ll be going overhead a lot in day 1’s home/travel WOD. We have an ascending ladder of tuck jumps, backpack push presses, and front squats. Our goal is consistent movement for the duration 10-minute workout. We should be able to go unbroken on the backpack push press and front squat.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
3 Sets
10 DB Strict Press (Light)
1:00 DB OH Hold
10 Tempo Knees To Chest (2121)
Conditioning
AMRAP x 13 Min
10 DB Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
10 Tuck Ups
5 Devil Press

Tuesday – Drop the Hammer

Home/Travel WOD

3 , 2 , 1 ,…. GO! That’s our sole purpose for today’s weighted or unweighted bodyweight workout. Our workout today gives you the option to use your backpack for the entire workout or use it for only one movement. We have a quick 2-minute running interval, push-ups, sit-ups, air squats, and backpack ground-to-overheads for time.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
EMOM x 10 Minutes
Min 1: 5 -10 Strict DB Bent-Over Rows
Min 2: 5/5 Single Leg DB Deadlifts
Conditioning
EMOM x 4 Min
45 sec Bike, Row, or Run
-1:00 Rest-
EMOM x 4 Min
12 Double DB Power Cleans
– 1:00 Rest-
EMOM x 4 Min
45 sec. Bike, Row, or Run
Wednesday – Earn Your Rest

Home/Travel WOD

Our day 3 workout will require athletes to complete a set number of repetitions of backpack clean-and-jerks, overhead lunges, and double unders on a running clock. If you don’t own a jump rope substitute back-pack jump overs as an alternate scaling option.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
5 Sets
10 DB Front Squats
10-15 Deficit Push Ups
-1:00 rest between sets-
Conditioning
For Time
40-30-20-10
Alternating single DB Thruster
20-20-20-20
Up-Downs
20-20-20-20
Alternating DB Snatch

Thursday – Training Day

Home/Travel WOD

We will dial things back today if we have been training consistently throughout the week. If you are following the 3 days on, 1 day off approach our workout today is a great chance just to MOVE! We have an alternating 15-minute EMOM of backpack thrusters, burpees over backpack, and backpack sit-ups. Our goal is finding a number of reps for each movement we can accomplish in 45 seconds consistently. By doing this, we leave 15 seconds of each minute for transition and rest.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
10 Min x EMOM
Min 1: 10 DB Push Press (Light-Moderate)
Min 2: 40 seconds Double Unders or Mountain Climbers
Conditioning
10 Sets
10 DB Push Press (35/20) (20/15)
30 Double Unders or 30 Mountain Climbers
-30 secs rest between sets-

Friday – Cash Out

Home/Travel WOD

We have a 6 round workout planned for the end of the regular work week. Our workout includes a 400 meter buy in and cash-out that will leave you gasping at the finish line. We have 6 rounds of backpack swings, tuck-jumps, and jumping backpack lunges. If you want legs like a sprinter this workout is for you!

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
5 Sets
3 DB Deadlift + 3 DB Hang Power Clean +3 DB Power Clean + 3 DB Front Squats
(Score is Weight Used)

Conditioning

8 Rounds (:20 on/ :10 off)
Mov 1 – DB Hang Power Clean
Mov 2 – DB Upright Row
Mov 3 – Jumping Lunges
*1 Round= Full rotation through each movement
*No rest between rounds

Saturday – Beef Up Your Backside

Home/Travel WOD

You know why people who perform functional movements are so strong? It’s because we prioritize using multi-joint exercises to develop our body’s primary movers. Our today will bring some ALL the gains to our posterior chain in a workout that includes backpack squat cleans, thrusters, and back squats.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
EMOM x 8 Min
Min 1: 2 Turkish Get-Ups(Right Arm)
Min 2: 2 Turkish Get-Ups(Left Arm)
Conditioning
For Time:
500/400 meter Row or 400 meter run
50 Alt. V-Ups
400/300 meter Row or 300 meter run
40 Alt. V-Ups
300/200 meter Row or 200 meter run
30 Alt. V-Ups
200/150 meter Row or 100 meter run
20 Alt. V-Ups
100/75 meter Row or 50 meter run
10 Alt. V-Ups

Sunday – Good Morning or Bad Morning, You Decide

Home/Travel WOD

We have quick burner for your early morning workout, or afternoon sweat session. Our workout today allows us to incorporate hamstring development and horizontal pressing strength into our routine. We have good mornings, mountain climbers, and push-ups.

CFK POWER (If you have a dumbell/kettlebell or other equipment at home we have a Strength plus Conditioning option for you)

Strength
3 Sets
15/15 Single DB Bicep Curls
15 /15 DB Tricep Kickbacks
Conditioning
2 Rounds for Time
50 Walking Lunges
30 Alt. DB Snatch
30 Push Ups
30 DB Goblet Squats
400m Run

Why 20 Committee?

Show Up

Work Hard

Have Fun

Repeat!!

Nothing you do will make more of an impact than these 4 actions. The cool thing is you can apply these actions to nearly anything in life and, depending on how quickly you apply the 4th (REPEAT!), achieve positive results.

For those of you unaware, our 20 Committee is reserved for those who are hitting 20 exercise sessions per month, typically comprised of mostly CFK classes and 1-2 home workouts per week. The point here is that we move WAY more than we are sedentary, because movement is the key to longevity.

At CFK, your coaches want to see your name on the 20 Committee board every month! The more consistently your name is on the board, the more quickly you’ll progress toward your goals, no matter what they are.

If you’ve been on the board consistently, please accept our virtual fist bump and keep up the great work! If you haven’t been hitting your goals, start with this question:

HAS YOUR NAME BEEN ON THE BOARD?

If you’d like to speak with a coach about your goals and set a plan for hitting the board, we’d love to chat. Just hit us up for a quick 30-minute check-in here: https://crossfitknoxville.com/member-check-in/

HOW DO I…

…Log a Home/Travel WOD so it counts toward the 20 Committee?

IMPORTANT: Our 20 committee report counts class check-in’s. So you’ll need to follow these steps to log into a class, then you can log a performance if you wish for your own performance tracking.

Open the Wodify app and navigate to “Class Schedule”. Filter the Program to “CFK Go” (Formerly names “Home/Travel WOD”, which the video below shows), and click “Sign-in”. It should take you to the “Add Results” screen, where you can choose to add a performance. Note that there is a workout of the day listed every day in the CFK Go program. You can choose to do this workout and log a performance, or do your own workout and add a “custom performance”!

…Add performance to a Home/Travel WOD

From the “Add Results” screen, search a benchmark workout or click “Create a Metcon” and add it!

NOTE: A performance log is not necessary to get on the 20 committee, but it is recommended for tracking your performance history.

…Find the programmed CFK Go WOD?

In WODIFY, navigate to “WOD”, and filter to “CFK Go” (Formerly, “Home/Travel WOD” as the video below shows)

…See my attendance history?

20 COMMITTEE FAQ

Q: What kind of workout should I do if I can’t make it to the gym?

A: We have 3 optional workouts that can be done at home with little or no equipment

Travel WOD Blog Post – All bodyweight movements with no equipment needed
WODIFY: CFK Go Program – Some modifications may be needed depending on equipment access. Sub a similar bodyweight movement where needed. Air squats, push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, etc.
WODIFY: CFK Burn Program – CFK Burn workouts can often be modified to be performed at home or on the road.
Of course, you can always make up your own workout!

Q: Will signing into a CFK Go class count against my attendance limit, if I’m on a 13 visit/month membership?

A: Nope! The CFK Go classes don’t count toward attendance limits, so you should still make the 20 committee!

Q: Where can I see how many classes I’ve attended this month?

A: Sign-in to www.wodify.com on a web browser (not a phone app), and click “My Profile” in the upper right-hand corner, then “Attendance” on the left menu. This will show all historical attendance logged in Wodify.

Q: What qualifies as a Home/Travel WOD I can count toward the 20 Committee?

A: Depends on intensity. Any of the 3 options above count, and anything you make up on your own counts if it’s done with appropriate intensity. If you do 10 minutes of fast burpees, that would be a significant stimulus to qualify as a workout. Typically, the lower the intensity, the longer the required duration.

Walk – over 40 minutes

Bike – over 30 minutes

Jog – over 20 minutes

Run fast – Intervals are great! Total work/rest should still be over 20 minutes

Q: Does Yoga count?

A: Absolutely, if it’s more than 30 minutes. Any sort of functional movement practice moves us forward from a health and longevity standpoint. We choose CrossFit because it covers all aspects of fitness and Yoga, spin, cardio kickboxing, Zumba, Barre, Krav Maga, etc… are all great supplementary workouts. Mountain biking, weekend run in the neighborhood, hike in the smokies, it’s all great activity!!

Q: Do my workouts need to be “high intensity” to count?

A: No, unless they are short. At CFK, we’re typically going to work with relatively high intensity. When you work on your own, we expect the intensity to be a little lower. Many of our training sessions need to be of medium intensity but high focus. Now, if intensity is going to be lower, we will need to go longer to elicit improvement (i.e. short and intense or long and slow). In your heart, you know if you did enough to call it a workout. The goal is to move well and often and learn to enjoy short-term discomfort for long-term gains.

Q: Can I do a Home/Travel WOD and a CFK Class on the same day?

A: We sure won’t stop you! However, the purpose of the 20 committee is to encourage 20+ ACTIVE DAYS/month. Multiple workouts in the same day can be great in the correct dosages. Once/week, or every-other-week are fine. Performed too often, and 2-a-days will hinder recovery, causing diminishing returns over time. The goal of the 20 Committee is consistency across each week and each month, not cramming on Thursday because you missed Monday-Wednesday. It’s better to workout once/day Monday-Friday, than twice on Wednesday and three times on Friday.

CFK TRAVEL WOD’S

Hey CFK Athletes and Random Visitors!

Many of you have asked me about travel workouts that can be completed on the road or when you just can’t seem to get to the gym. Here is a list of 60 workouts that I tap into when I need to squeeze in a quick sweat when I don’t have time to get to a class. Little to no equipment will be required, you’ll only need a stopwatch and smart phones have amazing timer apps you can download.

Pick a workout and hit it hard, or choose a couple that make sense and knock them both out but be sure to scale to your fitness and abilities! As always, focus on mechanics and range of motion first! #GETBETTERNOTDONE

Here are some general scaling guidelines:

New Athletes – start at half-reps (or even 25%) and/or add rest periods

Inconsistent Athletes – that’s what this list is for, stop being inconsistent! Start at half and see how you feel. Don’t punish yourself, but instead do something that will allow you to train again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day…

Consistent, well trained Athletes – Kill it!

Most importantly, remember to warm-up and cool down!

Warm-up – jog a quarter mile and do a few rounds of the “World’s Greatest Stretch”, and you should be good to go with most of these. If it’s a sprinting workout, then I always add in some side lunges and dynamic exercises – high knees, leg swings, accelerations, prone starts, etc)

Cool-down – jog/walk a quarter mile and spend a couple minutes on each side in the following stretches

Couch stretch – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaeAvGh6gkg

Quadratus Lumbourm – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NlugMEihG8

Door Jam Pec Stretch – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgSXbRcucc

Enjoy!

100 air squats for time
100 burpees for time
Sprint 100m, walk 100m, 10 rounds
10 push-ups, 10 air squats, 10 rounds
Run 400m, 50 air squats, 4 Rounds
100 jumping jacks, 75 air squats, 50 push-ups, 25 burpees
Handstand 5×30 seconds, then 2x800m run (Rest 1:1)
Tabata air squats (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest, 8 rounds)
5 push-ups, 5 squats, 5 sit-ups, 20 rounds
10x50m sprint (make sure to warm up before sprinting!)
Run 800m, 50 air squats, 3 rounds
10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 10 air squats, 10 rounds
200 air squats for time
Run 200m, 10 squats, 10 push-ups, 5 rounds
Sprint 200m, 25 push-ups, 3 rounds (Rest 1:1)
10 handstand push-ups, sprint 200m, 3 rounds (Rest 1:1)
Tabata air squats and Tabata push-ups (8 rounds of each)
Sit-ups 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 with 100m runs in between
21-15-9 air squats and push-ups
Accumulate a total of 5:00 in a handstand
10 push-ups, 10 air squats, 10 sit-ups, 6 rounds
Do 1 air squat, then take 1 breath, then 2 air squats and 2 breaths, etc… up to 10 air squats and 10 breaths, then come back down to 1 (breathe all you want during the squats)
3 vertical jumps, 3 squats, 3 long jumps, 5 rounds
Handstand 30 seconds and 10 air squats, 8 rounds
10 push-ups, 100m sprint, 10 rounds (rest 1:1)
5x400m sprints (rest 2:1)
10x100m sprints (rest 2:1)
Run 1 mile lunging 10 steps every minute
Handstand 30 seconds, 20 air squats, 5 rounds
4×25 jump squats, rest 1:1
10 vertical jumps, 10 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, 4 rounds
Run 1 mile, do 10 air squats on every minute
Run 30 minutes, do 3-5 push-ups on every minute
Handstand 30 seconds, hold bottom of a squat 30 seconds, 8 rounds
100 push-ups for time
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 burpees and sit-ups
50 sit-ups, 400m run, 3 rounds
10 lunges, 10 push-ups, 10 rounds
50 jumping lunges for time
10 burpees, 100m sprint, 10 rounds (Rest 2:1)
Run 1 mile with 100 air squats at midpoint
7 air squats, 7 burpees, 7 rounds
Burpee to push-up position, do 5 push-ups, burpee out, 10 rounds
5 push-ups, 30 second top of push-up hold, 10 rounds
50 air squats, 5 rounds (Rest 1:1)
Run 100m, 30 air squats, 8 rounds
30 push-ups, 30 second handstand or plank, 3 rounds
250 jumping jacks for time
Run 1 minute, Air squat 1 minute, 5 rounds
Bottom-to-Bottom Tabata air squats (this means 10 second rest period is in bottom of squat)
20 tuck jumps, 30 second handstand hold, 3 rounds
20 jumping jacks, 20 burpees, 20 air squats, 10 rounds
Run 100m, 20 air squats, 10 rounds
100 air squats, rest 3:00, 100 air squats
50 burpees for time
Run 1 minute, air squat 1 minute, push-up 1 minute, rest 1 minute, 4 rounds
Run 1 mile for time
Minute 1 – 1 burpee, Minute 2 – 2 burpees, etc.. until failure
Run 400m as fast as possible immediately into max effort plank hold, 4 rounds (Rest 2:1)
Bear crawl 40’, 10 push-ups, bear crawl 40’, 10 sit-ups, 8 rounds

*Don’t forget the classic workout of running a 5k! We don’t get to test it often at CFK, but we’ll have some opportunities coming up!