"The Druid is a savage shapeshifter, fluidly transforming between the forms of a towering bear or a vicious werewolf to fight alongside the creatures of the wild." - Diablo Wiki
So, what's happening? Druid? Well, as I was scrolling through Instagram a while back I noticed that many of the popular programs were naming their cycles: Achilles, Zeus, etc. So as a child born in the 80's and raised in the 90's, StarCraft and Diablo were my jam. So I said to myself, "We get it, Greek mythology is great, but old online real-time strategy and role-playing games are even better...more better, the betterest?" So biasedly based on my childhood, this next upcoming cycle is titled: The Druid.
Similar to this wild shapeshifter, we will all transform our current human form into our own version of a towering bear. The primary focuses of the upcoming cycle will be the Norwegian 4x4 training method and German Volume Training. We are not going to lose focus on CrossFit or skills, but these two training protocols take a large amount of time, energy and bandwidth. It's important to understand that to get better at something, you need to focus on it and truly get after it. Doing too much of everything only leads to interference and blunted adaptations in our progress.
With increasing research and evidence showing that VO2 max is the most important metric for longevity, the Norwegian 4x4 method has been consistently proven as one of the best methods to improve VO2 max and enhance heart health. Just recently, Dr. Rhonda Patrick was on a podcast discussing this. Now we aren't going to sugarcoat it. This is going to cause some feelings. So many feelings will be felt. I'm referring to the kind of feelings you get from listening to most songs by Drake. It's like the feeling of listening to "Marvin's Room" at 11:54 pm alone after seeing your ex with someone new. But hey, it's all worth it for a healthy heart and some great fitness, right?
This method will consist of four minutes of high-intensity effort (threshold) followed by very light effort for three minutes of recovery. This will be repeated for a total of four sets. Similar to our FTP test we did a while back, we want to find the highest level of effort that we can hold and sustain. So do not confuse this with maximal effort. We will pick one machine to perform this on each week, and then pick a different machine the next. We want to see the data and compare it to real-time feelings (RPE) at the moment. To do so, we want all four sets on the same machine. However, we also want to enhance efficiency, exposure, and adaptations for not only our health but also for our sport. If you used the rower in week one, then choose the echo bike for week two. During this cycle, everyone will use every machine, and then we will also use the machines a second time for comparison. This means that there will be no picking your favorite machine or avoiding any of them to work on less.
If this cycle were a coin, one side would focus on cardio (N4x4), and the other side would be dedicated to hypertrophic werebear-transforming bodybuilding using German Volume Training (GVT). Do you remember those little foam dinosaurs you used to put into water, and then within minutes they would grow all big and scary? Well, pre-cycle you is the little foam dinosaur and German Volume Training is the water. At the end of this you will be a full-grown scary dinosaur. Like, you know how in many movies, there's a scene where a mad scientist puts a creature in a cage or tube and injects it with a type of gas that makes it grow big and scary? The transformation looks painful like the creature is breaking out of its small body into a new, terrifying form. Spoiler alert: this will be very similar to that but in such a sweet muscle-growing kind of way.
German Volume Training consists of performing 10 sets of 10 reps, starting at 60% of our 1RM. This structure has a rigid amount of sets and reps, but also rest. If you can't complete all 10 sets of 10 reps, don't increase the weight when you do the same exercise the following weeks. Only increase the weight when you can complete the prescribed sets and reps with the current weight and rest period. We will be focusing on the back/front squat, and bench press/strict press. We will pair these primary lifts with less demanding accessory lifts that are antagonistic to them. This means that if we bench press one week, we may pair it with ring rows, pull-ups, or gorilla rows. When squatting we might superset them with banded good mornings, light dumbbell RDLs, or hamstring curls. The reason that GVT features compound exercises and doing ten sets is that it gives you a lot of necessary practice to develop your lifting skills and improve neuromuscular efficiency.
Volume training can help build strength even without focusing on heavy weights. The stress placed on the body promotes strength development through metabolic stress and mechanical tension. We all love top-end strength. 1RM and 3RM lifts are the bee's knees. Whenever we have them programmed, most of us are licking our chops. It's a time when we all get to strap on our belts, smell some salts, and throw up a bit of chalk mixed with some Hail Mary dust. There are huge benefits to top-end strength as well. We can and will nerd out to that in another post and cycle. However, most of us don't compete on any stage for Olympic lifting or powerlifting, nor do many of the athletes and members at most local affiliates like to or want to compete in any local or online competitions. And even for most of these competitions, we don't always get a 1RM anyway! WTF?! Now, I will say that PUSH is pretty awesome at showing up to comps and throwing down but again, this is still not the majority of people. Mainly, to attempt these Herculean feats (damn, I'm now my own mythology-using hypocrite), we need to demonstrate the strength, stability and control of movement to develop these major lifts. We have no excuse to move poorly when the load is 60%. This gives us energy and focus to find the correct positions that are demanded of us under load. However, in our sport, we often experience mid to high volume and loads. We've all experienced this before. We begin with a barbell or weight that feels light but after six minutes of working out we find ourselves out of breath and the weight suddenly feels much heavier, as if someone added more weight when we weren't looking. GVT is an effective method to increase endurance and strength. Although the loads may seem light at first, believe you me, they become challenging as the sets progress.
Now don't worry, we aren't just going to progress you on the snatch and gymnastics and walk away from them. You will still see plenty of fun things and CrossFit in this cycle. In the weeks that you see back squats, you will see some variation of snatching. In the weeks with front squats, you will see variations of cleans. In the past few weeks, there has been a pretty healthy exposure to sandbags and it's been awesome. There will still be regular sessions involving odd object carries or the use of sandbags. Also, each week you will have the opportunity to work on and make personal progress with higher-end gymnastics through weekly EMOMs or short AMRAPs. Because two days a week will be GVT, we will monitor the total volume and exposure of other movements that could cause joint or muscle fatigue. We still need you all to recover and we still need to hit and touch upon different energy systems and movement stimuli.
WEEKLY BREAKDOWN:
Mondays - Norwegian 4x4 + small little somethin' somethin' at the end
Tuesdays - 1a. GVT Upper Pressing (odd: press, even: bench) 1b. GVT Upper Pulling (low skill/demand)
Wednesdays - Odd carry, sandbags, skills, machines, intervals
Thursdays - 1a. GVT Squats (odd: back, even: front) 1b. GVT Lower Posterior (low skill/demand)
Fridays - Sweet CrossFit AMRAPs & EMOMs and stuff
Above is the weekly breakdown for the upcoming cycle. The days are scheduled with specific protocols and methods, with some variation in the type of machine, squats and presses. However, whether it's a rower or a bike, front or back squat, those days will always involve those movements or intervals. Make sure you attend those days to make progress. Many people get stuck in their habits, routines and excuses when it comes to training on specific days or focusing on certain exercises. This cycle, like all cycles, is written with the ability and intention to show up every day. You need to understand that if your legs are sore because of a Monday in a cycle, then we aren't going to program more legs on Tuesday in case people who missed a Monday want some leg action. If you make it you make it, if you miss it you miss it. The show must go on.
Now we understand that the nature of a Friday compared to a Monday will feel different. Life adds up, the volume adds up, stress adds up...essentially, life gets lifey. So it's vital to prioritize sleep, nutrition, and recovery during training. This will support the demands of German Volume Training and Norwegian 4x4, and enable you to sustain a four to five-day-per-week training frequency. Just like in Diablo, you have your life and mana meter. In the game, there are mana and healing potions that replenish a character's mana or health over time. Similar to this, you need your sleep, hydration, protein, and recovery to regenerate quicker from this cycle. Turning into a werebear or werewolf isn't going to happen on its own.
As always Team, stay dope. So work hard. Don't complain. Be kind. #dopefitnessbetterpeople
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