RYU: Doing the Common Uncommonly Well
- Aidan Malody
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
A new 7-week training cycle kicks off Monday, February 2.
This training block is called Ryu, and if you grew up anywhere near an arcade or Super Nintendo in the 90s, the reference probably lands. Ryu wasn’t the flashiest character on the screen, and he definitely wasn’t about button-mashing. His most iconic move—the Hadoken—was simple, repeatable, and only worked if the fundamentals were dialed in: stance, timing, breathing, and control. Miss those, and nothing happened.
That idea carries over directly to training. In CrossFit terms, that idea is often described as virtuosity—doing the common uncommonly well. Real progress doesn’t come from chasing new tricks or skipping steps. It comes from mastering the basics and being able to repeat them when you’re tired. That’s the tone for the next seven weeks.
What We’re Testing
Over the seven weeks, we’ll touch a few clear benchmarks—not as the whole story, but as reference points:
Max Pull-Ups
A simple test with a lot of carryover. Pulling capacity shows up everywhere.
Squat Clean + 2 Front Squats
Less about “how heavy” and more about positions, leg strength, and staying organized under load.
1RM Back Squat
Strong legs raise the floor for almost everything else we do.
3RM Strict Press
Honest upper-body strength. No momentum, no shortcuts.
These give us structure. The real progress comes from how we train around them.
Conditioning & Gymnastics
A big theme in this block is Open-style conditioning and gymnastics formats.
Whether you love the Open, hate it, or don’t plan on signing up at all, the reality is that the Open has always rewarded people who can move well and keep working at high output on simple movements.
Historically, that looks like:
Rowing
Thrusters
Burpees
Pull-ups
Box jumps
Dumbbell snatches
Double-unders
Often wrapped in straightforward formats like a 15-minute AMRAP or a short “for time” workout—nothing complicated, just simple movements done at a high output. And yes—usually a muscle-up somewhere once things get spicy.
Nothing exotic. Just a lot of work.
Because of that, on Fridays during the Open weeks, we’ll be running the Open workouts as they’re released. If those workouts are going to happen anyway, it makes sense to prepare for them instead of hoping fitness magically shows up in March.
Foundations Matter
There’s always a temptation in training to skip steps.
To chase more weight, harder skills, flashier movements—without really understanding pacing, breathing, recovery, or even basic positions. And when those fundamentals aren’t there, adding complexity doesn’t fix the problem.
It’s kind of like shitting your pants and then going home to change your shirt. You technically did something, but you didn’t solve the actual issue.
This block leans into fixing the real problems first, so that when intensity ramps up, things don’t fall apart.
Why You’ll See Snatch & Bench Work
You’ll also notice some snatching and bench pressing layered in throughout the cycle.
Snatch work gives us a balance to all the cleaning. It lets us reinforce proper pulling positions from the floor without overloading the same patterns every week. It also matters because in the Open, there’s never a lift taken off a rack—being comfortable pulling for either a clean & jerk or a snatch is a real advantage.
Fun nugget: a power snatch should be often around ~55% of your back squat, because it measures how well you can turn leg strength into fast, efficient movement—not just how strong you are.
Bench press shows up because it’s a core power lift, trains pure horizontal pressing strength, and—let’s be honest—it’s also kind of fun. It complements the strict press by building upper-body strength from a different angle, which carries over nicely without beating up the shoulders.
Weekly Flow
Most weeks will follow a consistent rhythm:
Monday: Squatting + pressing
Tuesday: Upper-body pulling and conditioning
Wednesday: Olympic lifting (clean or snatch) + strength accessories
Thursday: HYROX-style conditioning
Friday: Open-style prep workouts (and Open workouts during the Open weeks)
Some weeks may shift slightly based on Open workout announcements. During the three Open weeks, HYROX days may lean a bit more machine-based to avoid excessive upper and lower-body fatigue before Friday—but we won’t pivot hard away from the intent.
Some athletes care deeply about the Open. Some don’t at all and would rather drop the hammer on HYROX days.
Both can coexist here.
The Point of the Next Seven Weeks
This isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about tightening up the basics so that when volume and intensity rise—as they always do—you’re ready for it.
Stronger where it counts.
More efficient when tired.
More confident in simple things done well.
That’s a foundation you can build on.
Let’s get to work.
Stay Dope.
Comments