As the 2026 CrossFit Open has come and gone, now what? Fitness never stops, so we keep training. Recently, the SLSC team has had conversations around how we want to present the goals of our training beyond what is said at the whiteboard at the start of class. So let's map out what the next several weeks of training will look like and what we will be testing for.

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​Monday Strength:Strict Pull Up Strength/Endurance

The test we are training for is a 5 minute AMRAP of strict chest to bar pull ups. For some of us, getting 1 strict chest to bar pull up is a tough challenge, but a worthy goal of pursuing. For others, multiple pull ups is doable, but how many is "good"? This test is directly extracted from our "SLSC Standards" where you will see the platinum level is 50+ in 5 minutes! I know, that is a LOT. Gold is 35+, Silver 20+, and bronze is 1 or more.

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Over this cycle we will see various scenarios where you will complete small and repeatable sets of strict chest to bar pull ups with limited recovery, to build your capacity.

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If you are already counting yourself out thinking you're not ready for strict pull up (you might be closer than you think) we have a baseline test for you as well to shoot for! (10+ ring rows with feet on box).

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​Monday Conditioning:Grinder Workouts

There is not a specific benchmark or hero WOD we are testing here, however on Mondays you can expect a long slog of a workout lasting around 15 minutes, and usually in a MWG (monostructural, weightlifting, gymnastics) format. These will involve heavier weights, exercises that are costly with energy and take longer to cycle through. Think sustained high power output.

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​Tuesday Strength: Power Snatch

We will max out our power snatch at the end of this cycle. On the previous cycle, we spent a good amount of time building a robust tolerance to snatch volume and repeatability testing "Isabel". We will continue with that momentum on this movement but take a different approach. Expect the first three weeks to be technique focused, implementing snatch pull variations to focus on keeping the bar close as you get vertical. In the back half of the cycle, we will ramp up the percentages and push the weight lifted (still with great technique of course). Take a look at the SLSC standards sheet to see our breakdown on the levels for power snatch 1RM.

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​Tuesday Conditioning: Barbell Battery Workouts

Barbell Battery is a term that refers to your ability to repeat efforts with a barbell in a conditioning setting. This is one of the more important abilities in being a successful crossfitter, considering how often we throw barbells around. During this cycle expect light to moderate weights, in couplets, triplets and quartets. (2,3 or 4 exercises in the wod). During this cycle these workouts will usually last around 9 to 12 minutes, with most being "for time".

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​Wednesday Strength: Back Squat + Reverse Lunge Volume

We will max out our back squats on test week this cycle. Everyone loves back squats, and I know everyone loves doing barbell reverse lunges after back squats even more! We are attacking lower body strength in this cycle with volume. The goal is to increase load on the barbell week over week, while we cycle through a few different uni-lateral auxiliary exercises to allow for more work to be done without taxing the body as much by doing even more squats. Check out the SLSC standards for the goals we have in mind for you when it comes to this lift.

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​Wednesday Conditioning:Sprint Chippers

Let's have some fun here. Chippers are a workout that involves completing all the reps of the exercise before moving onto the next exercise. These are usually more dense sets, think "chip away at it". The skill of knowing paces you can handle, sets you can repeat, and weights that you can move quickly is the wisdom we will gain and execute on here. These workouts will usually have a 10 minute time cap with those who finish landing in the 6-9 minute range. During this cycle it's okay to take risks, sometimes crash and burn, and learn!

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​Thursday Hyrox

Last cycle the focus was burpees and wall balls. The focus during this cycle will be skiing and running capacity. The ski is rather new to SLSC programming, as it has been something that sits in the side room that usually only open gymers would use. We recently bought a 3rd ski erg, and with some creative programming and sharing, are able to implement it into classes now! The ski erg brings a unique upper body endurance stimulus that not only is a part of the sport of Hyrox, but also has great benefits that transfer to CrossFit. Upper body endurance is a huge separator (think high volume gymnastics), and the ski erg is a great way to add more volume without all the impact on the joints that a lot of kipping movements inherently bring. Alongside the ski, it's that time of year again, time to start running outside. Hyrox is a running sport, so we need to get our running game going! Expect intervals between 400-1000 meters while building volume throughout the cycle. Test: TBD (some kind of time trial including ski and run though)

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​Friday Strength:Bench Press Volume

We will max out our bench press at the end of this cycle. Check out the SLSC standards for what is a feasible goal for you. The first three weeks will be volume based, and as we move deeper into the cycle, expect pause reps, and descending rep schemes to taper our strength. Pause reps allow for strength to be built by showing more control on the way down (eccentric) while also creating a higher demand on the way up (concentric). These sets will make the weight feel heavier, but some helpful strength and technique can be built while executing the sets.

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​Friday Conditioning: Jackie

"Jackie" is what is known as a "girl workout" which is a series of workouts that were created by the found of CrossFit. These workouts have circulated throughout thousands of CrossFit boxes for years, so they come with lots of data behind them, and they are good, hard workouts.

Jackie is as follows:
For Time: 1000 Meter Row 50 Thrusters (45/35) 30 Pull Ups

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This workout is usually completed in about 6-12 minutes. Some elite athletes can finish this in under 6 minutes. The reason why this is a good fitness test is the combination of movements and time domains they land in. 1000 meter row takes between 3-4:30ish to complete, and challenges your cardiovascular system. Then we move into a big set of light weight thrusters. This movement paired will pull ups to finish, is able extract a very high intensity due to the thrusters and pull ups being complimentary movement patterns, meaning that the thrusters are not using the same exact muscles as pull ups, so you can push your bodies ability to it's limits.
Expect to see a variety of scenarios involving these movements to get you adapted to how these exercises play together, and a sense of how you will want to pace this come test week.