Enter the Cube

An absolutely massive human, this Brandon Lilly, more about who created the Cube, talks training. 

There will be a rundown of the CrossFit Oakdale Open Door Series on Monday night.  We have some housekeeping on the upcoming strength program – the Cube.  The program will last 9 weeks, with a 10th week for testing.

We used the Cube method in 2014 to excellent results.  I’m looking forward to seeing what people can do, especially after nearly 50 PRs last week.

For the first 3 weeks, we will Bench Press on Monday, Deadlift on Wednesday and Back Squat on Fridays.  There are 3 types of sessions – heavy, repetition and explosive days.  On heavy days, you will perform 5 sets of 2 at 80% of 1RM.  On rep days, you will perform a set of 8-12 reps at 70% of 1RM.  Think of this as a max unbroken set.  On explosive days, you will perform 3 sets of 8 at 60%.  Each one of these days will require 10 to 15 minutes of warm up for you to hit your working weight.

After 3 weeks, all the percentages go up 5% – your numbers are 65%, 75% and 85% of 1RM.  After that the weeks, the percentages go up by another 5% – your working numbers are 70%, 80% and 90%.

The Cube program was created by a powerlifter and calls for a lot of what he calls “auxiliary” work, including a 4th day of what he describes as bodybuilding movements.  For us, that stuff will be CrossFit.

One piece of advice – be judicious about setting your numbers.  If you have been training for awhile, you should never miss or fail any of these lifts at these percentages.  If you just miracled a 450 pound Deadlift and are dead set on using that number, I would recommend multiplying your huge lift by .9, then working off THAT number.  For example, 450x.9=405.  On a heavy day, you will then multiply 405 by .8 (405x.8=324, or 325 for our purposes).  So you would use 325 for your 5 sets of 2.  This will obviously require a thorough warm up and build to your working weight.

Monday is Bench Press.  So, if your best Bench Press is 100, your numbers are easy.  Do 5 sets of 2 at 80 pounds.  To help you out, if you hit 225, your working weight is 180.  If you want to drop the additional 10% of the start, go ahead.

On Tuesdays, we will have Olympic drilling movements to keep familiarity with the Olympic lifts.  Thursdays will be conditioning workouts.

If you don’t know your 1RMs, talk with a coach.  We will find a good working weight for you.

Workout of the Day

Strength, The Cube, Week 1

Bench Press

5 sets of 2 at 80% of 1RM

Conditioning

8 RFT

8 Chest to Bar Pullups

8 Burpees

12 minute cap