Train with Purpose. Train with Intensity. Train for longevity.
Training with purpose means understanding the program’s goals and benchmarks, and selecting the training path that best meets your own personal goals. Click here to read more about which pathway might be best for you. If you still have questions, talk to one of our coaches and they will be happy to help you.
Training with intensity means bringing your best effort every day, allowing yourself to be pushed, and understanding that it takes hard work and commitment to see a consistent improvement in your fitness level.
Training for longevity means that we must consider the long term when deciding what we do in the gym every day. It means focusing on proper technique, mobility / flexibility, nutrition, and hydration. It means having an understanding that a positive attitude and the right mental approach are essential to enduring success.
January 5th to March 22nd (11 weeks):
Our next programming cycle begins on January 5th and ends March 22nd. The cycle will be structured around prepping for the 2026 Crossfit Open. The Crossfit Open will begin February 26th and will conclude March 16th. Athletes will prep for 6 weeks. We’ll have one deload week before the Open and one after the final Open workout. During the 3 weeks of the Open, volume will be lighter and our focus will be preparing the body for the workout that is released on Thursday. As a gym we will do the Open workout on Friday.
The goals of the cycle are:
1. Build confidence in our capacity with both the barbell and our gymnastics movements
2. Maintain strength, power and stamina built over the last 3 cycles.
3. Develop a strong understanding of threshold and apply it to Open style workouts
Benchmarks:
26.1
26.2
26.3
*For benchmarks, it’s recommended that you record your results in Wodify, as these metrics will be repeated. Benchmarks are a way for you to assess your progress and see improvements. If you miss a benchmark day, feel free to come in during open gym time and make it up.
Monday: Monday we will kick off the week with Thrusters and Gymnastics. On a 20 minute clock athletes will perform an EMOM for the first 4 minutes and then complete the same exercises for time on the next 4 minute interval. Format will be to follow an alternating EMOM and For Time until we have reached 20 minutes. Each week athletes can expect thrusters, mono structural and gymnastics movements coupled together to comprise the workout. Following 20 minutes of work, athletes will get into the rack for some lifting. Alternating between front squat and push press, athletes will get to hit some heavier percentages under fatigue.
Tuesday: Tuesday will feature an AMRAP involving DB movements. The design of the workouts will offer another opportunity to practice pacing and threshold as we head into the Open season. After each amrap we will complete isometric holds to help increase strength in compromised positions with minimal load. Expect a good variety of exercises each Tuesday.
Wednesday: Wednesday we will Olympic lift. We will see both the Snatch and the Clean on the same day. Work will be geared toward building capacity with moderate to heavy barbell percentages under fatigue. Athletes will have the opportunity to practice confidence week one, with an EMOM, and apply that confidence to speed, week two, when we offer a time domain to complete the same work from the week before. Wednesdays will be a big day for us. We’ll finish our day with a “choose your own adventure” push pull gymnastic EMOM. Gymnastics on Wednesday will be quality over quantity.
Thursday: Mobility Thursday is back by popular demand. On top of functional mobility, athletes will see a combination endurance work involving of rowing, running, biking, double-unders, and light weights to keep us moving and build cardiovascular stamina.
Friday: Our focus on Friday will be gearing up for the Open. Open workouts typically have high rep, moderate to light weight with a time domain from 7 – 20 minutes. Each Friday, athletes will start their day off with an Open style workout. In an effort to maintain strength, we will follow our metcon with some lifting to finish the day.
Saturday: Workouts with both a partner and solo option will continue as previously programmed.
This cycle will provide extra work on Saturdays.The focus will be geared around capacity. Each Saturday we will flip flop between intervals on machines and steady state work. This extra work will help facilitate building capacity to complement all the goals of this cycle. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about the programming. Enjoy this cycle! Never miss a Monday!
– Head Coach Whitney Gelin whitney@12thstatecrossfit.com
November 3rd to January 4th (9 weeks):
This cycle builds on the momentum we created in the fall. We’re shifting our attention to developing stronger legs, sharper Olympic lifts, and the kind of conditioning that makes you feel unreasonably calm halfway through a nasty metcon.
We’ll train for three weeks, take a deload during the final week of November, push through two more working weeks, and then finish with a Max-Out week before setting the stage for a holiday deload for 2 weeks. Think of this cycle as sharpening the sword before we hit January hungry.
The goals of the cycle are:
- Deepen confidence and precision in the Olympic lifts
- Increase strength and capacity in both the back squat and front squat
- Build a strong aerobic engine that supports year-round performance
- Improve the ability to perform gymnastics movements under fatigue
Benchmarks:
- Snatch (1 RM)
- Clean and Jerk (1RM)
- Front Squat (1RM)
- Back Squat (1RM)
As always, recording scores in Wodify helps you see progress across the year. If you miss a benchmark, hop into open gym and get it done.
Monday — Front Squat Focus: We start the week by getting serious about squats. Expect pause variations at different positions in the squat to strengthen the sticking points and reinforce great positions. This work will directly support cleaner, stronger lifts on Wednesdays for clean and jerk work.
Tuesday — Snatch Day: With a running clock, each week you’ll build to a heavy snatch for the day, then take a percentage of that lift into snatch intervals paired with two complementary movements. Over the cycle, intervals get heavier.
Wednesday — Clean & Jerk Waves: We’ll begin the first 3 weeks with jerk technique work to dial in overhead mechanics, then roll into clean & jerk waves leading us toward maxing out. Following the lifts, we will include variations of clean and jerks with classic CrossFit-style couplets and triplets.
Thursday — Aerobic & Mobility Emphasis: Endurance work will be the focus with a combination of rowing, running, biking, double-unders, and light weights to keep you moving and build cardiovascular stamina. This cycle will put an emphasis on mobility as part of the workout on Thursdays.
Friday — Back Squat + Posterior Chain: Heavy back squats paired with hamstring accessory work. Building off of our last cycle, our metcons on Friday will revolve around the posterior chain exercises.
Saturday: Workouts with both a partner and solo option will continue as previously programmed.
Feel free to reach out if you have questions about the programming. Enjoy this cycle! See you Monday!
– Head Coach Whitney Gelin whitney@12thstatecrossfit.com