PUSH's Next Cycle: Agon

Austin Hartlage's next Halloween costume.

We are taking a slight detour from our usual focus on gaming titles from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s for our next cycle. I have always found mythologies across different cultures fascinating. In Greek mythology, Agon (ἀγών) personifies contest, struggle, or conflict. It also refers to a gathering of people for a competition. Interestingly, Agon was the name of a contest held during public festivals in ancient Greece, including the ancient Olympics, which influenced the modern Olympics. Therefore, I thought it would be perfect timing for a cycle that prepares us for the CrossFit Open, named after a Greek deity or spirit associated with contests and competition.

This training cycle will build on some of the focuses from the previous cycle, but you will notice fewer individual tests, such as the 5k row and the 3RM back squat. Instead, we will concentrate more on increasing volume and endurance. For instance, after completing the 5k row, we will have established an average split time, which we can now use for pacing in metabolic conditioning workouts and rowing intervals.

Over the past six weeks, we’ve dedicated significant time to practicing various upside-down movements. In the 14 years of the Open's existence, handstand push-ups have appeared in seven years, handstand walks in three years, and wall walks in three years. Since 2015, some variant of being upside-down has been included in the Open every year up to 2023, except for last year, which marked the first time in nine years that it was not featured.

Danielle Brandon just casually living upside down.

Rowing has been the only machine in the Open that has been used. It's measurable, and all gyms have them. Not all gyms have bike ergs, ski ergs, echo bikes, assault bikes, and air runners. Movements have to be something that everyone has access to during the Open. There was a year that involved shuttle runs, and then the next year again at the quarterfinals level.

We can’t call our program “Pick Up Something Heavy” if we don’t actually do just that. Over the next six weeks, we will focus on front squats, deadlifts, and push presses using a 5x5 format. Many people often try to reinvent the wheel or become the next wunderkind (or wonder kid, Ted Lasso fans?). However, at the end of the day, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it. There is no need to alter the 5x5 format for strength training.

Not so wonderful for a while, but he turns it around.

If we encounter a heavy lift in the Open, it won’t be from a rack. This leaves us with either deadlifts, cleans, snatches, or thrusters—all of which require pulling from the floor. While pulling from the floor won’t be necessary, if you’re comfortable with it, this is a great opportunity to practice on the days you see front squats.

In the first few weeks, we will schedule the 5x5 lifts toward the beginning of the week. This approach will help prevent excessive soreness or central nervous system fatigue by the time the Open workouts take place on Friday.

We are also going to experiment with different movement combinations. In past Open workouts, there have been intentionally designed elements that cause interference. For example, one year included a workout with deadlifts, power snatches, and toes-to-bar in an AMRAP format, followed by a max clean and jerk. I still remember the feeling of the bar almost slipping out of my hands on my first attempt; my grip was completely exhausted!

Some workouts will be spaced out enough to minimize obvious interference, allowing you to maintain a steady pace to truly test your fitness levels. These might include combinations like burpee pull-ups paired with shuttle runs, or wall walks combined with box jump-overs and dumbbell snatches. Our goal is to help you focus on basic fitness and practice transitions.

It’s important to note that not every workout will be an intense challenge. You don’t necessarily improve at CrossFit by doing CrossFit workouts every single day. This may be confusing for some, but we'll chat about this topic further in another blog post or podcast.

During the first week, you can expect to see some familiar Open workouts with slight variations on Mondays and Fridays. We want you to adjust to the spacing of the days between the announcement of workouts and their re-dos—the actual workout day will be Friday—while also gaining exposure to these workout styles.

You look like me but different.

To help everyone prepare, here are some observations from the past 14 years of the Open. There have been five movements that have appeared 13 times, with three of them showing up every year. Pull-ups and burpees have been featured 13 times, while double-unders, muscle-ups, and thrusters have occurred annually in some form. If you haven't mastered these skills yet, make sure to dedicate some time to practice. Some movements, like pull-ups and muscle-ups, may be more challenging due to individual limitations. However, you can always improve your technique and efficiency with thrusters and burpees. Additionally, everyone can pick up a jump rope and practice. Don't just quit because you don't nail it right away. This is a timing issue, which means your brain and body need rep after rep after rep in order to master the sequence and adapt.

With that said, we typically use the Open as an opportunity to prepare different modalities, energy systems, and skills. The Open consists of just three workouts spread over three weeks performed every Friday, so we don’t allow it to dominate our focus on training. However, having specific goals to train for can be beneficial, as daily routines can sometimes feel monotonous or make it easy to skip workouts.

There will soon be a Trysh email and a podcast that provide more details about the Open. This blog, however, is not focused on that. Instead, it’s about what to concentrate on over the next six weeks. Get ready to push yourself a bit harder, lift heavier weights, and complete more reps and sets than you’re used to. It's time to activate your athletic IQ and strategize your approach to workouts!

Karen inquired whether there would be a clever post about this topic. While I'm not sure if I added any cleverness to it, I'll leave you with this thought: Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing not to add it to a fruit salad.

Philosophy: Wondering if ketchup is a smoothie?