This blog will detail our Winter 2021 Strength Cycle.
Before we get into 2021, let’s recap 2020!
Our gym community ended the year strong with plenty of PRs in both the back squat and bench press following our Wendler cycle!
We saw back squat PR’s up to 20 pounds or more!
Our gym community is different in the way we program, and offer different avenues for you to pursue your fitness.
We have never programmed straight strength days, and the overall feedback on these days was extremely positive!
Going into this new strength cycle, we are going to continue on with our upper and lower body focused strength days.
We won’t be as regimented as our Wendler cycle, and the movements will be rotating on a weekly basis during the Winter 2021 Strength Cycle.
There will be 3 themes for this new cycle:
Tempo Training
Unilateral Strength Days
Speed Training
Tempo Training
In this section, we will answer the question: “what is tempo training?”
One of the best and most effective methods to get you stronger, build more lean muscle, and help you increase your lifts overall.
Slowing down the reps for each movement and sticking to a tempo will force you to recruit more muscle fibers to complete the movement.
During our Wendler cycle, you were able to use a stretch reflex and “bounce” out of the bottom of a squat.
In contrast, with tempo training the change in direction is solely dependent on your muscles activating and firing.
The hopes with tempo training is that you will teach yourself to use your entire muscle group, and strengthen weaker muscles.
Unilateral Strength Training
Unilateral Strength Training is often one of the most overlooked aspects of a sound workout routine.
In gym settings like Hustle One, you won’t find other gyms focusing this much on unilateral strength.
Unilateral exercises will help reduce muscle imbalances, strengthen your joints, and help prevent future injuries.
You will find unilateral movements, such as a single arm dumbbell press, difficult at first.
Keep in mind to always focus on the movement and full range of motion before adding weight.
Speed Training
Speed Training will be fun!
This part of our strength cycle is when we help you become as explosive as possible. This will be the final part of our cycle.
Before we start moving the barbell faster, we need to make sure your overall strength has increased, and your joints and tendons are strong and healthy.
When speed days roll around, make sure to eat those pre-workout carbs!
As always, the greatest benefit for you from this new cycle will be consistency.
Do your best to make sure to come to our strength days, and don’t forget about open gym hours to make up any workout you missed.
Let the 2021 gains begin!