Trial of lower frequency training

Now the Crossfit open is over I want to accelerate in F1 and H1. The last two weeks I did less training and I was surprised how much stronger and more mobile I was with my Foundation and handstand exercises. I was previously doing Foundation 4 days a week, H1 and crossfit 3 days a week. I was obviously doing too much and not recovering. Crossfit does tend to beat the body up even though I was being careful.

My new schedule is the 3 day a week template, H1 twice a week and a Crossfit class once a week. I will keep the crossfit class once a week for fun and socialising.

When I started Foundation I was doing crossfit 5 days a week, so this will be a big change. I keep hearing Coach in my head..first things first. I think that less is more will really help me to accelerate.

also have been playing with the idea of reverting to 3 day a week, been applying it to the mobility work and it yields. I've talked to a few forum members and one of them thinks(and I agree) that it's underrated.

coincidentally, I've also started reverting to 3 day workout this week

I did some Hollow body holds today and got 3x48 and 1x20. I hadn't done them in a week and I felt really good today. I also had the energy to really push hard. It does feel strange that I get another rest day tommorrow. On my rest days I will work on improving my mobility.

I am also thinking of moving to a 3 day schedule.   I am starting to feel wiped out all the time and I think part of it is that I'm not eating enough.   Because of texture issues,  I don't like shakes, but I think I need to start exploring liquid calorie options.   I'm out  of my depth here.

(ETA:  I've printed out Joshua's plan and I'll see how to make it work.)

I moved to a 3 day schedule 2 micro cycles ago after I realised the 4 day was not allowing me enough recovery time. Trying to push through it wasn't working as I started not looking forward to each workout so much and felt that I was spinning my wheels on certain elements due to feeling fatigued generally. 

It was only after I switched to the 3 day that I finally made some progression where I had hit sticking points like finally being able to master FL/PE1, and am now making slow but steady progress through the endurance aspects of RC/PE1 and HBP/PE1. Being able to go into each workout full of energy and raring to go has made a big difference to my rate of progression.

I know for some it is a matter of ego believing that they are capable of working out daily and it used to be the same for myself. It took a while for me to finally realise I couldn't do what I did when I was 18 years old any more. But now that I finally understand that, I have been making steady progress. 

I believe, like Keilani mentioned, that the 3 day schedule is underrated. If you find yourself spinning your wheels and not feeling full of energy when you hit your next workout, I highly recommend you try it. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised.

When you are talking about 3 day split here, do you mean like:

Monday: FL, sPL, HBP, RC

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: MN, SL, SLS

Thursday: Off

Friday: FL, sPL, HBP, RC
Sat-Sun: Off

And week 2 is the same, except reversed order of the two training sessions (FL vs MN)?
Do you then count that week as 1 week in terms of progress or do you do each session twice before advancing one week ahead in the cycle?

As I understand it:

Week 1:  F1a, F1b, F1a

Week 2:  F1b, F1a, F1b

Week 3:  F1a, F1b, F1a

and my guess is the next micro cycle would start

Week 1:  F1b, F1a, F1b

My question is about mastery.  Do you only test once or twice depending on how that element lands on week 3?

Kage said:

When you are talking about 3 day split here, do you mean like:

Monday: FL, sPL, HBP, RC

Tuesday: Off

Wednesday: MN, SL, SLS

Thursday: Off

Friday: FL, sPL, HBP, RC

Sat-Sun: Off

And week 2 is the same, except reversed order of the two training sessions (FL vs MN)?

Do you then count that week as 1 week in terms of progress or do you do each session twice before advancing one week ahead in the cycle?

Yes correct. You just alternate the two training sessions every week so you'll do 2 sessions of the FL workout one week, then the following week just 1 session and so on.

And yes, you count that week as 1 week in terms of progress before advancing to next one in cycle.

Jennifer said:

As I understand it:

 

Week 1:  F1a, F1b, F1a

Week 2:  F1b, F1a, F1b

Week 3:  F1a, F1b, F1a

 

and my guess is the next micro cycle would start

 

Week 1:  F1b, F1a, F1b

 

My question is about mastery.  Do you only test once or twice depending on how that element lands on week 3?

Darn it Jen, beat me to a reply! 

Anyway when it came to mastery testing, if the element only came up once that week I repeated the workout again the following week just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

El Chino said:

Darn it Jen, beat me to a reply! 

 

Anyway when it came to mastery testing, if the element only came up once that week I repeated the workout again the following week just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

You mean during the deload week or after? 

I'm tempted to join the 3/week bandwagon as well.

I feel like I've been stuck trying to do 4 sets of 9 pushups for months. Sometimes as well I lose time on RC/PE6.

At first I thought I wasn't eating enough, as I used to do intermittent fasting. But even giving that up, eating breakfast, pre workout protein, post workout meal more meals I still don't feel like I'm getting stronger.

I do do a fair bit of cardio, daily 10 mile bike ride to/from work, plus 5 a side football (I'm English) a couple of times a week but I wouldn't think that would impact my progress.

The only thing keeping me on 4 days a week is I never feel like I'm still exhausted by my previous workout but I guess as I don't really get DOMS I wouldn't feel it? Plus I like rest days to be a rest day, going for a walk during my lunch rather than working on H1 which a 3/week schedule suggests.

Sorry didn't make myself clear. Yes, I did one more week of mastery testing after deload week. Since I had been stuck on 5x60 of FL/PE1 for ages I was shocked after switching to 3 day schedule of having mastered it on week 3 quite easily compared to previously struggling with it so much. I did it just to prove to myself it wasn't a fluke and thankfully, it wasn't. 

My progress has also been pretty slow - I'm more of an explosive type, so just adding two reps at the higher range is a lot of work.
Doing a 4-day split now, where I repeat each mastery 2 times if I'm unsure and once if it felt alright. Also swimming one day and tumbling one day - both of which are basically just technical stuff. But I'm still thinking it might be cutting into recovery just enough to slow down progress. So if I don't break the plateaus soon, I might go for a 3-day split as well.

But just to be clear: You guys all do each session three then, before proceeding to the next week.
So it is:

Week 1a (a-b-a)

Week 1b (b-a-b)
Week 2a (a-b-a)
Week 2b (b-a-b)
Week 3a (a-b-a)
etc

Two weeks make up one week, so there are six sessions per microcycle week.

Edit: Good job counting wrong.

In the course material there is an example of a 3 day training 12 week cycle which I guess is what is being referred to.

I also have moved from the 4 day to 3 day week and I definitely feel better for it. When the objective is to achieve mastery then that is what you must do. If I feel I need to do something then I run through some of the mobility exercises.

Mark Collins said:

I did some Hollow body holds today and got 3x48 and 1x20. I hadn't done them in a week and I felt really good today. I also had the energy to really push hard. It does feel strange that I get another rest day tommorrow. On my rest days I will work on improving my mobility.

there must be something in the air. My new training template I just put together is 3 day Foundation as well. The only exception I will try is ABH every other day. I tried it by mistake (don't ask and even though it hurt much more I was able to hold it longer.

It's hard to take that extra day unaccustomed rest, but it gets a heck of a lot easier to swallow when you hit your stride and the pace picks up!

I haven't tried the 3 a week template yet, and I think it might be great for later Foundatin elements when the reps and hold times decrease, but I simply can't imagine progressing on something like RC/PE6 or FL/PE5 with such a schedule.

Kage said:

But just to be clear: You guys all do each session twice then, before proceeding to the next week.

So it is:

Week 1a (a-b-a)

Week 1b (b-a-b)

Week 2a (a-b-a)

Week 2b (b-a-b)

Week 3a (a-b-a)

etc

Two weeks make up one week, so there are four sessions per microcycle week.

There is no need to do each exercise twice before counting it as week one. As long as you progress each week frequency will be varied for each individual. The macro cycle still takes 12 weeks regardless frequency.

RF_Guy said:

there must be something in the air. My new training template I just put together is 3 day Foundation as well. The only exception I will try is ABH every other day. I tried it by mistake (don't ask and even though it hurt much more I was able to hold it longer.

Are you still doing Crossfit as well?

Mark Collins said:

There is no need to do each exercise twice before counting it as week one. As long as you progress each week frequency will be varied for each individual. The macro cycle still takes 12 weeks regardless frequency.

So you mean to say that you try to advance to the next microcycle already during the first week for the A elements, so you hit FL for 3x12 on Monday week 1a and then again for 5x12 Friday week 1a?

Always been curious about how many repeats of the same microcycle people do before trying to advance, when they are doing different splits. I have been going for 1 week = 2x A sessions and 2x B sessions. But perhaps it's possible to move faster, especially if you are not at your limit that day.

Kage said:

So you mean to say that you try to advance to the next microcycle already during the first week for the A elements, so you hit FL for 3x12 on Monday week 1a and then again for 5x12 Friday week 1a?

Always been curious about how many repeats of the same microcycle people do before trying to advance, when they are doing different splits. I have been going for 1 week = 2x A sessions and 2x B sessions. But perhaps it's possible to move faster, especially if you are not at your limit that day.

I think we were saying the same thing. For example with HBH

Week 1: 3x12 Monday and Friday

Week 2: 5x12 Wednesday

Week 3: 3x24 Monday and Friday

Week 4: 3x12 Wednesday

For some exercises if the 3x12 was really easy I will do the 5x12 next week. As long as my deload is half the volume things work out. As long as I progress and deload appropriately to the final goal of mastery I am happy.

KB swings and snatches for now while I am nursing my knee buy will come back as soon as it is healed.

Mark Collins said:

I think we were saying the same thing. For example with HBH

Week 1: 3x12 Monday and Friday

Week 2: 5x12 Wednesday

Week 3: 3x24 Monday and Friday

Week 4: 3x12 Wednesday

For some exercises if the 3x12 was really easy I will do the 5x12 next week. As long as my deload is half the volume things work out. As long as I progress and deload appropriately to the final goal of mastery I am happy.

The thing that would make this hard for me, is that I really have to group shoulder work together, to time with my other activities.  The alternating pattern would make that hard. 

I'm only just starting, and if I find 4x/week difficult, I'd consider F7 2x/week.  I'm pretty sure I have the work capacity for it, but finding 2.5 hours in a weekday regularly is challenging.

Have been doing 4 days a week for 6 months now, and cant say I've had any problems, until today, repeating high volume cycles twice a week per element has added up. Yesterday I mastered HBP3 and sPL5 and felt pretty strong and then today I could barely finish ABR 5x60 which I have completed already this week and once last week. Felt so burnt out and frustrated I was thinking maybe I should'a just skipped today or perhaps left it till tomorrow, gonna try 3 day after this cycle and see how that goes, I'm moving on in a bunch of stuff that might freshen me up a bit also. But I am thinking that its probably best to work low volume stuff more and high volume less. Maybe alternate cycles, 4 days for a month, 3 days for a month.