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CrossFit Undeniable

Helping you thrive into your 90’s and beyond

Coach's Notes

What Goes Into Our Programming

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Last month, we brought our programming back in house. After a few years of relying on programming from various services, we ultimately felt it was the best move for both our athletes and coaches to write the workouts ourselves.

For our athletes, we’re able to plan farther ahead, provide more context around the specific programming, and ultimately ensure we’re providing a balanced program.

For our coaches, they now have more space within a class to coach technical movements and provide individual feedback. This is only possible when a class time has some breathing room, and you’re not rushing from one thing to the next.

Today, we wanted to share a peek at how the programming comes together. Why? Because we want you to understand the intention behind what you’re doing in the gym! By understanding the WHY, you can get the most out of every workout.

We’ll break this down going from the macro (yearly) view to the micro (weekly). Let’s dive in!

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Taking Back Control Over Our Programming

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Starting Monday, July 13, you’ll see a shift in our workouts at CrossFit Undeniable. We’ll be bringing the programming back in-house, and we’re incredibly excited about the benefits this will offer to our coaches and athletes.

We began to outsource our programming at CrossFit Undeniable two years ago, initially starting with Train for the Win and then moving to NCFIT. Many gyms outsource their programming, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing either. Programming workouts is a skill that takes time to develop, and it often makes sense to pay professionals to program for you.

In our case, we relied on external programming so we could devote more time on other aspects of running the gym. Both programs were effective. But during and since returning from quarantine, both Zach and I had time to reflect on where we want to head as an organization and the type of training we believe in.

We believe good programming embraces:

  • GPP training. “General physical preparedness” is a cornerstone of CrossFit training. This means we don’t specialize in a single area but strive to make constant progress across the 10 general physical skills.
  • Varied, not random. CrossFit programming is often mis-represented as being “random.” In actuality, it’s not random at all; it’s varied. This means you’ll encounter a variety of rep ranges, time domains, intensities, and modalities across a given week.
  • Effectiveness. Meaning, it causes favorable adaptations as measured against repeatable tests, benchmarks, and body metrics.
  • Heavy days. It takes time to truly go heavy on a given day. Heavy days require a thorough warm-up, adequate time for building up in weight, and time to rest between sets. This is difficult to achieve when combining strength and metcon days.
  • Single element days. Some days should be spent on a single modality whether that’s weightlifting, gymnastics, or “cardio” elements like running and rowing. These single-focus days are often where you see the most progress and finally breakdown barriers (first pull-up or muscle-up, etc).
  • Adequate time in a class setting. Coaches need adequate time in an hour-long class to actually coach participants. When a class is packed full of content, coaches have little time to help athletes with progressions and cues.
  • Fun! Okay, maybe it’s not always “fun” to tackle 400m repeats or Fran, but good programming does reduce boredom and keep you coming in regularly. We want you training consistently 4-5 days per week!

Next week, we’ll be elaborating more on specifically how we lay out the programming on a quarterly, monthly, and weekly basis. Our weekly previews will also begin to include more specifics on the focus of particular workouts so you know the exact intention behind any particular day.

The workouts are already in Triib for next week so go have a peek. As always, we’re open to any feedback. Just drop us a note at info@crossfitundeniable.com!

Two Quick Updates Starting July 6

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We officially re-opened CrossFit Undeniable on Wednesday, June 10th. It’s been AMAZING to see everyone in the gym crushing workouts over the past three weeks.

Early last week, we put out a call via Facebook and email to get some feedback on the re-opening and what our community would like to see next. A big thank you to everyone that took the time to send us their thoughts!

We’re making two changes to the schedule starting Monday, July 6th given the feedback we received and how classes have run thus far—re-adding the 8AM class and expanding class caps.

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Our Revised Plan for Re-Opening on June 10

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It seems like forever ago that we published our tentative plans to reopen on April 27. Following that notice, we learned that gyms would not be able to open during the safer-at-home guidelines. We then put those plans on pause, awaiting additional guidelines from Governor Polis and Jefferson County.

CrossFit Undeniable has been closed for going on 12 weeks. We’re incredibly grateful to our amazing members that have supported us thus far even with our doors closed. We’ve been anxiously waiting and advocating for guidance specific to boutique gym like ours because we feel we can resume business operation in a safe manner.

Yesterday, Governor Polis announced that the safer-at-home guidance would be extended to July 1 in Colorado. However, draft guidance has been put forth that would allow gyms to have up to 10 people per room indoors. We should know whether that guidance is finalized by Thursday, June 4. Regardless, we’re planning to reopen on Wednesday, June 10.

Please see the full details of our plan below. We’re excited to get everyone back in the gym!

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How to Do Murph Wherever You Are With Whatever You Have

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Memorial Day is quickly approaching, which generally means “Murph.” The iconic hero workout is done in CrossFit affiliates across the globe in honor of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, killed in Afghanistan on June 28th, 2005 at the age of 29.

We all get together and perform “Murph” on Memorial Day in honor of Lieutenant Michael Murphy. His courage and bravery in battle is hard to truly appreciate. His ultimate sacrifice to save his brothers is hard to fathom. He was a true hero. We encourage you to read more about his story here.

Normally, we’d be having a big event at the gym in celebration of Murph. We’d obviously knock out the workout, but it would be followed by a huge barbecue, good food, high fives, games, and a few drinks.

Murph is going to look a bit different this Memorial Day, but the intent is still there. We still have the opportunity to complete a difficult workout as a small tribute to a true hero and the idea of being part of something bigger than ourselves. Here are a few options to knock out Murph wherever you are with whatever you have.

Regardless of how you get in Murph, please share a pic with us using #UndeniableAnywhere and #Murph.

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Focus On What You Can Control

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In 2016, the CrossFit Games introduced an event called “The Separator.” I think normal handstand push-ups are tough. This event had ring handstand push-ups. That’s right—athletes were inverted on rings doing strict handstand push-ups. Pretty incredible!

If you watch the event, you’ll notice eventual champ Mat Fraser receive quite a few “no reps” meaning the rep didn’t count, and he had to repeat it again. How does he respond? He doesn’t get frustrated or angry. He just continues onto the next rep without hesitation.

Ben Bergeron uses this event and Mat’s response in his book Chasing Excellence to illustrate an important concept. One key to success is to focus your effort on only the things you can control and ignore the rest.

Mat even has this lesson tattooed on his body in the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

The Serenity Prayer
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#UndeniableAnywhere: Challenge 13

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Thus far, many of our #UndeniableAnywhere challenges have been focused on movement and intensity. We’ve challenged you to tackle 50 burpees for time or complete a series of 400m repeats. Outside of fitness, we’ve had you track your nutrition and share a recipe with us.

Fitness and nutrition are both very important for our health, but there aren’t the only two factors that matter. Sleep, mindset, and our relationships play heavy roles as well. Due to the physical distancing requirements of COVID-19, the relationship piece might look a little different these days. However, it’s still critically important to continue to build those positive relationships in our lives.

For Challenge 13, we’re going to challenge you to focus on that relationship piece.

  • Task: Talk to a friend or family member (face-to-face, over the phone, over video) for 5+ minutes.
  • Challenge Start: Now (Monday, May 11)
  • Challenge End: 11PM on Saturday, May 16

It’s as simple as that. Just set up a time and give a friend or family member a call/meet them in-person if possible. Spend time just talking about…well, anything. How are you doing? How are they doing? What awesome things have happened despite COVID-19? What are you each struggling with? Talk about a funny memory. There are no rules to what you discuss!

Share some kind of photo of your conversation with us on social media and tag @CrossFitUndeniable with the hashtag #UndeniableAnywhere.

Finding Motivation During Challenging Times

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Normally, if I’m lacking motivation to workout, the answer is simple: Show up. By that, I mean I drive to the gym and walk in the front door.

I’m immediately greeted by other athletes that help to pick me up out of a funk. The coach provides the specific workout and warm-up. They set the clock, and I just…start moving. Within minutes, I feel worlds better.

With that in-person atmosphere temporarily on pause during COVID-19, it can be difficult to find that motivation. There isn’t a set in-person environment where you can go or a definitive group of people to hold you accountable at a specific time.

We’ve heard this struggle from many athletes. There isn’t one single solution that works for everyone. So, we thought we’d share a few different ideas and mindsets to help you find motivation during challenging times.

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