April is not for the fools! Before we get into all of the excitement of April, let’s take a look back at the exciting month of March that we just wrapped up! We carried strong momentum coming out of our OHS Cycle earlier in the year to roll directly into our March/April Olympic Lifting Cycle. The initial first half of this cycle kept the loading Moderate to Mod-Heavy and focused on setting a firm foundation of perfect positions, including initial pulls from the floor, working to a Heavy 1-Rep Power to wrap up the month in week 4. Each week has also featured a supplemental strength session that help improve pulling, squatting, and pressing/jerking in the OH position.
When it comes to the Benchmarks, March had plenty! “Death Row” made its first appearance of 2022, and after some reflection, we will be offering a different variation of some of these Classics, similar to Cali-Bear, to spice things up when we see them in the future! They will feature both the original version as well as an optional version. We closed out the 2022 Open workouts with 22.3 + 22.3, both some serious tests of fitness! In honour of International Women’s Month, we had some big time Ladies workouts “Power Plus Amanda” + “Eliza-Plus” as well as our annual “Leading Ladies of Fitness” week on the final week of the month that included some originals, mash-ups, and Hero workouts named after some awesome women!
Happy April! We are going to be wrapping up our Oly cycle this month as we continue the program and progress through the full lifts, getting volume in Squat Snatches and Cleans as well as building to some Heavy (90-95%) loading. With a De-Load Week 7, we will again focus on light weight and positions before going for those big Heavy 1-Reps on the 8th week (18/4) of the cycle. Some of the workouts and Benchmarks that we will be getting to will capitalise on this increased amount of weightlifting, “D.T.” and “Cloudkicker”. Each of these workouts needs a high level of barbell proficiency. There’s no better time to get after these than during this March/April weightlifting focus. The Benchmark list, in relation to March is smaller on paper, but the culmination of all of the Oly work will be the most fun Benchmarks of the month as we build to those all exciting Heavy 1-Reps! We can’t wait to see our community thrive after all the work they’ve put in!
March/April Olympic Lifting Cycle
WEEK 1 (28/2)
- Snatch Deadlift + Snatch Pull (3×3+1)
- Clean Deadlift / Push Press (3×3)
- Front Squat (5×3, Building)
WEEK 2 (7/3)
- Snatch Pull + Hang Power Snatch (5×2)
- Clean Pull + Power Clean (5×2)
- Push Jerk From Rack (5×2)
WEEK 3 (14/3)
- Hang Power Snatch + OHS + Hang Squat Snatch (5 Sets, Building)
- Power Clean + Hang Squat Clean + Split Jerk (5 Sets, Building)
WEEK 4 (21/3)
- Heavy 1-Rep Power Snatch
- Heavy 1-Rep Power Clean
WEEK 5 (28/3)
- Squat Snatch (5×2)
- Clean Pull + Power Clean (5×2)
- Split Jerk (5×2)
WEEK 6 (4/4)
- Snatch Pull + Power Snatch (3×1, Heavy)
- Squat Clean + Jerk (3×1, Heavy)
- Back Squat (5×3)
WEEK 7 (11/4)
- De-Load
WEEK 8 (18/4)
- Heavy 1-Rep Snatch
- Heavy 1-Rep Clean and Jerk
Weekly April Commitments
- Olympic Weightlifting Cycle
- 2+ Weightlifting days
- 1 New or Classic Named Workout
- Partner Workout
April Benchmarks
- D.T.
- Cloudkicker
- Ava
- Heavy 1-Rep Clean and Jerk + Snatch