Monday 2.19
Name game: Happy Presidents’ Day! If you were president for a week, what friend, family member, or celebrity would you have as your VP?

Warm up: 3 minute bike/row then rounds of 10 down dog with alternating toe touch, 10 glute bridges, 10 box step-ups or jumps

Movement prep: for 5-7 rounds alternate sets of 5 deadlifts, building to 10-20% heavier than your weight for the WOD, and sets of 3 seated box jumps, building higher than your box jump height for the WOD

WOD: For time *12 minute cap
21-15-9
deadlifts 275/185
box jumps 30/24
*Rx+ deadlift 315/205

Accessory (optional): 3-5 rounds
:45/side single arm farmers carry
5-10 strict chin-ups

How to scale: This workout is meant to be relatively quick. Modify to achieve that stimulus, but keep in mind that the time cap allows some leeway to take a risk and push the deadlift weight.

Deadlifts: Pick a load at the low end of heavy that you can do for at least sets of 5. For most people, this means your working weight should not be heavier than around 75% of your max.

Box jumps: If possible, keep the jump by lowering the height of the box or even doing tuck jumps. Otherwise, do step-ups.

Objective: The workout today is short and sweet, with the classic 21-15-9 rep scheme combining relatively heavy deadlifts with explosive box jumps. Because the WOD itself is essentially a sprint, the priority is getting an extremely thorough warm up — building up past your working deadlift weight and practicing box jumps starting from seated to add extra emphasis on the explosive opening of the hips.

Score: time to complete
Rx+ note: This version can be logged in SugarWOD under Benchmarks -> Games -> Regional Individual 13.5.

Tuesday 2.20
Name game: Would you rather be able to eat anything and have perfect nutrition, or sleep one hour per day and always be fully rested?

Warm up: 2 minute bike/row then rounds of 10 banded pass throughs with a lunge, 10 band strict press, 5 dive-bomber push-ups

Skill/volume: handstand push-ups (10 minutes)
*Decide whether you want to treat this as skill work or strength/volume work and pick an option that suits your level.
Advanced: build to a max deficit handstand push-up, then do a max reps set of HSPU with no deficit (strict or kipping is athlete’s choice)
Intermediate/advanced: complete 3-10 reps EMOM, using 1-2 abmats as needed. Start strict every round and switch to kipping if necessary, provided you can still control your descent. More advanced athletes can do some or all rounds with strict wall-facing HSPU.
Beginner: complete 2-3 HSPU negatives EMOM or make attempts at kicking up to a handstand, or do 3-10 z-presses or pike push-ups EMOM.

WOD: 14 minute AMRAP
14 dumbbell front rack lunges 50/35
:45 handstand hold
14 dumbbell front squats 50/35
:45 hollow hold

How to scale: Aim for each of these movements to take no longer than about a minute to complete.

Dumbbell skills: Use lighter dumbbells or a single dumbbell held goblet style. You could be able to do these mostly unbroken.

Handstand hold: Reduce the time so you can complete the hold in 3 sets or fewer. If getting inverted is an issue, hold a feet-elevated plank/partial wall walk or regular plank.

Hollow hold: Reduce the time so you can complete the hold in 3 sets or fewer. Go to a tuck hold if needed.

Objective: There’s two ways to go about the handstand push-up work today: one is to make it skill-focused, doing anything from practicing kicking up to working on wall-facing and deficit HSPU; the other is to treat it as a higher volume strength piece by choosing a version of HSPU or progression and accumulating reps in an EMOM scheme. The WOD mixes lower body dumbbell skills and static holds. There will be limited interference between skills, so try to keep moving at an even pace throughout.

Score: rounds & reps

Wednesday 2.21
Name game: What’s something you did or experienced in childhood that today’s children never will?

Warm up: for 5 minutes complete rounds of :45 row, 10 kip swings, 5 inchworms with a push-up

WOD: Every 6 minutes for 5 rounds, each for time
500m row
15 toes to bar
10 burpee pull-ups
*to share rowers, have some athletes start rounds at minutes 3, 9, 15, 21, 27

How to scale: Modify so that you’re able to finish rounds in under 5 minutes.

Row: Cap each 500m at 2:30 or reduce the distance to 400m

Toes to bar: Reduce the reps to 10-12 per round and/or reduce the range of motion to knees to elbow, knees to chest, or hanging knee raises. If hanging is an issue, sub v-ups or tuck-ups. Each set should take under 1 minute.

Burpee pull-ups: Do straight-arm burpees and use a lower pull-up bar or do 10 burpees then 10 ring rows. Reduce the reps if need to keep each set under 90 seconds.

Objective: We have five 3-5 minute intervals today, roughly matching the stimulus of doing 800m run repeats. Between intervals, you’re creating your own rest — ideally at least 1 minute and up to 2-3 minutes between intervals. Row at an 80-90% effort so you’re able to start on the toes to bar with minimal rest, work through those in 1-3 sets, then get in a rhythm to finish the burpee pull-ups without breaking. The more rest you’re able to buy yourself, the harder you should be pushing on each interval.

Score: time for each round (whiteboard: fastest and slowest rounds)

Thursday 2.22
Name game: What’s the best foreign language film you’ve seen?

Warm up: 3 minute bike/row then coach-led barbell

Strength: Every 90 seconds for 10 rounds
1 squat clean + 2 front squats

WOD: 7 minute AMRAP
25 air squats
5 power cleans 155/105

How to scale: Use a weight you could do for 5 reps in a row.

Objective: The strength work today mixes some Olympic lifting skill with the chance to get some moderate/heavy front squats in. It’s your choice if you build over the course of the 10 intervals or settle at a consistently challenging load. The WOD is a short AMRAP of unweighted squats and moderate weight power cleans. Move through the squats quickly without sacrificing range of motion, then aim for quick singles or faster on the cleans. Can you hold better than EMOM pace?

Score: max clean complex and rounds & reps

Friday 2.23
Name game: If you wanted to wreak havoc at a zoo, which animals would you free first?

Warm up: for 4 minutes complete rounds of 20 single/double unders, 10 pass throughs, 5/5 scap pull-ups/kip swings

WOD: 7 rounds for time *25 minute cap
12 push presses 95/65
36 double unders
8 hang power snatches 95/65
36 double unders
4 muscle-ups (athlete’s choice ring or bar)

How to scale: Modify to move through the barbell and jump rope quickly, then challenge yourself on the small sets of muscle-ups under fatigue.

Double unders: Do 72 singles or 24 single-single-doubles.

Push press & hang power snatch: Use a weight you can do unbroken for at least the first 2-3 rounds.

Muscle-ups: Do attempts/1-3 reps, transitions, or banded/jumping MUs; or sub 4-8 reps each of a challenging pull-up (chest to bar/ring, strict, jumping, ring row) and dip (rings, matador, banded, box).

Objective: It’s a slightly longer WOD today with a mix of everything — some light barbells, relatively small sets of double unders to keep your heart rate high, and a higher skill gymnastics element to cap off each round. You have seven rounds to get through, so don’t take off at a sprint on the first one. Try to keep consistent pace, finishing each barbell movement and the DUs in 1-2 sets throughout the workout, and pick a challenging but sustainable scale for the muscle-ups.

Score: time to complete (or rounds & reps at cap)

Saturday 2.24
Name game: If you were to write a self-help book, what would the topic be?

Warm up: coach-led funzies

WOD: In teams of 3, AMREPs in 30 minutes
Partner A: Max calorie bike
Partner B: 7-5-3
Russian kettlebell swings 32/24
pogo burpees over KB (lateral)
Partner C: Rest
*Rotate each time B finishes the couplet
**Team of 2/1 rotates with a ghost partner(s) based on how long the couplet takes

How to scale: Reduce the KB weight and/or sub straight arm burpees/step over and back or in place so you can finish the couplet with few or no breaks. If needed, drop the rep scheme to 6-4-2 or 5-3-1 to keep the couplet under 2 minutes at the start.

Objective: You’re partnering up with two friends today and working for two-thirds of the time, first on the bike and then sprinting through a short couplet. Push hard on the bike — those calories count — and try to keep pushing through the fatigue on the couplet because your rest break is in sight. For most teams this should work out to 3-4 minutes of work and 1:30-2 minutes of rest each cycle.

Score: total reps (calories + couplet – each time through is 30 reps)

Sunday 2.25
Part A: Deadlift 6×3 – 75% to 85% of 1RM
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
Part B: Front Squat 6×3 – 75% to 85% of 1RM
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets.