New Skills and Past Skills Survey

4 rounds for time:
Row 250m
12 thrusters (105/75)
rest 90s

Alice and Randall fly in from the start of Saturday's workout, which involved a 3,000m bike!
Alice and Randall fly in from the start of Saturday’s workout, which involved a 3,000m bike!

New Skills and Past Skills Survey

At last week’s Coaches Meeting we evaluated the skill programming that the shop has completed for the past three months.  If you recall, back in May, we set out to complete a skill session as part of the group class timeline three days a week.  The skill work was all pre-programmed work based around the development of three skills:

handstand push-ups
toes-to-bar
chest-to-bar pull-ups (or kipping, or deadhang)

Over the past few months, the skill work amounted to 400-500 handstand push-up repetitions, 350-450 toes-to-bar or kips, and 350-400 chest-to-bar or pull-up repetitions depending on the individual and their rep scheme and sets.

So first, we want to hear from you – did the skill sessions and consistent practice make a difference?  Can you do something you once could not?  Did you PR a WOD because of a skill development?  Let us know!  Post to comments.

NEXT UP, we now take a break from the above set of skills and introduce to you three new skills!

rope climbs
ring dips
GHD hip extensions

The new skill sessions are rolling out this week!  

14 Responses
  1. Stacey

    Handstand pushups=YAY! Yes!
    Chest to bar pullups=YAY! A few!
    Toes to bar=Well….not quite yet. I’ll be optimistic=Soon?
    I appreciated the scaling options of the past few months–knowing that I could scale a workout to use the few HSPU that I had, without having to modify with a different exercise, certainly made a difference to me. Thanks!

  2. Raf

    Chest to bar went from 0 to more than expected.
    Handstand, about the same but less paranoid about falling on my neck
    T2B still can’t link ’em more than twice, but working on grip strength

  3. Nick

    Huge improvement on all three for me, though lots of work to be done. But great to have an actual base of at least a few reps that are pretty decent before I fall apart. Looking forward to muscle up month!

  4. Sarah McNamara

    The handstand pushup work was really helpful. Even though I still can’t do any without kipping and extra abmats, it helped build my confidence that I know what I’m supposed to do and I just need to work on my strength and practice more.

  5. JakeDurling

    I think the skill work is invaluable. The movements are all of the sort that I keep saying I need to do more of but that I never seem to find time to do after a WOD. Having them be part of the programming has been a really nice way to force myself to actually follow through on working on weaknesses.

    1. Jake, thanks for the comment. Part of the reason we wanted to have them programmed into the hour is because of exactly what you’re saying – “The movements are all of the sort that I keep saying I need to do more of but that I never seem to find time to do after a WOD.” We TOTALLY agree. You guys put in a ton of time at the shop and we want to make your hour here as effective, enjoyable, and fun as possible. Thanks!

  6. Nicole S

    The skill work has not just improved my comfort and ability with the movements, but given me a lot more shoulder strength, which is critical for all of these movements. I’m excited about having some time to work on new skills… and starting to get up those ropes!

  7. LukeU

    Handstands definitely helped in the WODs, that was great.
    Should add in buttefly pull-ups next skill cycle

  8. Thanks everyone for the comments! The coaches really felt that across the board, the program had helped a lot of folks either perform the movement to a better degree (form, reps, strength) or helped them get more comfortable with the movement. It’s great to hear your feedback. Thanks!

  9. Trev

    Really thought it was helpful. HSPU’s and TTB now seem routine, whereas before they were total “goats” for me…let’s do it again with a new skill!

  10. Nick

    I had a big PR on overhead squats the other day… after doing none of those for a long time, but a hell of a lot of HSPU’s in the mean time. Possibly related!