Introducing our Base Week 2021 Workouts!

SouthFit Nation,

Base Week in 2020 was a great success. We created benchmark workouts for you, our members, to get a chance to learn what your body is capable of. We then repeated those workouts so you could find out how well you’re progressing on your fitness journey. And as a staff, we got a chance to see which parts of training we should be investing more time developing.

And now we’re excited to announce our Base Week programming for 2021!

Bigger. Better. Bolder.

What is Base Week?
It is a series of benchmark workouts that are programmed over the course of one week. These workouts are meant as “tests” and they will be repeated 3-4 times throughout the year. It is called Base Week because you are (re)identifying your baseline on a regular basis.

The tests range in time duration from ultra short (e.g. Power Clean 1-rep max) to long (e.g. a 25-min circuit). They range in intensity and in load. They are meant to measure all facets of your fitness: power, strength, speed, strength endurance, stamina, cardiovascular conditioning, gymnastic ability, unilateral/bilateral strength balances, movement skill and general work capacity.

Why do this?
A large part of the fitness equation is measurement. We combine consistency and hard work with logging and tracking so we can identify where progress is being made, and where it isn’t. The simple action of entering your score in SugarWOD after the workout is less about finding your place on the leaderboard and more about finding your place in your own fitness improvement journey. It is key to how far your fitness will go in the next 3 months.

Will these tests change?
Throughout a given year, we will aim to keep the makeup of Base Week the same in order to determine, as a gym and as individuals, how and where we are making progress. We will use the results to enhance our gym programming and address any area of our training that could use a little more TLC.

Year over year, we will revisit some of the workouts and possibly swap them in/out for other tests that we deem more informative and a better representation of the kind of fitness we want in our athletes.

This year, we are continuing with some of the pieces from 2020, and swapping out others with new workouts.

What are the workouts for 2021?
First, a reminder that the workout selection has to achieve 3 goals:
1. Be possible to perform in a world of social distancing
2. Be organized in a way that even if you couldn’t make all the days, you could still choose 3 or 4 days from the week and still get a great assessment of fitness
3. Cover all aspects of fitness, including strength (both bilateral and unilateral), muscular endurance, power, cardiovascular conditioning, balance, agility, stamina, and the three energy systems.

Ok, onto the workouts.

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[BUILD]
Front Rack Reverse Lunge 
Max Reps @ 75% Bodyweight

Focus: Strength Endurance (Lower Body Unilateral)

[SUSTAIN]
Tabata (:20s on / :10s off) x 8 rounds:
– Strict Pull-Ups 
– Push-Ups
– Jumping Lunges

Focus: Muscular Stamina

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WEDNESDAY

[BUILD]
Power Clean
1-Rep Max

Focus: Power + Speed

[BUILD]
Bent Over Row
5-Rep Max

Focus: Strength (Upper Body Pulling)

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THURSDAY

[BUILD]
Max Hollow Body Hang from Pull-Up Bar

Focus: Grip + Trunk Strength

[SUSTAIN]
“CYBORG”
AMRAP 25-mins:
– Row 500/400m
– 25 Russian KB Swings @ 53/36lb
– 20 Box Jump Overs @ 24/20″
– 15 Pull-Ups

Focus: Endurance

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FRIDAY

[BUILD]
Back Squat
3-Rep Max

Focus: Strength (Lower Body Bilateral)

[SUSTAIN]
Run 1 Mile or
Row 2K

Focus: Cardiovascular Conditioning

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SATURDAY

[BUILD]
Single Arm DB Press
Max Reps @ 25% Bodyweight

Focus: Upper Body Pressing (Unilateral)

[BUILD]
Double DB/KB Hold
Max Duration

Focus: Grip Strength

[TILT]
15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
– DB Thrusters 
– DB Devil’s Presses
@ 45/25lb

Focus: Threshold Training

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When is this happening?
Our first Base Week in 2021 will take place during the calendar week of Monday February 8th! We will be repeating the same programming every 12 weeks, for a total of four (4) times in 2021.

So, mark your calendars. Time to set some benchmarks!