Competitor Program Outline

Four Barrel is excited to begin releasing it’s competitor programming to the public. The next cycle will be released starting August 18th. Each day will include full programming along with coaching guidance.

Please read all of the details on this page before starting the program.  

Program Details & Things to Keep in Mind

  • We want to know how well you’re performing and how effective the program has been. Post your scores & questions to the comments section of the blog each day (see example below).
  • Our competitor programming is periodized and built to peak during the CrossFit Open and Regional Season.
  • The global format for the program is a 5 day training week – 3 on 1 off, 2 on 1 off.
  • Listen to your body. For many athletes this program will be a significant increase in volume. It’s ok to feel a little beat-up; however, understand the difference between soreness and injury. Ease into the training and focus on form and technique early on. Worry about intensity once your body has adapted to the program.
  • With a year-long focus, you will sacrifice conditioning and other aspects at certain times of the year in order to build strength or other skills/abilities.
  • Don’t get programming ADD. If you’re going to try our competitor program, stick with it. With a long term focus it can often be 8, 12, 16 weeks (or more) before you seen significant increases. This is by design. Our aim is to keep you as well rounded as possible and deliver safe and consistent progress so that you can continue to train and perform.
  • Make sure your diet is on-point. More often than not, most people looking for serious gains are not eating enough. Be sure you’re getting in plenty of macros throughout the day and surrounding your workouts with good nutrition (this includes intra-workout nutrition).
  • Focus on rest and recovery. The biggest downfall I see with many competitive athletes is too much volume and not enough recovery. Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night and use the recovery techniques that we will be posting to the blog.  
  • Be ready for deload and testing weeks every 4-5 weeks. Volume will decrease significantly during these weeks.
  • If you compete in local competitions, be selective. Only compete in reputable competitions with sensible programming, and limit your participation to once competition every 2-3 months. Comps’ can take a toll on your body and often interrupt your training program for several days. Consider these competitions B & C priority. Meaning your A priority is still your week-to-week training with the ultimate goal of performing well for The Open (and/or Regional if you make it that far).  

We want you to get the most out of your training and want you to be safe while doing so. This is a relatively high volume program with advanced movements, so we suggest being a proficient CrossFit athlete before jumping into the program. A few simple guidelines and prerequisites are below:

Prerequisites

  1. You’ve been CrossFitting consistently for at least 12 months
  2. You’re proficient in almost all movements (full squat snatch, full squat clean, chest to bar pull-ups, etc).
  3. You have 90-120min a day to commit to training

**If you have any questions about the program in general please post them to the comments section of this page.**

Posting Example

[Coming Soon]