Empower Weekly WOD: Week Beginning October 6th 2025

Monday, October 6th 2025

2015 Regional Event #4

250 ft Handstand Walk
Minimum 10 ft increments
Time Cap: 3 minutes

Then,

2015 Regionals Event #5

Max Snatch

This is a fun event pairing a high skill gymnastics movement with a high skill barbell lift. We’ll give you three minutes to accumulate as much distance as possible in the handstand walk, measuring only in 10-foot increments, or bear crawl in 25-foot increments. After that, you will move onto the lifting platform, where you will have 10 minutes (as many attempts as required) to establish a one rep max snatch. Power or squat snatch accepted, but you know which one will impress me more.

You will score each event separately.

We will start the event at half past the hour, running heats of three with a 6-minute stagger. There will be no break between events 4 and 5, as soon as your 3 mins handstand walk/bear crawl time is complete your 10 minute lifting window begins.

Event #4 is scored for time, but unless you can handstand walk 250 feet in 3 minutes, your score will be the time cap (3:00), and we will record distance travelled on the leaderboard and in your Zen Planner notes.

Tuesday, October 7th 2025

2015 Regionals Event #6

5 Rounds
25 Cal Row
16 C2B Pull Ups
9 Strict HSPU

Just keep moving! Woke still groggy with sinus congestion. My body turns into a phlegm factory when I get sick, and for some reason, its industrious labour force doesn’t ever get the memo that the illness is over until a week after the last viral replicant has been eradicated.

I’m not sick anymore, but the inflammation remains, and the motivation to move is low. This is when getting back at it can help the most. Not hard, mind you. Intensity is a bad plan at this stage. Just easy movement to help flush out the inflammation and restore circulation as your body recovers.

At no point did I want to be breathing hard or experience a racing heart rate. A very mild sweat was all I was going for. Easy pace on the rower. Strict pull ups in sets of 4 with ample rest between. And, because you do not want to be upside down while congested, I performed single arm strict kettlebell shoulder presses, 9 each side.

And I kept the volume low, stopping after just 3 rounds, which I completed at the leisurely pace of 11 minutes per round. Afterwards, I was breathing easier, the grogginess was gone, as was the inflammation.

Sometimes, athletes do not give themselves enough recovery after an illness, coming back and trying to crush a workout at 70+% straight out of the infirmary. Other times, athletes take too much time off, avoiding the gym for days after the worst has passed. I’m advocating here for a more moderate approach. When you are no longer a contagion risk, get yourself back into action, but ease into it with a very mild 30-40% effort at reduced volumes, gradually ramping it back up as your body feels recovered.

Wednesday, October 8th 2025

2015 Regional Event #7

15 Muscle Ups
1 Squat Clean @205/135#
1 Squat Clean @225/145#
1 Squat Clean @245/155#
1 Squat Clean @255/165#
1 Squat Clean @265/175#

No muscle ups? No problem. Start the WOD off with 15 C2B Pull Ups and 15 Ring Dips. If the prescribed clean weights seem heavy, I would treat this as a 1 rep max day. Start around 80% of your one rep max and build from there to see if you can score a personal best. I recommend a 10-minute cap for the lifting portion, coach’s discretion, of course.

Thursday, October 9th 2025: Make Up Day

See previous workouts

Friday, October 10th 2025

Back Squat Pyramid
Back Squat
10-5-3-1-1-1-3-5-10

This is an outstanding rep scheme. Contrary to what you might expect, it is not uncommon to be able to move heavier loads on your way back down the pyramid performing your second sets of 3, 5 and 10 at a heavier weight than that which you used in the first sets, despite the physiological fatigue that you would expect to be a limiting factor. I believe ethos is probably a consequence of neurological priming from the heavy singles that makes the loads at 3, 5 and 10 feel relatively lighter.

Saturday, October 11th 2025: Team WOD

Event 8 from the 2017 CrossFit Team Series.

Sunday, October 12th 2025

10x 100m Run

The 100m sprint may be one of the best expressions of power. Be certain to warm up thoroughly for it.

My second choice, if you cannot run this one, is 300m on the airbike, preferably without the seat. A good, hard, max effort.

Rest in between efforts with the goal of improving each round. Hint: this is hitting your ATP energy pathway, which requires a 1:3 work:recovery ratio. So, if the sprint takes you 15 seconds, you will require AT LEAST 45 seconds of recovery. More will not hurt.

Your score is your average time across 10 rounds.