Next Training Cycle
Latest Update
OK! We’re two weeks into January with finalized Open, Quarters, Semifinals, and Games dates set.
This means, for those following the app, expect a laser focus on peaking for CrossFit Quarterfinals the week of March 23. The majority of our athletes will qualify for quarters and several competitors are on the bubble to make Semifinals, so we’ll spend most of our time working on this moment to kickoff 2026.
We’ll break the training into 4 parts:
4 Weeks (1/19 - 2/15) | Open-ish prep with lighter weights and higher intensities
4 Weeks (2/16 - 3/15) | Quarters prep with heavier weights, more complex movements and a 4-day mock competition to finalize prep
10 Days (3/16 - 3/25) | Taper
5 Days (3/26 - 3/30) | Quarterfinals
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As a quick note, this means that training for quarterfinals will happen during the 3-week Open. We will program the Open test each Friday but with varying strength / skill work prior and some accessory to follow, ensuring we bank critical training pieces during Open season, which can be challenging if we don’t stay focused. Let’s use each Open test to practice the skill of competing and be a good community member at our local affiliate.
The final Friday of the Open will kick off our Quarterfinals mock which will include 26.3 plus 3-4 other tests to be performed between then and Sunday following. Afterward, we’ll taper our training until Quarters.
For any questions, reach out anytime.
-Chris
Congrats to WZA SoCal Competitors
For those who competed in Huntington Beach, we hope you had a blast. I had the opportunity to also compete and couldn’t have had a better time. The vibes were high and the workouts were tough, making for an excellent weekend.
We’ll carry a bit of this into future program planning (below).
-Chris
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Looking Ahead
CrossFit did us a solid and released their 2026 season early which contains some fun bits including the final Open announcement taking place at WZA Miami and those on-site athletes performing it as part of the scored competition. Quarterfinals are also back plus a huge bonus for Age Groupers - finally a chance to perform in Semifinals at a live competition, bringing back the Regionals feel for this increasingly growing group. Given this plus the overall sense that athletes are still in qualifying season for 2026 competitions, we’re planning to do the following for our next cycle:
Now thru Oct.26 | General fitness geared toward keeping competitors primed to perform qualifiers in peak condition.
Oct.27 - Jan.11 | Off-Season-ish Cycle
The modern CrossFit Athlete no longer goes into full off-season mode, but we can bring in elements that help us improve in focused ways across strength, skills, stamina, mobility, and technique while continuing to maintain overall conditioning
Jan.12 - Mar.26 | Full In-Season Mode
This gives us 6 weeks to fire our engines up for the Open, 8 weeks for those of us planning to compete at WZA Miami, and 10 weeks for Quaterfinalists
Programming will increase in volume and intensity with a peak for Quarterfinals as we want as many people as possible to experience the chance to compete live in Semifinals
Look for updates to our programming in the app starting as soon as next week that include days with specific priorities (strength, skills, classic CF, etc.) in mind and fewer mixed sessions as we try a few new things learned along the way. As always, keep updating the leaderboards so we can continue to learn and grow together.
-Chris
Need help?
If you need a little more hands-on coaching or assistance, give us a shout at enter@thedarkplace.co and we’ll be happy to jump in.