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The gym will be open at 4:30 p.m. today for an on-your-own warm-up. No max attempts until 5 p.m.

Functional Fitness Total

Squat, 1 rep

Press, 1 rep

Deadlift, 1 rep

Special Note: The 5-9 p.m. session will not have individual class times but will be run as one long session. Sign in as normal for the class time closest to your planned start time. A warm-up will be on the board, and you will complete it on your own.

After that, you will fill out your LIFT CARD (download here) and present it to your coach for approval. We want to know your most recent best numbers for a 1-, 3- or 5-rep squat, as well as your proposed max for each lift. Your coach will approve the numbers and help you figure out how to work up to them.

After that, you will join the groups around the gym to lift and register your maxes, and you can take more than an hour to do so. All lifting must be completed by 8:45 p.m., and you will have to share racks, bars and plates as needed – no Bogarting the racks or change plates.

This is a Scoreboard Workout: Functional Fitness Total, 1RM Deadlift, 1RM Press and 1RM Squat.

Proper form must be maintained at all times. The numbers don’t matter if your form is bad, and lone-wolf lifting is strictly forbidden. If a coach doesn’t see it, it doesn’t count.

Heavy squats must be performed inside the power cages, and we will use spotters.

Going for a PR even when you aren’t feeling it is a bad idea. Lift within your means, and lift with excellent technique. PRs come when technique is sound.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else lifted. You are competing with yourself.

Some of the best coaches in the world will tell you to “leave something on the platform.” That means breaking a PR once is awesome, but breaking it twice might be less than wise. Be patient: there are lots of days to lift. Write down your numbers: we will do this workout again in a few months.

The Functional Fitness Total is a great tool for revealing lagging muscle groups and weakness that need work, and your coach will identify any problems and give you ideas on how to fix them.

You can read the standards and procedures for the Functional Fitness Total here. Pay particular advice to Mark Rippetoe’s advice on Page 4:

1. Don’t be stupid.

2. Don’t be greedy.

3. Don’t be pig-headed.