Newsletter #15
Week of 17–23 August 2026
Grip Week
Hey Peak Project family,
Winter Warriors has officially wrapped up. Six weeks of showing up, and the final scorecard is being calculated as we speak, results will be out soon. If you earnt it, get ready to get your hands on the exclusive Winter Warriors t-shirt. And keep an eye out, the top 10 point scores go into the draw to win dinner for two AND a bit of pampering.
This week's programming is below, including a grip-heavy Pain Cave session on Friday you won't want to miss.
— The Peak Project Coaches
Grip Under
Fire
Monday is a genuine sprint, Isabel first for a fast 30 snatches, then an EMOM of moderate-heavy power snatches once the clock resets. Tuesday builds a heavy front squat double across 10 sets before a 12-minute AMRAP of air squats and rope climbs, so grip and legs share the load. Wednesday is our first-ever programmed 5k row, broken into 3-minute windows with 10 bench press reps at the top of every one. Thursday is a repeatable gymnastics test, 8 sets of double unders, burpees to bar and toes-to-bar, where the score is your slowest set.
Friday is the week's centrepiece. Ring Muscle-Ups paired with a heavy deadlift, 9-7-5, capped at eight minutes, then straight into three heavy deadlift singles once the clock stops. Saturday is a partner conditioning piece on wall balls and box jump overs, and Sunday finishes with a maximal five-minute bike straight into GHDs and handstand walking.
| Level | Modification |
|---|---|
| RX+ | 9-7-5 Ring Muscle-Up · Deadlift 315/205 |
| Intermediate | 9-7-5 Bar Muscle-Up (or 18-14-10 Chest-to-Bar) · Deadlift 255/175 |
| Beginner | 9-7-5 Strict Pull-Up or Ring Row · Deadlift at a confident, lighter load |
Save Your
Grip
Snatches Monday, rope climbs Tuesday, bench Wednesday, muscle-ups and deadlifts Friday, your forearms and lats are carrying this whole week. Layer in two hinge-heavy sessions and your lower back is right there with them.
Nothing complicated needed, just consistency. A few minutes on the forearms and hips each day keeps Friday's Pain Cave session from being harder than it needs to be.
Calories In,
Calories Out?
CrossFit senior content writer Stephane Rochet, CF-L3, tackled one of the most tribal debates in fitness recently, and it's worth passing on. The global weight-loss industry surpassed $200 billion in 2022, and obesity rates are still climbing despite it. Rochet's take: the "calories in, calories out" model isn't wrong, it's just incomplete. Dr. Jason Fung's work shows obesity involves hormonal factors, particularly insulin resistance, not just a simple mathematical equation of energy in versus energy out. Worth a watch: Dr. Fung's explainer on YouTube.
The article makes the case for a "white belt" mindset toward your own nutrition, assume you know nothing, don't insert your own bias into the process, and realise there's always more to learn. That means treating your own body as an experiment of one rather than forcing yourself into whatever plan worked for someone else.
Food quality matters here too. Whole, unprocessed foods trigger our satiety hormones differently to processed alternatives, so we tend to eat less without having to white-knuckle it. But quantity still counts, portion awareness through weighing, measuring, or simply paying attention prevents overeating even when food quality is dialled in.
& Greens Bowl
This Week &
Coming Up
Nothing else on the calendar this week, but here's what's coming up next.
No Gym?
No Excuse.
A bodyweight version of Thursday's gymnastics conditioning piece, no rope, no pull-up bar, no problem. Same rhythm, same pacing goal.
- 30 Single Unders Or 20 sec fast feet
- 8 Burpees Each round
- 15 Sit Ups Each round
No skipping rope: sub 30 fast high-knees on the spot. No space to burpee full range: step back instead of jumping.
