Newsletter #17
Week of 31 August – 6 September 2026
For Real.
Hey Peak Project family,
This is the real deal, an actual week of 2026 CrossFit Games events, scaled and loaded onto our floor. Monday's the exact event that opened the very first Games back in 2007. Tuesday's the CrossFit Total. Sunday's a partner machine grind straight off the Games floor. Every single day this week traces back to San Jose.
This is Separation Season, and there's no better test of it than a week like this. Show up, find out what you're made of, and see how you stack up against the standards that decided this year's fittest on Earth.
This week's full programming is below, plus a nutrition read on fuelling a week with this much volume in it.
— The Peak Project Coaches
The Games,
Our Floor
Monday opens with your August Bench Press Challenge retest, straight into Event 1 of the 2007 CrossFit Games, the very first event in Games history, a 1000m row buy-in into five rounds of 25 pull-ups and 7 push jerks. Tuesday is the CrossFit Total, one rep max back squat, shoulder press and deadlift, then a 50/40 calorie air bike sprint for time. Wednesday brings The Hopper 2026, three rounds of 21 toes-to-bar and three flavours of unbroken snatch, seven reps each, on a light bar that gets heavy fast once your grip is gone.
Thursday is the Swim Standard, a descending row or ski ladder from 1000m down to 250m paired with descending line-facing burpees, a long, steady grind. Friday is Pain Cave territory, four rounds of 600m run and 10 heavy hang squat cleans. Saturday is our "Partner Triple Pig," teams of two working through bar muscle-ups, GHD wall-ball sit-ups, jump rope and heavy deadlifts, and it's doing double duty as this week's Fathers Day WOD. Sunday closes the week with a partner machine grind, 3600m row and 3600m ski each, split however you like.
| Level | Modification |
|---|---|
| RX+ | 600m Run · 10 Hang Squat Cleans (185/125) |
| Intermediate | 600m Run · 10 Hang Squat Cleans (155/105) |
| Beginner | 400m Run · 8 DB Hang Power Cleans + 8 DB Front Squats (light) |
Survive The
Games Grind
Seven Games events in seven days is a lot to ask of your body. Grip takes an absolute beating, pull-ups and push jerks Monday, toes-to-bar and three flavours of snatch Wednesday, bar muscle-ups and deadlifts Saturday. Your posterior chain is under the pump too, between Tuesday's Total and Friday's hang squat cleans. This is a week to manage, not to grind through blind.
Grip and hips are the priority. A little daily maintenance keeps Wednesday's snatches from being harder than they need to be, and keeps your hands together for Saturday's muscle-ups and deadlifts.
Kill Your
Fake Hunger
CrossFit Essentials writer Stephane Rochet, CF-L3, made a point worth sitting with during a week like this one: most cravings aren't real hunger at all. They're boredom, dehydration, poor sleep, or just processed food sitting within arm's reach. With seven Games events on the board this week, telling the difference matters more than ever, you need real fuel for tomorrow's session, not a snack chasing something else entirely.
Start with the foundation. Get your protein, carbs and fats roughly dialled in, protein around 1g per pound of bodyweight, carbs at about 1.3x your protein grams, fats at roughly 4x protein grams divided by 9. Once that's in place, most of what feels like "hunger" through the day is something else, dehydration mistaken for an empty stomach, boredom looking for a distraction, or short sleep from a week this demanding cranking up your hunger hormones.
Rochet's other point is one worth hearing during Games Week specifically: a little hunger is normal, especially with this much volume in your legs. It's not a sign anything's gone wrong, it's your body in "a state of readiness." And if a meal doesn't go to plan on a big training day, that's not the end of anything, just get the next one back on track and keep moving through the week.
& Sweet Potato Refuel
This Week &
Coming Up
Saturday's class doubles as this week's Fathers Day WOD, bring the whole family down. Here's what's on this week, and what's coming up after that.
No Gym?
No Excuse.
A no-equipment version of Thursday's Swim Standard, a descending run and burpee ladder that gets harder to move but shorter to finish. Just a footpath and a floor.
- 800m Run + 40 Burpees
- 600m Run + 30 Burpees
- 400m Run + 20 Burpees
- 200m Run + 10 Burpees
No safe place to run: sub 2:30/2:00/1:30/1:00 of fast marching on the spot for each distance. Full burpees too much: sub step-back burpees or up-downs.
