Raincity Athletics

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The 'How' of our Group Class Training Programming

2019 09 17 UPDATE: Raincity Athletics is no longer a CrossFit® Affiliate & the language in this post has been updated accordingly.
Read more about our un-affiliation here.


Raincity Athletics’ bread and butter is our [FF] Group Class ( rncty.ca/cf ), and a big part of that (outside of a wicked community and coaching) is the programming it follows.

Each and every gym is free to write and follow their own program, and every affiliate has a different way of creating their own. Many (see: most) gyms share the programming between coaches with each coach writing 1-4 weeks at a time, other gyms have one person (or hire someone) to write a program for their facility.

At Raincity Athletics we take pride in the thoroughness of our programs and once you see how it’s written, you’ll understand why.

Our [FF] Group Class Programming Method

The program is developed and put together by your owner Simon Damborg and Manager as well as lead programmer Liz Carrier. Take a look at their bios for the long list of certifications and experience backing them.

Raincity Athletics Owner, Simon Damborg

Manager and Lead Programmer, Liz Carrier

Step One - Meet & discuss

Our team of lead coaches get together every 2 weeks to discuss how things are going, what weaknesses or strengths they’re seeing in clients, as well as any other feedback they’ve gotten from their classes or clients.

Step Two - Develop and outline

Simon and Liz meet to discuss & outline the following cycle (or tweak the current on) based on these meetings. Cycles are outlined in 4, 8, or 12 week blocks depending on the focus and the primary strength / skill focus is outlined.

Step Three - Add in the sweat

An initial draft of the full cycle’s strength work is produced, and then the WODs (the ‘constantly varied’ part) are roughly laid in as well.

Step Four - Fine tune the details

Coaches Thor and Liz spend a few days going back and forth editing the daily workouts to ensure everything from variety of movements, domains, and more, but still ensuring they are tailored to best suit the needs of the general client base (based on the conversations from step one).

Step Five - Get it to the coaches

Once the workouts are finalized, they are moved to a document for all the coaches to be able to see the upcoming weeks, as well as any important notes, links, demos, etc.

Step Six - Get it to the clients

Once finalized, the workouts are added into Zen Planner and set to automatically display at 6PM the day before. Sometimes final / last second edits are made here based on weather changes, etc.


Constantly varied, but not random.

This method ensures you get the best of both worlds that are guaranteed to get you towards your goals, while providing a good variety.

We can only track what you log!

All of our clients are encouraged to log all their daily results via the Zenplanner App (check your app store) as we (your coaches) follow these results to help us determine what you need next! So if you want the program to be tailored to your needs, you have to log your results :)