Hybrid Program Information

Program notes

• These programs will increase static strength, explosive strength, and limit strength. This increase in strength will lead to substantial improvements in metabolic conditioning.
• Metcon should be short and intense. Keep it under 10 minutes (usually under 5). Keep it heavy, and keep it functional. Select workouts that require very little rest. Scale reps, rounds, or time before scaling weight! (This might be the most important bit you'll read on this). This is key to the neuroendocrine response we’re looking for.
• Use KB’s, tires, farming implements, stones, boat chains, and sledgehammers liberally. Sprint often (Tabatas, 100s, 200s, 400s). Full body exercises (cleans, thrusters, swings) are great. Use couplets and triplets. NO chipper workouts.
• The exercise order and selection promotes increases in strength and, if you eat for it, lean mass. Everything you do on this program packs a substantial neuroendocrine wallop. Pick your metcon exercises accordingly. You should be shaving twice a day on this program.
• Eat more protein. If you’re Zoning, increase protein intake by 2-4 blocks and fat by 8-16 blocks. Do not increase your carbs (I have accounted for them in the fat increase).
• Go heavy, go hard, or don’t go at all. The volume is low enough, and the metcons are short enough that your CNS should be stable throughout the program. If you need a day off, take it. Don’t tear your body down while it’s trying to build itself up.
• Eat lots of red meat. It’s just better. Consuming large quantities of blood-soaked animal tissue puts you in a better frame of mind to train like this. If you eat eggs, eat whole eggs.

Programs


• There are three programs.
• The 3/1 program. I designed one for people who like the 3/1 CF schedule. Personally, I think 6 workouts in 8 days is a bit much. But you wanted it, so here it is.
• The novice strength-biased program. This is a 3/1/2/1 schedule. I got used to training like this doing the PMenu WOD, and I like it. It’s also an intermediate programming scheme discussed in Practical Programming. I wrote this program because I train with a guy who doesn’t need to do as much OLY lifting as I do. The power versions of the OLY lifts are done. There is also an extra day of push presses or rack jerks. If you train on Saturday, just do a regular WOD (this can be a little longer). If you train with weights, keep it light and drill some OLY lifts.
• The intermediate/advanced strength-biased program. This is my personal program. Saturday is optional. This is where I drill OLY by doing assistance exercises (snatch balance, tall cleans, etc.) and get on the rings. Or I get in the canoe, go mountain biking, or play a little judo. Saturday is not a hard training day for me. So yeah, I pretty much train 4 out of 7 days.

Other concerns


• Do other stuff. It’s summer time. Walk, swim, play softball, ride a bike. Whatever. Don’t pass a bar, set of rings, or rock ledge without pulling yourself up on it.
• Substitute if you feel the need. I refuse to miss Murph or Filthy Fifty. If one of your favorite WOD comes up, do it.
• Deadlift every week. They’re good for your soul. Cool down with reverse hypers 2-4 times a week. They’re good for your deadlifts and thus good for you soul. Your back will thank you.
• 5 minutes a week of KB long-cycle clean & jerks has profound effects.
• Read Christopher Sommer’s article on front lever progressions (also has planche progressions).
• Read up on the Bulgarian method.
• Squat low for training. If you’re a guy, try to tea-bag the platform. You’ll be amazed how much you’ll be able to lift in a CFT when you only squat to regulation depth.

Sets, reps, and exercises (sets x reps)


• Welcome back to linear progression! We’re going to get stronger every week. Linear strength progression works a little differently in a program with gymnastics and metcon, so pay attention to what’s happening. I have borrowed heavily from Rippetoe, Everett, and Louie Simmons in designing this.
• OLY lifts should be 5-8 sets (or more) of singles or doubles. Look to Coach B. or the PMenu for additional programming ideas. You have to be careful with your loads and volume on this stuff. It can sneak up on you.
• The slow lifts should start with 3x5 (including dips and pull-ups). Drop to 3x3 after 6 weeks or whenever the volume becomes too much. You may also want to mix in some 5x3, 5x2 or 7x1. It’s your program! Eventually you’ll almost exclusively be doing either 1) med volume/high intensity or 2) low volume/stupid intensity!
• Only do one work set on the deadlift if you’re working with max numbers.
• Mix sets across with progressive loading. You can do 3x3 across one week and 5x3 progressive (working up to a 3RM). Do progressive loading at least once every third time for each lift.
• Work in some ME/DE days as necessary. We’re all about speed and power. I mix in plenty of box squatting so I can squat frequently. It helps your deadlift, too. Reverse hypers help everything.
• Deadlift every week (it’s worth repeating). If it tears you up like it does me, mix in some rack pulls and halting deadlifts. I love 3x6 snatch grip deadlifts off a 4” box.
• Substitute OLY lifts as needed. Play with the full and hang positions to optimize results. If you’re on the advanced program, do the full version at least once a week.

Bottom line

• Go fast, go heavy, and go hard. If you're doing sets across, increase it every time. Don't reset if you fail at 5, just drop to 3. If you're doing CF ME work (5 triples, 7 singles), go for a PR every time. Metcons are short, heavy, and functional. Don't rest.

*****

__________________

Popeye has Spinach - I have Crossfit
Hurts so good
Do it 'til it hurts
You can cry, just don't act like a baby
Where masochistic fools unite
Check your ego at the door
My sport if fitness
Pain is my instructor
Kip it up
Pain is weakness leaving the body
Blood is replaceable. Sweat is expected. Tears are optional. Specialise in nothing. Excel in everything.
What am I training for? Life
It's okay to stare. Just don't interrupt.

Workouts

BARB

500 m Row

Then 3 Rounds of

20 Pull- ups

30 Push-ups

40 Sit-ups

50 Air Squats

Then

500 m row

Percent 1RM - Repetitions

Percent 1RM - Repetitions (baechle and Earle,2000)
%.......Reps
100% = 1
95% = 2
93% = 3
90% = 4
87% = 5
85% = 6
83% = 7
80% = 8
77% = 9
75% = 10
70% = 11
67% = 12
65% = 15

Recruiting Hip Function

This is a perfect representation (and contrast) of the good, the bad, and the ugly in human movement.

The picture on the left applies to all kinds of squats and squat-like movements (think thrusters). But it also applies to the quick lifts, like the clean and snatch. The picture on the left is how you should be moving under load. The picture on the right is an illustration of muted hip function, where the power of your legs and hips are vastly underutilised.

Ever miss a power clean before, even though you get it up high enough to be caught in the rack position? Chances are you're not getting down into the position on the left fast enough, if at all.

Need to get your "butt back and chest high" in order to in the position on the left. It's the ideal position to transfer force with the legs and hips. For those of you who've read any of Rippetoe's work, you'll see that this is very much like what he lays out as the ideal position to execute back squats and power cleans. In other words, it's consistent with the physics and geometry that underpins the basic barbell movements that Rippetoe teaches.

So next time you notice your hip coming forward (or your butt not going back, if you'd rather think of it that way) on the catch of a power clean, understand that you're not only limiting your potential for bigger numbers in the clean, you're embedding a highly inefficient and potentially dangerous motor recruitment pattern.

The solution: back the weight off and do it right! It's critical that you understand you're not so much lifting a weight but training a movement pattern under load.

Thanks to Crossfit Oakland for this

What is Crossfit?

A comprehensive health-and-fitness program designed for universal scalability; meaning so long as you're committed, you can get started regardless of experience level. Rather than change programs, we change our loads and intensity to meet the demands of everyone from the elderly to champion cage fighters.

CrossFit focuses on all ten elements of optimal physical fitness:

1) Cardio/Respiratory Endurance
2) Stamina
3) Strength
4) Flexibility
5) Power
6) Speed
7) Coordination
8) Agility
9) Balance
10) Accuracy

Greg Glassman Quotes

"Functional strength is the successful application of force along productive lines."

"Calm those worthless tremors." (speaking about motor adaptation in frictionless situations, i.e., rings)

"I'm a fitness whore, I don't care how you feel, only about performance."

"FrankenFitters" (on the top CrossFitters, such as Annie, Greg A., Eva T., Nicole C., Josh E., etc.)

"I don't want to grade my own papers." (on letting others validate the efficacy of CrossFit protocols)

"Insist foundational pieces are rock-solid."

"Response to stimulus is systemic rather than mechanical."

"We exist on the margins of decrepitude."

"Metabolically inert material can be carved off and replaced [with muscle] with no net displacement."

"No brain, no pain."

"Be stupid for me."

"Alter your hormonal milieu."

"Don't paint a dirty car." (on hiding poor form with more weight and/or speed)

"Dead cat, angry beaver, sleepy bug." ("rehab" exercises)

"If you cannot deadlift you are injured but asymptomatic."

"Like towing a car with a bungee cord." (bent arms in oly lifts)

"All the charm of a house of cards in the wind." (on poor form)

"Unsound mechanics at submaximal loads = injuries."

"Performance is directly correlated with intensity. Intensity is directly correlated with discomfort."

"We fail at the margins of our experience."

"Push-up, sit-up, jumping jack, lather, rinse, repeat." (weakness of most standard PT)

"Burn on the pyre of ego." (on the perils of failing to regulate intensity)

"CrossFit is open-source fitness technology."

"If you don't get the ABCs we don't jump into English Lit."

"Don't hammer a wine glass."

"First, second, third, dead fuckin' last." (on the motivating properties of keeping score)

"It is very motivating to get your sac publicly smoked by a five-foot female hippie pottery teacher from the local high school." (Special Forces reaction to CrossFit seminar)

"Vertical force translates well into rotational force."

"I have great cardio-respiratory endurance, it is just that the track is too long."

"Hiding from your weaknesses is a recipe for incapacity and error."

"Why don't you try some Judaism tonight?" (on people's fanatic attachment to their diet)

"We should call them Bagelarians." (on vegetarians)

"Triathletes are sorely lacking in strength, speed, power, flexibility, accuracy, agility, and coordination, but they've sure got a lock on malnutrition."

"Training for a fight by running twenty minutes everyday makes perfect sense if you plan on running away from your opponent and know you will be getting a ten minute headstart."

"The cost of regular extended aerobic training is decreased speed, power, and strength."

"An athlete diminished by excessive aerobic training is slow and weak. At CrossFit we call that state, 'spun-down.'"

"Stick to the basics and when you feel you've mastered them it's time to start all over again, begin anew - again with the basics - this time paying closer attention."

"Other than steroid use I cannot think of a single contribution to athletic performance coming from the sport science community."

"There is no single sport or activity that trains for perfect fitness. True fitness requires a compromise in adaptation broader than the demands of most every sport."

"Cardiorespiratory endurance, stamina, strength, power, speed, flexibility, agility, accuracy, balance, and coordination: you're as good as your weakest link."

"Squat, jump, climb, throw, lift."

"Generating and sustaining significant work output from the upper body is a critical domain generally, and sadly, reserved for rowers, combatants, and cross country skiers."

"No, it doesn't ever get any easier. You wouldn't want it to either."

"The most important criterion for exercise selection is neuroendocrine effect. Regardless of your sport or your fitness goals these moves are the shortest path to success."

"Endurance, stamina, strength, and flexibility are developed through training, and these adaptations manifest as measurable changes in the body. Coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy are developed through practice and these adaptations come about through changes in the nervous system. Power and speed have equal requirements for training and practice."

"Blur the distinction between strength training and metabolic conditioning for the simple reason that nature's challenges are typically blind to the distinction."

"A strength and conditioning regimen devoid of gymnastics practice and skills is deficient."

"Traditionally, callisthenic movements are high rep movements, but there are numerous bodyweight exercises that only rarely can be performed for more than a rep or two. Find them. Explore them!"

"Reserve the long slow distance work for recreational breaks from your regular training regimen."

"Farther, longer is not fitter, is not healthier."

"Your gym isn't complete without parallettes; not even close."

"Go home - Get 25-30 dips - then come back in here and you will have about 3 dips on my rings."

"Why is it that a guy with a 95 pound deadlift and 6 pull-ups is the first to worry about developing his grip?"

"Basketball, Volleyball, Wrestling, Boxing, and Football are each by large preponderance anaerobic not aerobic sports. Knowing and understanding this distinction is the first step to responsible, effective coaching."

"The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality." Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968, American Black Leader, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1964)

"When dealing with similarly enlightened souls it does do exactly that. When confronting the rest of the world this very same strategy turns you into Scooby Snacks."

"Mel Siff thought that everything he saw was bullshit; well since 99% of everything is bull-shit he was right 99% of the time--an amazing track record. This is the nature of the skeptic, a nature I shared with Dr. Siff."

"For many of our people fitness training has become their sport--a sport where the aims are simply to become as fit as possible."

"Few understand the overwhelming importance of anaerobic exercise to general fitness."

"The cost of regular extended aerobic training is decreased speed, power, and strength."

"The ultimate strength and conditioning facility is your own garage-gym."

"Prescribing thirty minute bouts of monostructural cardio (bike, run, swim, row, elliptical walker, etc.) in the hopes of maximizing fitness for a fight of five rounds of five minutes each is the epitome of incompetence."

"The notion that holding a heart rate of 180 bpm for twenty minutes on a bike is good cardio whereas holding 180 bpm for twenty minutes in a circuit of weightlifting is of lesser cardiovascular value is widespread yet ludicrous."

"I wish I knew how you could overstate the value of the deadlift."

"Develop the capacity of a novice 800 meter track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter and you'll be fitter than any world class runner, gymnast, or weightlifter."

"The distinction we make between resistance training and metabolic training ("cardio") may seem clear to us, but nature honors no such distinction."

"Optimal physical competency is a compromise, a balancing act; a compromise between not only conflicting but perfectly antagonistic skills. The manner in which you resolve this conflict defines the quality of your fitness and is the art of exercise prescription."

"Pick up any book on nutrition, flip to the index, and look up insulin and hyperinsulinism. If there is nothing there the book is pure bull-shit, put it down."

"Just because you're 250 pounds doesn't excuse or exempt you from needing 25 pull-ups."

"Clear out your garage and turn it into a gym. There's no home improvement you can make that'll benefit you more."

"Be impressed by intensity, not volume."

"Why is it that strength training is commonly recognized as a discipline across several training modalities yet there is no equivalent metabolic conditioning recognized across multiple training modalities?"

"If you can brag about either a low 4's mile or a high 4's bench press you could also be a lot fitter." (No one has both.)

"Have fun screwing up...it means you are removing your ego from the problem."

"We are practicing not weightlifting but commitment. Commitment spawns success. Only by redoubling our efforts do we best succeed. Expecting success to motivate our efforts is the loser's gambit."

"The magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community."

"Work capacity is to fitness what location is to real estate."

Non Negotiability of Perfection

found at:
http://againfaster.squarespace.com/articles/the-non-negotiability-of-perfection.html

CrossFit is the pursuit of athletic perfection—performing difficult workouts with technical mastery under conditions of duress. We’re looking for flawless form with a jackhammering heart, bursting lungs, and battery acid-filled veins.

When this is accomplished with unyielding intensity, the result is nothing short of beautiful. When we fall short of the mark, the result is horrifying at best.

Athletes often set up a false dichotomy between perfect form and intensity, assuming that as one increases the other must necessarily fall. This idea is a thinly disguised excuse for athletic complacency. Rather than revisit proper technique through low-intensity, low-excitement skill work, the athlete chooses to pursue personal records with diminished form. The unstated reason for this choice: it’s easy on the ego to put up “good” WOD times. Taking a hit to your “Fran” time in order to perform perfect thrusters is not going to move you up the records board—at least not right away—and the blow to the ego is too much to bear.

In reality, form and intensity are not mutually exclusive, but the non-linearity of their relationship leads novice athletes to the wrong conclusion. For the novice, maintaining form becomes a cruel joke as intensity increases, leading to the erroneous conclusion that the two cannot coexist. Advanced athletes believe the opposite. These athletes recognize that continuous high-intensity work is nearly impossible without strict attention to form. The advanced athlete knows that perfect form is perfect for a reason: it imparts structural advantages that poor form does not.

Take the thruster as an example. Performed poorly, the movement relies on the small muscles of the anterior shoulder to support the weight at lockout. These muscles fatigue extremely quickly, leaving the athlete with reduced capacity in short order. When the thruster is performed well, the weight is supported by the large, hard-to-fatigue muscles of the posterior chain, allowing the form-conscious athlete to continue at peak power long after his sloppy brethren have stopped to rest.

The advantages of good form are not isolated to the thruster. Clear structural advantages can be had in the majority of our movements if one chooses to pursue perfect form. Most of these advantages are based on the physics of power transmission, specifically the fact that it is easier to send power through a rigid structure than through a limp one.

Squatting provides a wonderful illustration. The squat utilizes power from the hip to propel the torso through a complete range of motion. If the spine is rounded and the torso is loose, power is lost and the torso becomes difficult to move. If the spine is kept in a neutral or arched alignment and the torso is rigid, as proper form dictates, power flows freely and the load is easy to move. Nonetheless, we’ll often see novices blasting through flaccid, rounded-back squats, heedless of the power-draining effect of their substandard form.

Condoning bad form for the resulting intensity ignores the big picture. In doing so, we rob our athletes of their long-term potential, artificially capping their progress in the name of immediate gratification. An athlete with poor form and an ugly three-minute “Fran” will always have an ugly three-minute “Fran”, while a similar athlete with good form will soon find himself pushing the limits of possibility, utilizing the structural advantages of the perfect thruster to close in on two minutes.

For the CrossFitter, perfection should be non-negotiable, regardless of the near-term outcome. Progressing to the elite level—heart jackhammering, lungs bursting, and records falling—depends on it. The difference between a structurally solid lockout and its weak cousin is obvious. Photos courtesy of the author.