PERFORMANCE MENU
JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
Max Effort Black Box Collection
Michael Rutherford
Part 1: Max Effort Black Box
Issue 3 - April 2005
After practicing and coaching the CrossFit methodol-
ogy for over two years I am increasingly convinced the
most successful athletes are those who come to the
dance with the greatest strength and power. Athletes
with the best strength base perform the best in this
new sport called CrossFit.
Greg Amundson and Josh Everett are two perfect ex-
amples of successful, and very powerful, CrossFit ath-
letes. Both Greg and Josh can turn Fran in sub 2:40
range. Greg has also been reported to 1RM a front
squat/push press (a.k.a. a THRUSTER) with over 275lbs
at a bodyweight of around 200lbs. I personally wit-
nessed Josh clean & jerk 155kg while weighing in the
84kg range.
My own BLACK BOX project started last summer when I
began thinking of how a template like this might go to-
gether. The final thoughts evolved during the fall when
I was retained by one of the citys best high school
basketball coaches. With this approach the basketball
players strength improvements continued throughout
the season.
With this in mind I would like to present a permutation
of the CrossFit theory. Consider this Maximum Effort
CrossFit or ME CrossFit if you will. Stay with me here
while we sort through this a bit.
Here are some of the components of my ME CrossFit
program.
MAXIMUM EFFORT (ME): A cornerstone to the Westside
Barbell training program is the Maximum Effort Day.
During these sessions the athlete works with a load
near his/her maximum (90% +) for that day. Repetitions
range from 1-5. In this program we will be using near
THE PERFORMANCE MENU
maximal loads for all the weightlifting movements.
There are two rep ranges. The first week on a rotation,
the repetitions are 5-5-5-3-3-3. Joe Kenn1 refers to
these as introductory reps. The second time through
on a movement, the repetitions are 3-3-3-1-1-1. My in-
tuition indicates that experienced athletes could stay
with 3-3-3-1-1-1, or you could perform 8 x 2 or 10 x 1.
The Prilepin chart may be handy in a case like this.
Anything over 90%, 4-10 sets 1-2 reps with an optimal
number of 7 sets.
MOVEMENT ROTATION: CrossFit athletes will recognize
the following functional movements.
TOTAL BODY (T): Include Olympic Clean variations,
Olympic Snatch variations, Push Presses or Jerks.
LOWER BODY (L): I like squats. I like a rotation of weight-
ed back squats and front squats.
UPPER BODY (U): I will select standing press and
weighted pull-ups for my upper body movements. You
could also look at bench press and/or incline press. I
find these least productive but I know they are popular
and necessary in certain circles.
Again, for this discussion our movement pool includes:
TOTAL: Power Clean from the Deck (PC) and Hang
Cleans (HC)
LOWER: Back Squats (BS) and Front Squats (FS)
UPPER BODY: Standing Press (SP) and Weighted Pul-
lups (WP) [Editors Note: Weighted dips and muscle ups
seem fair game as well.]
1
What we will do with the movements is rotate them
on ME days. On the first ME day we will perform a to tal
body movement (T): power cleans from the Deck
(PC); on the second ME day a lower body movement
(L): back squats (BS); and finally, on the third ME Day
an upper body movement (U): standing press (SP).
CROSSFIT WORKOUTS
These should be familiar to everyone. One needs look
no further than www.crossfit.com and the workout of
the day. Whenever possible place emphasis on mono-
structural metabolic effortse.g. running, cycling,
swimmingon the day following a ME workout. You
could also precede ME days with more gymnastics
movements. In any case, the varied if not randomized
approach with CrossFit will address any weaknesses
in your athletic profile and provide the GPP (General
Physical Preparedness) you require to elevate your
maximum strength and power.
REST
Rest is of critical importance. I cannot improve the 3
on 1 off micro-cycling design. I think it provides excel-
lent balance between volume, intensity and rest. Now
that we have the parts, here is how it goes together.
SCHEDULE
DAY 1 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 2 - ME (Total Body-PC) (introductory reps)
5-5-5-3-3-3
DAY 3 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 4 - REST
DAY 5 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 6 - ME (Lower Body-BS) (introductory reps)
5-5-5-3-3-3
THE PERFORMANCE MENU
DAY 7 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 8 - REST
DAY 9 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 10 - ME (Upper Body-SP) (introductory reps)
5-5-5-3-3-3
DAY 11 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 12 - REST
DAY 13 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 14 - ME (Total Body-PC) 3-3-3-1-1-1
DAY 15 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 16 - REST
DAY 17 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 18 - ME (Lower Body-BS) (introductory reps)
3-3-3-1-1-1
DAY 19 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 20 - REST
DAY 21 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 22 - ME (Upper Body SP) (introductory reps)
3-3-3-1-1-1
DAY 23 - CrossFit workout (XF)
DAY 24 - REST
We have now rotated through the introductory reps
and the foundation ME reps once. Now we rotate to
the secondary foundation movement. In this case it
would be hang cleans, front squats and weighted pul-
lups.
The athletes I have plugged into this template are con-
tinuing to improve, although they have only invested
six months thus far.
2
Part 2: Max Effort Revisited
Issue 7 - August 2005

In April, Coach Michael Rutherford unveiled an ele-

gant template that draws from the success of West- PRE POST
Side Barbell and of course, CrossFit. We have received Height 71 71
numerous comments as to the efficacy of the program
Weight 211 lbs 202 lbs
and we are hoping to post before and after stats as
they come in. Smart manipulation of training helps not
only to maintain the crushing metabolic conditioning Clean & Jerk 301 lbs 314 lbs
of CrossFit but also builds elite levels of strength and Thruster 245 lbs 275 lbs
power.
Back Squat 380 lbs x 6 405 lbs x 6
PROFILE

This athlete is eighteen years old. He will be entering

his freshman year in college this fall and plans on play- CrossFit Diagnostics
ing linebacker in college. He was highly successful as a
high school athlete. In football, he recorded the high- Grace 2:29
est number of tackles totaled over two seasons and Fractured Fran 3:39
is the single season record holder for his school. This Karen 7:05
record stood for over sixteen years. His senior season,
he placed third in the Kansas State Wrestling Champi-
onships with only one defeat all season. His high school
weight room accomplishments include all time school
best in the Power Clean, Jerk and the third best back
squat in school history.

This background is important because it shows that the

subject was trained but also highly motivated.

PRACTICE

For the last eight weeks, he performed the ME BLACK

BOX template (see The Performance Menu April 2005).
He missed one week practicing for the Metro All Star
football game. The athlete rotated the following exer-
cises during the time frame:

T= Hang Cleans / Squat Cleans

L= Back Squats, Oly style / Front Squats
U= Bench Press / Incline Press

REPS

1st Rotation= 5x3

2nd Rotation 5x1

In addition to these changes the athlete modified his

dietary practice, reducing additional servings on what
was already a solid dietary practice for an 18-year-old
male.

The results have been rather significant considering

the initial level of fitness for this athlete. Below are some
measurable results.

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Part 3: Masters Weightlifting MEBB
Issue 16 - May 2006
My friends at the Performance Menu asked that I share
my training template from the recent USWF Masters Na-
tionals. I had a successful Sunday on a relative scale.
My return on investment of time (ROI) was excellent.
I placed first at a national competition on essentially
two training sessions per week while maintaining a high
level of fitness incorporating the CrossFit mixed mode
training technology. This version of the ME Black box
might be useful to you.
Assumptions and Limitations
This program will work for an intermediate to advanced
lifter that is looking for results while not necessarily
specializing. If you are a beginner or you have large
technical issues then this approach may not be ideal.
I also believe that you need to have a sound strength
base. You should possess both a clean deadlift and
back squat of 1.5 bodyweight. With that being said, I
am not a model of technical excellence. You should
also have a solid conditioning base. I believe ideally
that you have been practicing the CrossFit approach
to general physical preparation (GPP) of training for
twelve weeks prior to launching into this template.
Better and more established lifting coaches would sug-
gest more sessions and more technical focus. They are
likely correct. For these coaches, this approach may
turn out to be a swing cycle or bridge approach to the
next competition. This is a minimalist approach.
Advantages
Large ROI.
You can bring great focus and intensity to your
training. I consider this low volume training.
Leaves time for other activities. You need not
worry about being a specialist. I have been a
frustrated golfer from birth. I would prefer to
have my handicap drop to single digits than jerk
150kg. I had time to work parts of this passion. I
also enjoy reading and spending time with my
family. This approach allowed for me to be all
things to all people.
Perfect for a Masters lifter with reduced recovery
skills.
Builds tremendous confidence. If you are lifting
within 90-100% of your goal on the practice
platform you feel really confident when you
compete.
THE PERFORMANCE MENU
Disadvantages
Limited time for mechanics of the lifts. If you have
issues with your technique they may not improve
with this approach. I used barbell complexes to
warm-up and to cement certain techniques I
needed to improve.
The focus and intensity required may prove psy-
chologically taxing to some.
You may be under prepared. I found holes in
my training as I approached the competition
date.
Your injury potential increases as you increase
the intensity. I believe that during February and
early March I was on the skinny edge of over-
training.
Subject Background
Leading into this focus competition I had only com-
peted in two meets. My third would come eight days
prior to this focus meet. I initially wanted to partici-
pate in this meet starting two years ago. Prior commit-
ments precluded my participation. Im largely a self-
coached lifter. I seek out tips from more experienced
coaches whenever possible. It was my oldest sons in-
terest in competing that piqued my interest in entering
an event.
Im a generalist who enjoys a number of different sports
and fitness activities. Ive practiced a randomized ap-
proach to fitness for many years. Even before I learned
of the term CrossFit, I was coaching and practicing
high intensity short duration workouts.
At 47 years of age and 90kg, I can deadlift 195kg al-
most any time and back squat 150kg. Within the last
year leading up to this event I snatch squatted 115kg
x 3 and 90kg x 15. My general fitness is strong for a 47
year old male. I routinely rank in the 90th percentile in
any of the benchmark workouts. I can row 2K around
the 7:00 mark.
Movement Pool
As a minimalist my approach to training took on a
Spartan look and feel. For me, being good at weight-
lifting means to be good at the snatch and the clean
& jerk. I basically practice one lift per session until the fi-
nal weeks. So beginning on January 9th, 2006 here are
4
the movements I practiced. I did not practice these for Tuesday: Snatch Emphasis Session
the entire duration. Beginning February 6th, I dropped Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
the snatch grip deadlift and hang movements. I was Session with dragging sled.
now down to snatching and cleaning and jerking.
Thursday: Jerk Emphasis
Snatch Emphasis Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
Snatch Grip Deadlift Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
Hang Snatch sion
Snatch from the Deck
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
*Front Squat
*Abs
*Reverse Hypers
Beginning with February 6th, 2006 until March 20th,
2006 I reduced the movements again.
Jerk Emphasis
High Hang Clean & Jerk (HHCJ)
Hang Clean & Jerk (HCJ) Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*
Clean & Jerk from the Deck Tuesday: Snatch, Behind the neck power jerk, back
*Back Squat squat
*Behind the Neck (BN) Power Jerk Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
*Abs Session with dragging sled.
*Glute Ham Raise
Thursday: Jerk, Snatch
* These movements were at a fixed 3 sets of 5 reps. The load Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
varied based upon the other movements and their comple- Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
tion. sion
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
Meso Cycling
Beginning with March 20th, 2006 until contest time I
DATES SETS REPS
pared down the training to look like this.
1/9-1/27 5 3 to 5
1/30-2/3 Unloading Reduced volume by 50%
2/6-3/10 10 to 24 1 to 3 Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*
3/13-3/17 Unloading Reduced volume by 50% Tuesday: Snatch, Jerk
3/20-3/31 10 to 20 1 Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
4/3-4/7 Unloading Reduced volume by 50% Session with dragging sled.
Thursday: Jerk, Snatch,
I do not select specific intensity for a reason. The ob-
jective was to lift the best effort possible for the session Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
on the final reps. If I did not feel good, strong or had Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
misses on the way up I would conclude the session. My sion
journal only shows two sessions where I terminated a
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
workout.

I also did not reduce the intensity during the process.

* My every other day CrossFit mixed mode approach can be
Why climb half way up a mountain to return and then
located at www.coachrut.blogspot.com
come back down? I kept the loading intensity high. I
did pay attention to how I was feeling.

Micro Cycling Odds & Ends

I start my workday at 5:00 am and conclude several
I used a Zone 4-block, 3-times fat post workout recov-
evenings at 7:00 pm. I have a son at home who wres-
ery meal. I know this helped my typical hypo-caloric
tles during the winter months. Saturday and Sunday
intake practice. I slept an average of 7 hours per night.
sessions were next to impossible. This is the weekly cy-
On some weekends I was able to log up to 10 hours of
cle that I followed for 13 weeks.
sleep. The extra hours were helpful in bridging me into
the next hard week.
Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*

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I competed in a meet exactly 8 days prior to my fo-
cus competition. I totaled 230kg on that afternoon. I
felt solid on all my attempts. I narrowly missed a 130kg
jerk and attempted and set a personal record on
the snatch at 105kg. This was confirmation that I was
ready.
Results
I competed in the 46-49 age group lifting in the 94kg
class. I was light that morning even with a breakfast of
eggs and fruit. I weighed 88kg down slightly from my
normal walking around weight of 90kg. I hit a personal
best total of 232kg. (102kg snatch and 130kg jerk). My
Sinclair-Metzler-Malone was 328. This total was good
for first place by 19kg. I placed 4th overall in my Sun-
day morning session, which included the 105kg and
105+ lifters.
Conclusion
I believe that my total could improve another 2-5%
with a similar approach but more work on my snatch
second pull. My shoulder that was painful for almost
THE PERFORMANCE MENU
a year and forced me to jerk with a right foot leading
has finally healed. I believe that this should allow for
more jerks and handstand push-ups.
Ive received questions from some in the CrossFit com-
munity as to how I adjusted intensity with regard to the
Monday, Wednesday and Friday sessions. Generally,
I went hard but not to the cashed out stage. Cashed
out is a term we use in our practice to describe the
athlete out flat on the floor. These were still considered
hard but not to collapse.
I want to thank a few individuals. Coach Whitney Rod-
den, Coach Tom Cross and the entire Mid American
Nazarene College athletic department for allowing
me to train in a weightlifting friendly environment. Mike
Burgener forwarded a couple of thoughts on my sec-
ond pull. These drills gave me a nice warm-up routine.
Finally, Gene Gilsdorf, an excellent lifter in his own right,
paced my warm-up and helped me become success-
ful on that particular Sunday.
I salute all of my fellow Masters competitors. There
were some amazing lifts over the weekend. It was an
honor to lift with other folks who respect this sport.
6
Part 4: Template Variation
Issue 17 - June 2006
Introduction
When I first wrote in these pages of a way to increase
athletic fitness via maximal effort (ME) training within
the framework of the CrossFit technology I had no idea
that the popularity of the template would reach this
level. Since writing that in April 2005, I have received
at minimum of one e-mail correspondence per week
with questions about the template.
Since that article, I have watched others take this
3-on 1-off configuration of focus lifting and calling
it the XYZ Black box. Coaches I respect who had
previously focused on a more myopic approach to
conditioning are seeing the value of dropping in the
ME work into their training cycles. They are combining
the potency of CrossFit mixed mode with lifting big.
As a result, the athletic monsters they were already
creating are now monsters to the second power.
Historical Roots
The birth of the ME Black Box came as the result of
a contract I received from a local basketball coach.
The coach was looking for a complete program. His
team lacked in several areas. Their relative strength
was very poor. He wanted a team that could run the
floor all night but muscle up when needed underneath
the rim and in the paint.
Prior to my installation, the teams conditioning
program consisted of alternating days of three sets of
ten rep lifting and 400 meter track repeats.
Looking at their lack of conditioning, I took to
implementing the power of the CrossFit training
template and adding the focus of either a total body
(T), lower body (L) or upper body (U) movement and
rotating these throughout the process. A successful
THE PERFORMANCE MENU
formula was conceived.
I had my own case study of twelve high school aged
athletes. The results were spectacular: quantum
improvements in strength resulted. The added strength
allowed them to push these CrossFit medleys to levels
they were not able to achieve during earlier workouts.
The team narrowly missed the state playoffs that year.
This year the team finished second in the state in the
largest class following this template.
If you are unfamiliar with what I have discussed so far, I
would suggest you go to the Performance Menu store
and download the original issue.
Field Application: Template Variation 1
The boy scientist in me wanted to see more. I put some
other athletes in a variation of this in my own practice
with similar positive results. Since I did not keep copious
notes, I am uncertain if this template variation is superior
to the original template. My practice is geared as a
service rather than a research environment. My guess
is that there is no statistical difference between the
two. However, I do believe that this template is easier
to administrate and execute.
The template that they followed was and is an easy
variation: metabolic conditioning (CrossFit) mixed
mode training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
and ME work on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.
Monday
XFIT
Tuesday
TB
Wednesday
7
XFIT work on this movement for testing purposes. Their
schools, as with most schools, require this movement
Thursday either as a 1 rep max or as a percentage of 1 RM for
LB max reps.
One could easily substitute overhead work, weighted
Friday pull-ups and or weighted dips in the UP movement
XFIT pool.

Saturday We stayed with each ME movement for three weeks

UB before transitioning to another. Our rep rotation for
each week went as follows:
Sunday
REST Week 1 5 x 5
Week 2 5 x 3
XFIT = CrossFit Mixed Mode training Week 3 5 x 1
TB = Total Body
LB = Lower Body A couple of reoccurring questions have arisen from the
UB = Upper Body initial writing. The first question centered on reaching
max loads. The idea is to increase the weight of each
work set until the best effort for that day is achieved.
Movement pool rotations: The second question pertained to other exercises that
day. The original plan did not include any additional
Total Body (TB) movements. Ive since included assisting movements
Clean Deadlift, High Hang Clean, Clean from the in certain cases. I like reverse hypers and glute-ham
Deck raise on the glute-ham bench. I like these movements
for shoring up weaknesses in the posterior chain and
Lower Body (LB) in serving a pre-habilitative role.
Front Squats, Back Squats (high bar position), Back
Squats (low bar position) The Monday, Wednesday, Friday sessions did not
select for sport specific metabolic training. We
Upper Body (UP) drilled the football kids with the same movements
Floor Press, Bench Press, Bench Press as the wrestlers. We worked the entire continuum
of metabolic possibilities. I am, however, looking
Im not a big fan of bench pressing. I believe it to at cherry picking the WOD for more sport-specific
have limited positive transfer to sport. Unfortunately, stimulus. This will be explored in future articles.
the athletes I placed in this template needed specific
When we meet again, I will roll out another template
variation.

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Part 5: A New Way to ME Black Box
Issue 41 - June 2008

It was 2004 when I first started integrating M.E. lifts with

Day Movement Pool Rotation
the CrossFit high intensity randomized protocol. I have
since tried some new methods, which have proven Mon Total Body (T) High Hang Clean, Deck Power
successful. They tell me at the Performance Menu that Clean, Cleans
the M.E. articles are the most popular back issues on Wed Lower Body (L) Zercher Squat, Front Squat,
the shelf. I still receive e-mail each week with questions Back Squat
on the implementation on the template. Fri Upper Body (U) Press, Push Press, Jerk

The mother ship CrossFit.com with a push from Starting

Strength guru Mark Rippetoe now includes a heavy
dose of M.E. lifting. The CrossFit method now includes
a lifting total. I like to believe that the ME BLACK BOX
had something to do with that birth.
Like a lot of things in coaching, these templates were
born out of necessity along with trial and error. A couple
of clients had stalled out with their progress. Thusly, this
variant was born.
M.E. BLACK BOX BACKGROUND
I dont want to fill this space with a recap of the M.E.
BLACK BOX writing. I hate to do it but you will need
to invest in the ME Black Box article collection for the
background.
THE M-W-F Black Box
This approach took hold over the last two winters. It
was a way to abbreviate the BLACK BOX on every
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, as these are the big
days in my practice. The essence was a M.E. focus
followed by a CrossFit type WOD.
Rep Rotations
Wk 1 - 5 x 5
Wk 2 - 5 x 3
Wk 3 - 5 x 1
I took creative liberties with the CrossFit workouts (dont
act like it doesnt happen). I modified certain WODs
and turned it into a game. I had the athlete draw
them from a hat. The workout was not replaced into
the hat until all 8 workouts had been completed for
one entire cycle. If on day nine a workout was drawn
from the hat that was completed within the last three
days then a redraw was permitted.
I found the familiarity with the WOD kept the workout
moving each week, reduced the psychological
demands of constant education, but did not
compromise the desired stress adaptation.
Here are the top eight modified CrossFit WODs.
1. Countdown DB Snatch: 20, 16, 12, 10, 8 reps
(thats 10 right/10 left, 8 right/8 left, etc)
2. Modified Cindy: 5 pull-ups/10 push-ups/15

THE PERFORMANCE MENU 9

 squats; How many rounds can you get in X time The Template
(I would pick the time based on the athletes
relative fatigue for the day; generally not more The Daily schedule included:
than 10 minutes)
1. Warm-up Moves
3. Modified Diane: Deadlift & Dips 21, 15, 9 reps 2. M.E. Focus
(loading equals 100% of bodyweight) 3. Modified WOD
4. P-Chain Move
4. Modified Jackie: 1000M Row / 50 DB push press 5. Eight Great Post Stretch Moves
/ 30 Pull-ups 6. Foam Roller or Stick for the problem areas.

5. DB Snatch 10 (5 right / 5 left) Pull-ups 10; How Next month I have another spin for the committed
many rounds in X time. family man.

6. Isabel - 30 reps barbell snatch

7. Sled Push or Pull: 2:00 hard / 1:00 recovery x 4-8

reps

8. Modified Grace - 30 Reps Clean

I might occasionally throw in something simple like

a bunch of thrusters or ball slams, but primarily these
were the ones we ran with.

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Part 6: ME Black Box for the Family Man strength and power stimulus to accelerate your
fundamental strength and propel your CrossFit WOD
Issue 42 - July 2008 times and benchmark workouts.

The Family Man MEBB Rules

While Ive had my successes with helping the aspiring
athlete run faster, jump higher, and put more weight
overhead, I derive the greatest pleasure from helping
the family man or woman. He goes to work, he is likely
in a relationship, has a family and probably volunteers
in some capacity. These athletes have different stress
and value systems. Elite performance and personal
records are important but not at the expense of other
values.
I recently received that following e-mail which was the
genesis of THE M.E. BLACK BOX FOR THE FAMILY MAN.
My name is JASON and I hope you are doing well
today.
I think I am experienced enough to answer my own
question but wanted to see if you had 2 cents to add.
I am going to begin the ME Black Box routine. (Thanks
by the way!)
1. All training must take performed M-F
2. NO workouts are performed on Saturday and
Sunday as these are reserved for the family
and other pursuits.
3. No workout can exceed 45 minutes.
4. Other healthy practices should be in place.
The Training Template
This template is quite simple. The athlete will us an A/B
split.
A = ME Day
B = CrossFit Day
Since there are five days for workouts and two primary
focuses of training, there will be a week of 3 ME sessions
followed by a week of 2 ME sessions.

However, as a devoted father of small children, a The randomization of your program is completely your
husband and coach of recreational Baseball, I will call. If your relative strength is the limiting factor then
not be going to the gym on the weekends. I reserve you should only incorporate short duration CrossFit
those days for foam rolling, active BW recovery and workout challenges.
family. So if I am trying to adapt the ME BB to a 5 day
program how do you feel about Crossfit M/W/F and I believe this training template offers even the busiest
ME Total on Tuesdays and alternating Upper/Lower of family folks an opportunity to maintain top tier
each Thursday? I know this does not fit the 3 on 1 off performance while maintaining a balance of family
parameters so I may find myself needing a rest day time.
towards the end of the week. I am looking for a starting
point with the BB. Day Movement Pool Rotation
Mon Total Body (T) High Hang Clean, Deck Power
If it makes a difference in your opinion I am 37 years
Clean, Cleans
old and have been doing Dos Power training since
it came out. And have been lifting for about 7 years Wed Lower Body (L) Zercher Squat, Front Squat,
now. Back Squat
Fri Upper Body (U) Press, Push Press, Jerk
Thanks for your time and I hope you have a great
day.
Rep Rotations
The Nuts & Bolts Week 1 5x5
Week 2 3x3
At this stage of the game I trust that everyone is familiar
with the ME BLACK BOX and the variants presented Week 3 5x1
thus far. The ME BLACK BOX will provide the necessary

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

Week 1 ME CF ME CF ME Rest Rest
Week 2 CF ME CF ME CF Rest Rest

THE PERFORMANCE MENU 11

Part 7: Advanced Options with the MEBB sets of 2 reps with 50% of the 1 RM squat with 1:00 of
rest. Another would be a Hurdle hop or high box jump.
Issue 57 - October 2009 Westside barbell founder Louis Simmons has train a
number of sprinters with the Concurrent method and
speed tier work is an important element in their training
plan.
Since 2004 when I first proposed the overlaying of Effort
lifting with CrossFit / GPP (Max Effort Black Box aka Effort Tier work (Strength Speed) displaces the Force /
MEBB), Ive worked on numerous template designs. Velocity Curve by working on the Force component.
Ive listened to athletes and coaches from various
walks of life and different sports. The questions have
come from those who just love CrossFit and want to
do it better to the high school and College coach who
want to employ CrossFit but also need more strength.

Several CrossFit Games participants have confessed

to using the templates. Testimonials from multiple
individuals are littered throughout my blog and on my
testimonials page.

To Date heres what we know for certain occurs to the

athletic fitness profile of MEBB users:

-Enhanced athletic fitness

-Improved CrossFit Performance
-Improved athletic movement
-Better Training Variety
-Enhanced Power/Explosivenes
-Reduction in orthopedic stress
-Long Term ImprovementNo Theoretical Limit
-Increases in lean body mass (LBM)
-Flex use of components The Speed (Speed-Strength) helps to further displace
the Curve by working on the Velocity at which the force
Never quite satisfied with the status quo, Ive been is applied. (Kraemer and Fleck OPTIMIZING STRENGTH
working with an advanced template. Ive had this out TRAINING 2007)
in BETA in different variations since Spring 2009. I want
to share elements of this program with you today.
Volume Tiers
Adding Speed & Volume Tiers Volume Tiers add dimension to muscle fiber, thickens
connective tissue and increases capillary density.
One thing Ive fought constantly with any of the Volume Tiers are high-repetition sets reaching close
MEBB templates was the overachieving, hyperactive to if not to muscle failure. Think bodybuilders. For the
What Else can I do? personality. If I didnt hand out upper body, an athlete could perform 3 sets of 20 reps
additional assignments, they would go off the rails of suspended push-ups. Bilateral Lower Body Tiers are
and just do something random. This got me to thinking balanced with unilateral lunge patterns in the Volume
that I needed to consider another way to harness that Tier. Total body volume work is best accomplished with
energy in a productive way. complexes using barbells or dumbbells.
As a result, in addition to the Effort tier, I have added
a Speed tier and a Volume Tier. Adding speed and
volume are elements from a concurrent / Westside
Template.
Effort / Speed / Volume
Speed Tiers The advanced template concurrently trains Power,
Speed and Muscle density components. The order is
These are sub-maximal loads (50% of 1RM) executed Effort Tier, Speed Tier and finally the Volume Tier. A daily
at maximal velocities. Examples of this would be 10 session might look like this.

THE PERFORMANCE MENU 12

1. Warm Up Moves
I guess Im an awfully good sponge. I absorb ideas
2. Hang Power Snatch 3 x 3, 3 x 1
from every course I can, and put them to practical
3. Squats 8 x 2 @50% of 1RM
use. Then I improve them until they become of some
4. Suspended Push ups 3 x RM
value. The ideas which I use are mostly the ideas of
5. Glute Ham Raise 3 x 15
other people who dont develop them themselves.
6. Post Stretch / Foam Roller
Thomas Edison when complemented on his
creative genius.
Weekly Template 3/1 2/1

To date our best feedback points to a 3 on with 1 day

rest followed by 2 on with 1 Day Rest. We rotate 2 or
3 effort/speed/volume tier days with 2 or 3 CrossFit
couplets or triplets. The process for managing all this
occurs with a MS Excel designed training tracker.

I must note that selecting ideal CrossFit couplets or

triplets takes a keen understanding of the athletes
unique skill set. Its not a perfect science, but lets be
frank, nothing in applied exercise science is or has
been perfect.

During my Intelligent Exercise Design seminars, we

will be tackling the MEBB package from the original
construct to this advanced topic. I look forward to
discussing the merits of this process in the very near
future.

THE PERFORMANCE MENU 13

Part 8: Percentage-Based MEBB If you dont have a max for an athlete then just do
some conservative projections and have them start.
Issue 59 - December 2009 Here you go.

MEBB PERCENTAGE BASED PROGRAMMING

One poor assumption I have made with regards to
WEEK 1 Week 2 Week 3
lecturing on the Max Effort Black box deals with the
5@55% 3@63% 1@70%
athletes experience with finding the daily max effort.
5@63% 3@70% 1@77%
Im up there babbling about finding that best effort
5@70% 3@77% 1@85%
for 5, 3 or 1 on a particular move and then suddenly
5@77% 3@85% 1@93%
it hits meThe majority of my audience is lost. I often
5@85% 3@93% 1@100-101%
times get the same tilted head, glazed over look my
Airedales give me when Im talking to them. Its bad
coaching on my part and I regret that. Failure breeds
I can already anticipate the outcry at the oddball
innovation. So now we have another way.
percentages. Yes, you can round up to 65,80,and 95
percentages to make your chart neat and tidy.
After a month on the road, in front of friends, coaches,
and athletes I returned to base to tweak out a thing or
You can also make your own chart with MS Excel. Find
two. I broke out some training logs, a calculator and
a business/accounting or math friend to help if you are
excel spreadsheet and found an alternative route to
like me.
working through the three weeks rep rotation. This is
nothing new to those who follow, practice and study
1RM 101% 93% 85% 77% 70% 63% 55% 50%
the world of strength and conditioning. Its just a
50 51 47 43 39 35 32 28 25
method that I have avoided to keep things a bit less
cumbersome and a bit more intuitive.
Total body moves for the week of 5s and 3s May require
As a refresher, a particular movement is selected
a reset after each set for many. No big deal. Dump it
from an inventory of total lower and upper body
safely and go again.
movements. The first week is an introductory week of
5s, followed by a week of 5 x 3 and finally a week of 5 x
I hope that this helps with the difficulty on finding a
1. The objective each time is to reach a best effort work
best effort and keeps you on track.
set on the final set of the day. Its at this point where
difficulty arises in determining how to progress and
arrive at that final work set. Percentage based MEBB
to the rescue. Now Fans and coaches can plug their
athletes into a max and have all their Sets calculated
out for the three weeks.

You will need one or all of the following. A chart, a

calculator or an excel spreadsheet to do the work. I
would suggest finding any one of 1000 max charts or
formulas available on the Internet.

THE PERFORMANCE MENU 14

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