Week 1

Run 5K 1:

(A 5K is 3.1 miles.) We’re looking for a baseline on a distance that is overvalued by most but nonetheless important. Mass start the team and capture their times to completion. Warm up with 15 minutes of stretching before starting.

This can be run on a track, but urban and cross-country options are better. We favor an “urban 5K” brimming with natural and unnatural obstacles.

Compute the differences in times between each placing (difference between 1st and 2nd, difference between 2nd and 3rd, etc). This data will be used for a handicapped start at the next 5K.

Each week start with a 5K run. Reviewing performance trends is an essential feature of this workout. Each 5K workout will include “stick work” (see Day 3), trunk work, other calisthenic movement and stretching.

Chelsea:

5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 15 squats repeated every minute on the minute for 30 minutes. Set up near the pull-up bars and start the watch.

This is a benchmark CrossFit WOD (Workout of the Day). Chelsea is easy on the legs and hell on the upper body. The metabolic (“cardiovascular”) demands are stunning.

This is a high-volume pull-up workout and that’s abundantly clear the following day. Chelsea is a “pull-up potentiator” and CrossFit is “pull-upcentric.”

Use a tri-watch and set it for one minute in countdown mode. Give a “15 seconds” call before each round ends.

This workout may introduce the squat for many. Insist on perfect technique. The more you nitpick, the greater your positive long-term impact will be on these athletes’ lives. See the article on “The Squat” in the CrossFit Journal.

Most athletes will find staying on course for 30 minutes impossible. Instruct the athletes to keep going once they get behind and to note the number of rounds completed on time and the number of rounds completed after falling behind. Chelsea is scored as “the number of rounds completed within the prescribed minute”/”the additional rounds completed up to 30 minutes.” E.g., A score of “12/9” indicates that one round a minute was completed for 12 minutes and during the 13th minute the athlete fell behind but then completed 9 more rounds in those remaining 18 minutes. The first number determines ranking and the second number only further separates the ranking of those with identical first numbers.

Establish a zero-tolerance policy on bad technique. We allow kipping and kicking on pull-ups (it’s highly functional) but require Adam’s apple to bar and FULL extension at the bottom. Squats go to below parallel and rise to full hip and leg extension. Push-ups are rigid body.

We don’t want to belabor the importance or standards with each of the following workouts. Suffice it to say that cheating range of motion is completely unacceptable. See the “Benchmark Workouts” article in the September 2003 CrossFit Journal to learn more about “Chelsea” and other important workouts.

Broomstick Mile:

25 back squats, 25 front squats, 25 overhead squats, run 400 meters, 25 shoulder press, 25 push press, 25 push jerk, run 400 meters, 50 squat cleans, run 400 meters, 50 snatches, run 400 meters.

All of this work, except for the runs, is done with a 1-inch by 6-foot dowel. The moves are done in synchrony and the run is kept to the pace of the slowest runner. Everyone stays together for every rep.

This workout introduces critical, functional movements of unrivaled impact. Introducing these essential movements under near-zero loads places enormous demands on accuracy, coordination, balance and flexibility that are all too often brand new to the athlete. The skills developed with these stick exercises pave the way for safe and super efficacious participation in the most important training stimuli known, weightlifting. Not the junk of bodybuilding but the real stuff.

PT shouldn’t be the only aspect of training that is skilless. We require of teams enormous skill, but all too often think that PT is somehow more effective if built on low-skill elements.

Take time to introduce each of the movements and don’t start the race until nearly everyone can perform a reasonable approximation of the movements. Introducing and practicing the movements will likely take 20-30 minutes.

On completion, rank the athletes by quality of movement and identify two weightlifting team leaders, one lightweight and one heavyweight, by this ranking.

Hoover Ball:

Hoover Ball is essentially volleyball with a medicine ball. We’ve played under official and unofficial rules. It was most fun and the hardest work without rules. Set up a net or rope at 8 feet.

Our favorite version allows any method of throwing, unlimited passing and no strictures on combinations of running and passing or throwing. The ball has to be thrown so as to clear the 8-foot net or rope and must either be caught or allowed to go out of bounds by the receiving side. A team earns a point by someone touching and not catching the ball on the opposite side or by letting a thrown ball land out of bounds on its side.

The most demanding games seem to come from two-man teams and an eight-pound Dynamax medicine ball. Create five teams of approximately equal combined body weight. Rotate teams to replace losing teams in 13-point games. Whichever playing team grabs the ball first can serve after a point has been scored.

Play for 60 minutes. Rank teams by numbers of wins.

See the “Hoover Ball” article in the February 2003 CrossFit Journal to learn more about the game.

Conga Line:

Bench Press & Pull-Ups: Set up a bench, rack and bar near the pull-up bar. Line up the team and send the first athlete in to do as many reps of bench as possible without racking or resting on the chest and then immediately, but without running or rushing, he goes to the pull-up bar and performs a max set of pull-ups. As the first athlete completes his last bench-press rep, the second athlete readies to take his place. On finishing both his bench and pull-up reps the athlete goes back to the end of the line. The bench is never open for more than a few seconds and no one begins his pull-ups until the athlete ahead of him drops from the bar.

Depending on the experiences and physical size of the group members you’ll try initially 95, 135 or 185 pounds for the bench press. You’ve selected the right weight when the team’s totals for pull-ups and bench press are equal. Five rounds are plenty of work.

Week 2

Run 5K II:

This time start the athletes in reverse order of their finishing last week. Separate their starts by the differences you recorded last week. If the athletes run the same as last week they will come in dead even. We’ve handicapped the runners and the benefits are interesting. This time the ranking of the runners indicates their relative improvement from the week before.

Capture finishing times and recalculate each athlete’s raw time by subtracting his start times.

Share the data with the athletes. Do your homework ahead of time. Simple presentations made with Excel, showing improvements in times and changes in handicap, are strong motivational tools.

Before and after the run presents a great place to practice lifting movements or “stick work.” Front squat, back squat, overhead squat, shoulder press, push press, push jerk, deadlift, squat clean and the snatch need to be regularly included in warm-ups.

The 5K workouts are the obvious place to preview the coming week’s work. Introduce the ladder warm-up of pull-up, push-up, squat and sit-up: one of each, two of each, three of each, until failure, and then count back down to one.

Run, Rope Climb, Ring Dip Team Races:

Set up rings near a 25” rope. Two teams of five each head out together on an 800-meter run. One team will return to the rope climb and the other team will return to the rings. The team at the rope needs 10 ascents and the team at the rings needs to complete 100 ring dips. The team that completes their assigned task first wins the round.

As each competitor comes in from the run he can make only one contribution to his team’s totals, i.e., he can make only one ascent on the rope or only one set of dips on the rings. Not until all five team members have returned from the run can climbers or dippers make additional contributions to their teams’ totals.

The athletes rotate at the rope and rings in the exact order in which they returned from the run until 10 ascents or 100 dips are reached, ending the round. Every athlete that fails to ascend on his turn at the rope adds two to the number of ascents required of the team for completion of that round. Each athlete that cannot contribute any dips at his turn adds 10 to the number of dips required of the team for completion of that round.

The first team to complete its assignment wins the round and can start out for the run, signaling the second round, or wait for the opposing team to complete its assignment.

The competition continues for 30 minutes. At 30 minutes the closest team to their dip or rope-climb requirements (100 vs. 10) wins the uncompleted round. The team winning the most rounds wins the day.

Deadlift I:

Form two teams of five athletes each. Warm up and practice the deadlift with broomsticks until everyone’s is pretty. Each team will roll each athlete through a 5-rep round at 65 pounds. After checking to see that everyone has excellent form at 65 pounds, run both teams through 3 reps at 95 pounds.

Assuming that everyone is still looking good, set up both teams’ bars with 135 pounds. Athletes will come to the bar one at a time and perform 10 reps, rotating through until each athlete has completed 5 sets of 10 reps each. Nothing other than perfect form can be tolerated. Painstaking attention to technique will be amply rewarded for years. If it takes 30 minutes to get everyone’s form right, that’s O.K.

If someone has intractably bad technique they need to be segregated and sent back to the broomstick, then 65 pounds, and then 95 pounds with absolutely great technique before being “rehabilitated” and allowed to return to their team.

See “The Deadlift” article in the August 2003 CrossFit Journal to learn more on standards, technique and the importance of the deadlift.

Medicine-Ball Throw:

This competition is performed with a 20-pound Dynamax medicine ball. Two teams of five each line up on a field of at least 100 yards in length. Fifteen races are held, alternating the races between “least throws to goal” and “first to goal.” In the “least throws” competition, a team member throws the ball downfield, and a second picks it up at the spot of landing and throws it again downfield, where a third team member throws to a fourth. Each player moves downfield to the forward-most position after throwing the ball. No changing of the order or skipping of turn is allowed.

Winning the “least throws” race is done by throwing the ball across the goal line in the least number of throws. In the case of a tie, the first team to put the ball across the line wins.

The “first to goal” race is performed in identical fashion except that the win comes from getting the ball across the line before the other team. In the case of a tie, the fewest throws wins.

There is no attempt made to catch the medicine ball and it is always spotted from the point of landing, not the point to which it rolls. No more than 30 seconds can be taken between each of the 15 races. When one team gets its ball across the goal, the losing team must collect its ball and run to the finish line. The finish line becomes the next race’s starting line—within 30 seconds the race is on again.

Two Man: Squat, Pull-up and Run:

Five two-man teams compete against one another. On starting, each competitor completes 160 squats, then each team must complete a total of 100 pull-ups with each member contributing 50 “two-man pull-ups.” The two-man pull-up has one man assisting with a squat-like push press, pushing his teammate by the ribs or butt. The contact from the assisting team member must be at the hands and fingers only. Teammates will alternate between pulling and assisting until the duo has 100 reps from 50 each. After a team completes the 100 pull-ups, both members complete a mile run. The clock stops for each team as the second member crosses the finish line. Teams rank by time to completion of all squats, pull-ups and the mile.

The two-man pull-up is a classical bit of functionality and, between the assisting and pulling, uses all major muscle groups. Combined with high-speed squatting and the mile run, this workout is extremely demanding.

Week 3

Run 5K III:

On this third 5K we return to the mass start. Record times and compute differences for a handicapped start next week.

Again, more sophisticated warm-ups, trunk exercises and stick work would be well advised today.

Spend 20 minutes or so practicing the clean with the stick. The clean comes up Wednesday of this week.

Run, KBS, Pull-ups Drag Races:

This workout is comprised of two separate races. Each member of two five-man teams will get to compete against another athlete from an opposing team in each race and collect time for both races. The first race is an 800-meter run, 50 kettlebell swings with the 50-pound (1 ½ pood) kettlebell and 30 pull-ups, all for time. The second race is a 400-meter run, 35 swings of the kettlebell and 20 pull-ups.

Start the first pair of athletes and watch their progress in order to decide when to start subsequent pairs. Congestion at the kettlebells could ruin the timing scheme. On the last pair’s completion of the first race, begin the second, shorter race with the same ordering of athletes.

This workout is a stew of mixed modalities, metabolic pathways and lactic acid. This workout is an excellent introduction to its nasty older brothers: Run, Dumbbell Thruster, Pull-ups, Drag and Circuit Races!

Your athletes will need to be reminded that they are not necessarily expected to complete all 30 pull-ups or even all 50 kettlebell swings in a single set. This is a great feature of this workout because survival is often dependent on skilled management of work and rest intervals and this is a great workout on which to hone that skill.

The Clean:

After an extended warm-up and stick practice, form two teams of five athletes each. Each athlete will hang squat clean 65 pounds 30 times and then 20 times and then 10 times.

The athletes should endeavor not to stop during their sets and should under no discomfort set the bar down.

Drive the point home that this work is being done with the hips and not the arms. Pop the hips, shrug and dive! No power cleans.

The clean, like the deadlift and squat, deserves a protracted introduction. Athletes that don’t clean are not as good as those that do; the advantages of this movement—and the squat and deadlift—are enormous.

See the article “The Clean” in the July 2003 CrossFit Journal to learn more on standards, technique and the importance of the clean.

Tug-of-War:

Use a 25,’ 1 ½,” 3-ply, Manila rope (same used in rope climb) and tie a line around the rope marking the 12 ½‘ mark (middle). Place two five-man teams of roughly equivalent body mass and strength on each side of the rope. The tug is started with the middle mark directly above a well-defined line in the dirt. On command, both sides work to pull the entire length or rope to their side of the line in the dirt.

Record the time for the first tug and then make substitutions that you suspect would gently favor the losing side and test your estimation by reforming the teams and starting again. If your substitution was good, the next tug should last longer. Don’t let the athletes know what your game is and work them for 30 minutes.

Give the teams as much rest time as the previous tug lasted, giving a 1:1 work-to-rest ratio.

This is a primal struggle of immense functionality. The applications are endless.

Max Pull-ups & Dips/Tabata Squats:

Two five-man teams set up near the pull-up bar. Each team rolls all five men through for a max set of pull-ups and then through a max set of dips. Repeat this twice more until each member of each team has done three sets of pull-ups and three sets of dips. Someone from each team is always doing either pull-ups or dips. Waste no time in transitions. Each team member records his pull-up and dip count before returning to the line-up.

After the last man on both teams has finished their last dips, perform Tabata squats. The Tabata squat is squatting for 20 seconds and resting for 10. The interval is repeated for a total of eight efforts. The Tabata squat is scored as the least number of squats in any of the eight intervals. The team’s Tabata score is the average of all five team members.

Compare teams’ totals on pull-ups, dips and Tabata scores. Multiplying the team’s Tabata score by the sum of all the teams’ pull-ups and dips determines a team’s score for the day.

The Tabata squat is an original CrossFit application of Dr. Izumi Tabata’s research on anaerobic and aerobic systems’ adaptations to various interval protocols.

Week 4

Run 5K IV:

Handicap starts based on the differences from last week. Again, give a hand to the most improved. Many of these athletes will be winning foot races for the first time in their lives. Encourage success.

Practice stick movements. Review the clean and then work the shoulder press, push press and push jerk until everyone can do each on command. Tomorrow is the “pressing and jerking” workout with a load. Don’t listen to the argument that the stick movements would be easier with a load. The truth is that the load will only serve to mask a lack of coordination and ultimately limit the athletes’ ability to learn these essential basics.

Pressing and Jerking/Deadlift II:

Two five-man teams set up with 65-pound loads. Two men face off from each team with their 65-pound loads and shoulder press 15 reps, then push press 15 reps, then push jerk 15 reps. The athletes should try to complete all 45 repetitions without putting the bar down. Not everyone will make it. Insist on perfect form. On a second warning of bad form the athlete must take the bar to the ground and rest. The athlete who finishes with the least visits to the ground wins. In the case of a tie, the one who finished first wins. Push presses that should be shoulder presses don’t count and jerks that should be push presses don’t count.

Repeat this competition until everyone has done the “15’s,” and then repeat the competition with “12’s” and then “9’s.”

See the article on the progression “shoulder press, push press, and push jerk” in the CrossFit Journal. Discuss the efficiencies and functionalities of these moves and take note of the metabolic demands of this workout as evidenced by the athletes’ reactions.

The same teams now deadlift their 65-pound loads 15 repetitions in turn, and then load the bar to 95 pounds and each deadlift 12 reps, then 135 pounds for 9 reps, then 185 pounds for 6 reps, and finally 225 pounds for 3 reps. Nobody is allowed to do any ugly lifts. Perfect form is required to stay in the game.

Athletes who are pulled for technique remediation should practice with the last load that they can deadlift beautifully for 10 reps.

Squat, Run, Squat, Run, Squat, Run, Squat, Run:

It’s every man for himself. On starting, each athlete completes 100 squats, runs 400 meters, 75 squats, runs 400 meters, 50 squats, runs 400 meters, 25 squats, runs 400 meters—all for time. This is only a mile run and 250 squats.

Compare and contrast the probable difference between this workout and running for an equivalent length of time. Have the same discussion tomorrow, too.

Pull-up, Push-up, Sit-up Circuit:

Each athlete performs the circuit of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups and 20 sit-ups for 30 minutes. No bad form. Kipping is allowed on pull-ups. Rankings based on number of completed rounds and fractions of rounds at 30-minute mark.

Pushed Truck Races:

The best set-up is a pick-up truck in a freshly plowed field. Set up cones 100 yards apart. Two five-man teams take turns running timed heats from one set of cones to the next. Each team will get to make five runs.

Pull-up and dip stations built with inmate labor and about $300

Week 5

Run 5K V:

Back to the mass start. Record times and compute differences for a handicapped start next week.

Tomorrow is the clean & jerk workout, so take one last time to practice the C&J with the sticks.

This is a good time to introduce some more advanced ab exercises like the hollow rock, knees-to-elbows, V-ups, etc.

The Clean & Jerk:

Warm up and practice with the stick and then an empty bar. Two teams set up with 65 pounds each and in turn C&J (squat clean and push jerk) 15 reps until each member has had a turn. Those who could manage 15 reps without setting the bar down stay “in” and continue for the next round. Each round the reps remain at 15 and the load goes up 20 pounds. Continue until the last man has found a weight that he cannot C&J 15 reps.

Remember touch and go at ground only. No re-gripping or pausing at bottom. Rest at hang, rack or overhead as needed. Everyone stand back.

Run, Thruster, Pull-up Circuit Races:

This simple workout has one five-man team working and a second five-man team “coaching” and timing a circuit race of five rounds of a 400-meter run followed by 15 dumbbell thrusters with 40 pound dumbbells followed by 15 pull-ups. After the first team completes the five-round circuit they “coach” and time for 5 rounds for the remaining athletes. You’ll need five pairs of 40-pound dumbbells, an essential item to any program worth its salt.

This is really good stuff. The run is functional, primal, critical. The thruster (a front-squat/push-press fusion) is the nastiest acceleration we can come up with—from full ankle, knee, hip, shoulder and arm flexion to full extension of same, against the normal force of gravity, with body weight plus a (unstable two-handed) load. The only thing missing is pull-ups—we threw them in. In multiple rounds for time, this combo creates a virtual hell that serves any future endeavor well.

Fallen Comrade Drill:

The easiest version of this drill has the carrying athlete approaching a standing “fallen comrade” who obligingly “falls” or drapes across the back and shoulders of the carrying athlete. This workout is a race between two five-man teams to carry their members across a field. Here is the pattern for the drill: A carries B across and B goes back for C who goes back and gets D who goes back and gets E who then takes A back and then both E and A run back. When A and E have both crossed the finish line the team of five is done. This way each member has run unladen, run carrying a comrade and been carried. First team done wins.

Seven of these races make for a great morning. No resting between races.

Deadlift III:

Warm up with a ladder drill of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and squats. Moving briskly, start at “one” and work up to “seven” and then work back to “one.” Two five-man teams set up with 135 pounds and each man must perform 3 reps. Next round set up 185 for 3 reps, then 225 for 1 rep. From then on add 20 pounds at each round. Stop at 305 (seven sets).

Supervise closely and abort any lift that surrenders lumbar extension. If the lifter cannot correct the problem, pull the lifter from the group and set up remediation. You might want to set up athletes who are pulled for technique remediation with the last load that they can deadlift beautifully for 10 reps.

Many will be able to lift more and some won’t make it to the 305. That’s all normal. One of many lessons that must be learned is how to safely attempt post maximal lifts—they occur in nature all the time. Trained properly, a lift past capacity poses insignificant risk to the athlete. These athletes have been studying this for five weeks.

Week 6

Run 5K VI:

Handicap starts based on the differences from last week. Again, make a big stink about the guys who place well.

Line the crew up and have them perform a broomstick combo of 25 back squats, front squats, overhead squats, shoulder presses, push presses and push jerks followed by 50 squat cleans and snatches. Nitpick form.

The Snatch:

Today we’re introducing the one-armed snatch, practicing the overhead squat with a load for the first time, and introducing the two-hand barbell snatch (the Olympic snatch). The one-armed snatch takes minutes to learn and fairly represents the mechanics and beauty of the Olympic snatch. Practice with 40- pound dumbbells for 20 minutes. Next, form two five-men teams, each set up with 45 pounds (empty bar) and have each rotate through rounds of 21-18-15-12-9-6 and 3 reps of rock-bottom (10” box) overhead squats. Finally, with the same bar, the teams practice the hang squat snatch 10 reps apiece for 5 rounds.

Run, Thruster, Pull-up Drag Races:

This workout is comprised of two separate races. Each member of two five-man teams will get to compete against another athlete from an opposing team in each race and collect a time for both races. The first race is an 800-meter run, 30-rep 40-pound dumbbell thruster and 30 pull-ups, all for time. The second race is a 400-meter run, 20-rep 40-pound dumbbell thruster and 20 pull-ups.

Start the first pair of athletes and watch their progress in deciding when to start subsequent pairs. Congestion at the dumbbells could ruin the timing scheme. On the last pair’s completion of the first race, begin the second, shorter race with the same ordering of athletes.

Tire-Flip Races:

Line up two five-man teams behind two large (650-800 pound) truck tires. On starting, both teams flip their tire repeatedly until it passes a cone 100 yards downfield. (Look for a tire that is narrow and tall—they’re hardest to flip at any given weight.) Instruct the athletes not to try to deadlift the tire, but to drive their chests into the tire, trying to drive it forward and it will pop up. On one team’s winning, the losing team stands their tire up and rolls it to the finish line, drops it and starts the second race. The two teams compete for the best of nine races.

Conga Line: Rope Climb & Ring Dips:

Set the rings up near the rope. Send the first athlete up the rope and he has 60 seconds in which to make as many ascents as he can. At the 60-second mark he is to descend the rope and as he steps away from the rope the second athlete begins the rope climb while the first goes to the rings for dips. Both have another 60 seconds to complete as many ascents and dips as they are able. Move at this rate until the entire team has moved through 5 rounds of the pair.