THE PERFORMANCE MENU 1

Max Effort Black Box

Michael Rutherford
PERFORMANCE MENU
JOURNAL OF HEALTH & ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE
Part I
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 fnal 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 permuta-
tion of the CrossFit theory. Consider this Maximum Ef-
fort 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
maximal loads for all the weightlifting movements.
There are two rep ranges. The frst week on a rota-
tion, 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
fnd 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 Pull-
ups (WP) [Editors Note: Weighted dips and muscle ups
seem fair game as well.]
What we will do with the movements is rotate them
on ME days. On the frst ME day we will perform a to-
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 2
tal body movement (T): power cleans from the Deck
(PC); on the second ME day a lower body movement
(L): back squats (BS); and fnally, 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.crossft.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 profle 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
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 pull-
ups.
The athletes I have plugged into this template are con-
tinuing to improve, although they have only invested
six months thus far.
1 The Coachs Strength Training Playbook by Joe Kenn. A must own for any coach or athlete.
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 3
Part II
In April, Coach Michael Rutherford unveiled an ele-
gant template that draws from the success of West-
Side Barbell and of course, CrossFit. We have received
numerous comments as to the effcacy of the program
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
of CrossFit but also builds elite levels of strength and
power.
PROFILE
This athlete is eighteen years old. He will be entering
his freshman year in college this fall and plans on play-
ing linebacker in college. He was highly successful as a
high school athlete. In football, he recorded the high-
est number of tackles totaled over two seasons and
is the single season record holder for his school. This
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
PRE POST
Height 71 71
Weight 211 lbs 202 lbs
Clean & Jerk 301.4 313.5
Thruster 245 275
Back Squat 380lbs x 6 405 lbs x 6
Real World Vertical Jump
(Two-Hand Basketball Dunk)
PRE Close, but no cigar
POST Clean two
CrossFit Diagnostics
Grace 2:29
Fractured Fran 3:39
Karen 7:05
REPS
1st Rotation= 5x3
2nd Rotation 5x1
In addition to these changes the athlete modifed 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 signifcant considering
the initial level of ftness for this athlete. Below are some
measurable results.
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 4
Part III
Introduction
When I frst wrote in these pages of a way to increase
athletic ftness 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 confguration 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 foor 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
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 fnished 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
XFIT
Thursday
LB
Friday
XFIT
Saturday
UB
Sunday
REST
XFIT = CrossFit Mixed Mode training
TB = Total Body
LB = Lower Body
UB = Upper Body
Movement pool rotations:
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 5
Total Body (TB)
Clean Deadlift, High Hang Clean, Clean from the
Deck
Lower Body (LB)
Front Squats, Back Squats (high bar position), Back
Squats (low bar position)
Upper Body (UP)
Floor Press, Bench Press, Bench Press
Im not a big fan of bench pressing. I believe it to have
limited positive transfer to sport. Unfortunately, the
athletes I placed in this template needed specifc work
on this movement for testing purposes. Their schools, as
with most schools, require this movement either as a 1
rep max or as a percentage of 1 RM for max reps.
One could easily substitute overhead work, weighted
pull-ups and or weighted dips in the UP movement
pool.
We stayed with each ME movement for three weeks
before transitioning to another. Our rep rotation for
each week went as follows:
Week 1 5 x 5
Week 2 5 x 3
Week 3 5 x 1
A couple of reoccurring questions have arisen from the
initial writing. The frst 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.
The second question pertained to other exercises that
day. The original plan did not include any additional
movements. Ive since included assisting movements
in certain cases. I like reverse hypers and glute-ham
raise on the glute-ham bench. I like these movements
for shoring up weaknesses in the posterior chain and in
serving a pre-habilitative role.
The Monday, Wednesday, Friday sessions did not
select for sport specifc metabolic training. We drilled
the football kids with the same movements as the
wrestlers. We worked the entire continuum of metabolic
possibilities. I am, however, looking at cherry picking
the WOD for more sport-specifc stimulus. This will be
explored in future articles.
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 6
Part IV
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 frst at a national competition on essentially
two training sessions per week while maintaining a high
level of ftness 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 confdence. If you are lifting
within 90-100% of your goal on the practice
platform you feel really confdent when you
compete.
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 ftness activities. Ive practiced a randomized ap-
proach to ftness 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 ftness 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 f-
nal weeks. So beginning on January 9th, 2006 here are
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 7
the movements I practiced. I did not practice these for
the entire duration. Beginning February 6th, I dropped
the snatch grip deadlift and hang movements. I was
now down to snatching and cleaning and jerking.
Snatch Emphasis
Snatch Grip Deadlift
Hang Snatch
Snatch from the Deck
*Front Squat
*Abs
*Reverse Hypers
Jerk Emphasis
High Hang Clean & Jerk (HHCJ)
Hang Clean & Jerk (HCJ)
Clean & Jerk from the Deck
*Back Squat
*Behind the Neck (BN) Power Jerk
*Abs
*Glute Ham Raise
* These movements were at a fxed 3 sets of 5 reps. The load
varied based upon the other movements and their comple-
tion.
Meso Cycling
DATES SETS REPS
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
3/13-3/17 Unloading Reduced volume by 50%
3/20-3/31 10 to 20 1
4/3-4/7 Unloading Reduced volume by 50%
I do not select specifc intensity for a reason. The ob-
jective was to lift the best effort possible for the session
on the fnal reps. If I did not feel good, strong or had
misses on the way up I would conclude the session. My
journal only shows two sessions where I terminated a
workout.
I also did not reduce the intensity during the process.
Why climb half way up a mountain to return and then
come back down? I kept the loading intensity high. I
did pay attention to how I was feeling.
Micro Cycling
I start my workday at 5:00 am and conclude several
evenings at 7:00 pm. I have a son at home who wres-
tles during the winter months. Saturday and Sunday
sessions were next to impossible. This is the weekly cy-
cle that I followed for 13 weeks.
Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*
Tuesday: Snatch Emphasis Session
Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
Session with dragging sled.
Thursday: Jerk Emphasis
Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
sion
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
Beginning with February 6th, 2006 until March 20th,
2006 I reduced the movements again.

Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*
Tuesday: Snatch, Behind the neck power jerk, back
squat
Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
Session with dragging sled.
Thursday: Jerk, Snatch
Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
sion
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
Beginning with March 20th, 2006 until contest time I
pared down the training to look like this.
Monday: CrossFit Mixed Mode*
Tuesday: Snatch, Jerk
Wednesday: CrossFit Mixed Mode- or Recovery
Session with dragging sled.
Thursday: Jerk, Snatch,
Friday: CrossFit Mixed Mode
Saturday: Limited Snatch and Clean & Jerk Ses-
sion
Sunday: Rest & Recovery Hot Tubs Cool Contrast
Odds & Ends
I used a Zone 4-block, 3-times fat post workout recov-
ery meal. I know this helped my typical hypo-caloric
intake practice. I slept an average of 7 hours per night.
On some weekends I was able to log up to 10 hours of
sleep. The extra hours were helpful in bridging me into
the next hard week.
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 confrmation that I was
ready.
THE PERFORMANCE MENU 8
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 frst 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
a year and forced me to jerk with a right foot leading
has fnally 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 fat on the foor. 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.
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