IF I COULD ONLY GET OPRAH'S ENDORSEMENT

An interesting e-mail exchange.....

Hi Coach,

I have been following main page CrossFit for over 4 years. Over that period, I have realized that the thing preventing my progress is a lack of strength. So, I started following MEBB 4 weeks ago (starting from the December posts).

I love the programming and I am definitely getting stronger. I have noticed, however, that the program has greatly increased my appetite for food, far beyond what it was for CF and I am actually getting a bit fat!

I know that it takes a lot of energy to build muscle and that being lean while doing so is not necessarily compatible. Any ideas/suggestions to maintain leanness while following MEBB? Should I add an additional day or two of sprinting, for example? Do I need to dial my diet in to more strict Paleo? Any thoughts you have are certainly appreciated.

Regards,
"Cliff"

Your situation sounds interesting. I will say right off that I doubt you have gotten fat in 4 weeks, but I'll assume that you do feel a little different.

I would first suggest you do an energy calculation to determine how many calories you think you need for everyday activity and then for your exercise routine. I would then suggest your plug this into a diet diary and meet THE ZONE diet suggested percentages of 30 protein/40 carbohydrate/ 40 fat. I encourage everyone to eventually drop diary and grains. Going Paleo is perfect.

Now, here are a couple of ways to tweek the 3 day template from my blog.

1. Add a longer CrossFit type workout on Tuesday. Long walks with the dogs on Thursday/Saturday/Sunday.
2. Split the ME days and the CrossFit days so you can have longer CrossFit workouts. Rotate them Long/Short/Medium. Be sure to take of Saturday and Sunday.
3. Go to a 5 day template.

Let me know how it goes.

Regards,

Coach Rut

Hi Coach,

Thank you for the suggestions. I took your advice and added a longer CF WOD on Tuesdays, still taking Thursday, Saturday and Sunday for active rest. I have also sharpened my focus on cleaner Paleo eating. With these adjustments, things have been going well. The biggest surprise came this week. I am taking a week to do CF before I leave for a two week cycling vacation and hit a PR on the 5k, which I rowed. My time was more than 1 minute better than my previous PR set when I was doing only CF. This PR comes after 6 weeks of MEBB programming. Needless to say, I will be back on MEBB plus CF on Tuesdays when I get back from vacation.

Thanks again.

Regards,
"Cliff"

M.E. CLOSE GRIP BENCH 052909

Yes all of it. Gonzo

M.E. CLOSE GRIP SUPINE BENCH 5-5-5-3-3-3

Rest 5:00

Every minute on the minute for 12 minutes:
Barbell

Record reps completed for each interval:

3:00-Burpee Pull-up
--Rest 90 seconds
2:00-Burpee Pull-up
--Rest 90 seconds
1:30-Burpee Pull-up
--Rest 90 seconds
1:00 Burpee Pull-up

M.E. BACK SQUAT 052709

You still have time to enroll in Abbie J's Volleyball Boot Camp this summer!
M.E. BACK SQUAT 3-3-3-1-1-1

Rest 5:00

barbell hang power snatch 21
400M Run
barbell hang power snatch 15
400M Run
barbell hang power snatch 9
400M Run

loading males 50Kg/ females 25kg

M.E. DECK SNATCH 052509

T Potts finishes Boston and performs her puppet show.
M.E. DECK SNATCH 2-2-2-2-1-1-1

Rest 5:00

200 Dumbbell Swings for time

Loading: 55lbs males/ 35lbs females *

You can skip the P-chain move tonight.

M.E. CLOSE GRIP BENCH

Ben Edwards--A dude with a mighty grip!

M.E. CLOSE GRIP SUPINE BENCH 5-5-5-3-3-3

Rest 5:00

Every minute on the minute for 12 minutes:
Barbell
3 Hang Power Clean
3 Deck Power Clean
3 Hang Power Clean

Barbell loading 50% of your 1RM clean. Round down to the nearest 5 kg.

M.E. BACK SQUAT 052009

Michael H playing cowboy last weekend.

M.E. BACK SQUAT 3-3-3-3-3-3

Rest 5:00

-800M Run then..
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1
Horizontal Row
KTE
-800M Run

TUESDAYS ARE STRESS LEVEL RUNNING DAYS

Starting on the first Tuesday in June we will begin STRESS LEVEL RUNNING. I have a bunch of fall athletes who need to get busy. You can start this today if you wish. If you are like most of my athletes you are still getting rid of your winter fur. Use the first two weeks regardless and just run the workout on level one without the target times. Just get all the repeats. Your goal is level 4 before August 1st! We don't care about your playing position big boy, just run.

M.E. DECK SNATCH 051809

M.E. DECK SNATCH 3-3-3-3-3-3

Rest 5:00 minutes

8 rounds for time:
3 long jumps (3 consecutive jumps)Gather, jump,land,jump,land,jump..be reactive off the ground.
10 Push-ups

You will want to cover the same distance on all long jump rounds.

M.E. FLOOR PRESS 05152009

Are you one?

M.E. Floor Press 3-3-3-1-1-1

Rest 5:00

Every minute on the minute for 12 minutes perform the following:

6 Dumbbell Deadlifts
6 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans
6 Dumbbell Split Jerks (3 right/3 left)

Loading should equal 45% of bodyweight.

M.E. FRONT SQUAT 05132009

When you conclude a Volleyball Boot Camp workshop with Abbie J you are officially a STRONG GIRL. Thanks to Aimee for the T-shirt inspiration.

M.E. FRONT SQUAT 3-3-3-1-1-1

Rest 5 Minutes

Helen
3 Rounds for time:
400M Run
21 Swings (55 males/35 females)
12 Pull-ups

MIDWEST SPORTS PERFORMANCE CLINIC

I attended the Midwest Sports Performance clinic over the weekend hosted by the University of Kansas Physiology department and Kansas Strength and Conditioning staff. I paid a couple hundred dollars but would have been willing to pay more.

-Any coach who isn't using a non-linear approach to programming is way out of it.

-Dr. Kraemer made it a point of emphasize that when we train an athlete we are not just training the endocrine system, nervous system and skeletal muscular systems but the organs as well.

-He also touched on generic moves. What sport can not benefit from the squat?

-When looking at the Power formula, sometimes programs get stuck at looking only at Force. While power will increase (time and distance get pulled along) there will be a point at which speed of movement will plateau without focusing more on power.

-He said BCAA prior to exercise support protein synthesis. Leucine in particular.

-Jerry Martin from the University of Connecticut had a great way to measure volume. I loved it but I would need some nice excel templates to crank out all his genius.

-Coach Hudy showed a number of ways she uses a non-linear approach and had some Kansas basketball athletes demonstrate different moves. I liked her use of the chain squat for in season work. Takes a bunch of load off the athlete in the bottom and spares the knees.

-Dr. Fry did an excellent job with his presentation on over training. This tied in nicely with the non linear program design focus. He pulled everything together with the sympathetic and parasympathetic drives. He talked about how speed-related variables are very sensitive to the training stress. You need wide swings in a training templates to avoid over training.

-Polar fitness sent a representative to show their latest technology. Heart rate monitoring isn't just for individual athletes anymore. Polar can hook up your whole team and project athletes heart rates on a big screen in real time.

-My favorite segment was a coordinated effort from Dr. Mary Vernon, Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Steve Phinney on How Humans Adapt to a Carbohydrate Restricted Diet. This was worth the price of entry and had more to do with what I deal with on an ongoing basis.

-Dr. Vernon is a medical doctor working with clients with serious weight issues. She doesn't even start them on an exercise program at first. They typically already are inflamed from their carbohydrate laced diets. Exercise will only amplify the issue. She gets them on a ketogenic eating program first. She hopes that coaches at all levels will recognize those candidates who should move to ketogenic eating. "What you eat signals fat storage or fat burning."

-Dr. Phinney had a number of great points. He was becoming insulin resistant and thus began working on himself and studies related to ketogenic eating and it's impact on performance.

-He discovered that once an athlete became keto adapted (my new favorite term) there was NO decrease in performance from the perspective of endurance or power. A side benefit for the athlete is that inflammation markers also where reduced. That's big for an aging athlete! He added that with the modern food chain that it might be necessary to supplement with minerals.

-Dr. Volek finished with a similar theme. His thinking is that carbohydrates are inaccurately categorized at macro nutrients. He said we should consider them micro nutrients. His work has shown that switching the body to it's origin of fat metabolism will have a positive impact on performance, body comp, recovery and health.

-Dr. Volek has been doing a bunch of work on protein supplements. He said the optimal amount of protein supplement for exercise appears to be about 18 grams. Anything over that is not effective. He also pointed out that protein synthesis is improved when you take your supplement prior to training rather than post exercise.

M.E. HANG POWER SNATCH 0501109

You are only jumping two hurdles. Use a no rhythm jump (2nd one demonstrated)

M.E. Hang Power Snatch 3-3-3-1-1-1

Rest 5 minutes

Hurdle Hop 2
Push-ups 10
Hurdle Hop 2
Push-ups 9
Hurdle Hop 2
Push-ups 8
...
Continue to 1 Push-up

Hopping hurdles is an advanced move. Your particular hurdle should match your current athletic fitness. The height can range from zero inches (a marker on the ground) 30 or 33" Don't write a check you can't cash.

M.E. FLOOR PRESS 030909

Boston was a popular place last month.

M.E. FLOOR PRESS 5-5-5-3-3-3

Rest 5:00

6 Intervals:
Dumbbell Dead lift 10
Dumbbell Hang Split Clean 10 (5/5)

Your rest interval should be twice as long as your work interval. Use a load that will allow for a technically sound split on the clean.

M.E.B.B. REVIEW

Here's a review of the M.E.B.B. from Dutch Lowy ,one of the best young coaches in the business.

M.E. FRONT SQUAT 05062009

M.E. FRONT SQUAT 3-3-3-3-3-3

Rest 5:00 Minutes

Every 1:00 for 10 Minutes
3 Swings Rt
3 Press Rt
3 Pressing Snatch Balance Rt
3 Swings Left
3 Press Left
3 Pressing Snatch Balance Left

Use a dumbbell equaling 15-20% of bodyweight

M.E. HANG POWER SNATCH 050309

T Potts performs an alligator plank move.

M.E. HANG POWER SNATCH 3-3-3-3-3-3

5 Intervals of:

5 Box Jumps
12 Push-ups of dumbbell handles

THE KENNY GET UP

Kenny P got some after class work following the benefit for Leukemia and Lymphoma

M.E. INCLINE BARBELL PRESS 05012009

According to the locals, we enjoyed the best day of the season at Doonbeg.

M.E. INCLINE BARBELL PRESS 3-3-3-1-1-1

Rest 5:00


Every Minute for 10 Minutes perform:

Dumbbell Complex
3 Hang Cleans
3 Push Press
3 Overhead Reverse alternating lunge (3/side)

Hold dumbbells overhead with shoulders locked at full extension. Suggested loading of 45% of body weight.