“I guess I’m an awfully good sponge. I absorb ideas from every course I can, and put them to practical use. Then I improve them until they become of some value. The ideas which I use are mostly the ideas of other people who don’t develop them themselves.”
– Thomas Edison when complemented on his creative genius.

Since 2004 when I first proposed the overlaying of Effort lifting with CrossFit / GPP (Max Effort Black Box aka MEBB), I’ve worked on numerous template designs. I’ve 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 here’s 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 Improvement—No Theoretical Limit
-Increases in lean body mass (LBM)
-Flex use of components

Never quite satisfied with the status quo, I’ve been working with an advanced template. I’ve had this out in BETA in different variations since Spring 2009. I want to share elements of this program with you today.

Adding Speed & Volume Tiers

One thing I’ve fought constantly with any of the MEBB templates was the overachieving, hyperactive “What Else can I do?” personality. If I didn’t hand out additional assignments, they would go off the rails and just do something random. This got me to thinking that I needed to consider another way to harness that energy in a productive way.

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.

Speed Tiers

These are sub-maximal loads (50% of 1RM) executed at maximal velocities. Examples of this would be 10 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. 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.

Effort Tier work (Strength –Speed) displaces the Force / Velocity Curve by working on the Force component. The Speed (Speed-Strength) helps to further displace the Curve by working on the Velocity at which the force is applied. (Kraemer and Fleck OPTIMIZING STRENGTH TRAINING 2007)




Volume Tiers

Volume Tiers add dimension to muscle fiber, thickens connective tissue and increases capillary density. Volume Tiers are high-repetition sets reaching close to if not to muscle failure. Think bodybuilders. For the upper body, an athlete could perform 3 sets of 20 reps of suspended push-ups. Bilateral Lower Body Tiers are balanced with unilateral lunge patterns in the Volume Tier. Total body volume work is best accomplished with complexes using barbells or dumbbells.


Effort / Speed / Volume

The advanced template concurrently trains Power, Speed and Muscle density components. The order is Effort Tier, Speed Tier and finally the Volume Tier. A daily session might look like this.

1. Warm Up Moves
2. Hang Power Snatch 3 x 3, 3 x 1
3. Squats 8 x 2 @50% of 1RM
4. Suspended Push ups 3 x RM
5. Glute Ham Raise 3 x 15
6. Post Stretch / Foam Roller

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 athlete’s unique skill set. It’s not a perfect science, but let’s 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.