my greatest understanding from programming came not from reading.

but from testing.

testing myself, and testing others around me.

constantly.

from using us all as test subjects, I learned to understand how to control certain variables to get the desired results I was looking for.

The "three headed monster" emerged.

Three heads of program mastery : strength, gymnastics, and conditioning.

my control variables are what made learning through testing work so well.

i was the strength athlete, ben was gymnastic, andy was conditioned.

so my goal was to figure out how to get us all as fit, fast, and strong as possible...

using the same exact program.

I learned to understand how to write multi dimentional programs to bring us all up at each of our weaknesses

at the same time.

How to make fast guy strong, gymnastic guy fast, and strong guy gymnastic.

i would be constantly reviewing competitive program workouts from around the globe.

reading to understand why they were doing certain things.

crossfit programs, strength programs, powerlifting, olympic lifting, track and field,throwers, sprinters. reading to understand the why's... and then completing them start to finish.

We've done smolov 3 times, followed froning before mayhem existed, done norcal for over a year, do Invictus’ “12 days of Christmas” every year because its the hardest version, always follow Crossfit main site, adapted aerobic capacity concepts to gymnastics, created our own strength program off of Pendlays Texas method / westside / linear progression, done “max out every session” for squats 30 days in a row, followed a conjugate program for over 6 months, done 6 week track sprint program to bring our 400m time down, completed various rowing programs taken straight from an ivy league’s book… the list goes on.

we took bits and pieces that we felt effective from all, and created our own. no bias. just fitness.

write a program that gets every type of fitness fit at once.

The big thing I figured out is how the three of us could compete against one another every single day.

write workouts to beat each other.

as a coach I want him to beat me. as an athlete I want to beat him.

as a friend we are in this together.

If i beat them in a “running” centric workout. they knew i was coming.

if they beat me in a “deadlift” centric workout. i knew they were coming.

I wrote workouts that were more centered, allowing all three of us to have a chance.

with the cardio biased days, I would write in certain factors giving the other heads a chance, and vice-versa.

so that person would very rarely ever have their day in the sun... to know that we were always coming and nothing was a sure thing.

this disallowed sand-bagging and added extra shit-talking. pushing us all to go faster.

this started to work for every level.

then added layers for all of the heads to progress further on their weaknesses. allowing every type of fitness to grow at once.

learned to understand what took the most energy. when certain parts of fitness needed to be focused on during the year before competition.

became both a level 2 United States olympic weightlifting coach and level 2 United States powerlifting coach (of same standard - to bring multiple athletes from local level to national, or international, level competitor).

My proudest of coaching moments as This is not something you can buy or sign up for. you have to work for it with your athletes. setting both state and national records with lifters.

understood deeper how to “taper” for Crossfit events and spot weaknesses + trending shifts in events to program accordingly leading up to competition.

learned how difficult certain percentages were for certain reps, dependent on the sex of the athlete, and how the component may affect other components.

this all came from competing with one another, competing on a worldwide scale, and each of us representing the other spectrum of fitness.

we were the scientists and the subjects.

and we're still learning to this day.

Lead with emotion and Ethic.

search for strong-willed people who want more out of themselves.

bring people together to push one another.

Create climax and triumph, that we all experience together, through consistent pursuance.

Create well-roundedness from targeting and periodization.

Put focused individuals in the same room together to create fire.

create athletes that want it for themselves, their teammates, and are endless in the pursuit of progress.

That is how I write programming. Try to bring the athlete on a ride. Starting small and specific, yet having foresight over the entire cycle to ensure we stay on path to our target. From warm up to accessory work, from micro cycle, to max out. All things are considered to make you feel a certain type of way.

good, bad, sore, fresh, hard, easy, long, short, technical, heavy, light.

Not just programming reps and sets because that’s what prilepins chart suggests, or how Wendler got strong, or what rich Froning did last week, or What kipchoge’s intervals looked like, or what Jen Selters band program looked like, but considering how to make you feel connected to the entire process, while also making progress, incorporating some pieces from other successful methods, while also developing our own… so when we get to the end of the cycle, you are already hungry for more. always training with a target in mind. Purpose found in every layer.

A great program is one that you can stay connected to, not just because some instagram athlete lifted more than you.

You all become a part of the painting. Week after week, all levels should be seeing success. That is the beauty in a great program, and very hard to create. A program that a veteran to fitness at the peak of their abilities can see continued progress, as well as an individual just getting started.

There are many factors to each of our personal fitness successes. Recovery and stress levels being the biggest ones that differ from athlete to athlete. Those are the measurables that should also be considered. Eating and sleeping habits need full consideration for the more veteran levels to see progress. the gym just becomes the fun part.

It is easy to see performance progress for those just getting started in fitness.

Personal squat and snatch records will be broken just due to frequency and technique improvements. But 5-10 year veterans still seeing success is what I am in search of. Because if my program can create results for those that are truly invested in their fitness, those just getting into it will reap the rewards as well.

The opposite is not true…

If you program for newbies, the veterans will see halted progress, guaranteed. program for the fittest on earth, and scale down to fit your current level. It will always have you asking for more and progressing over your entire life.

for those of you just getting started.. or still searching for what’s best for you..

understand this:

It is not in the specificity of the program that plays its biggest role, but in the intensity. Exchanging certain variables under the same guidelines as the programmed workout allow us to program for the fittest on earth, down to someone just getting started.

If the workout calls for 225lbs overhead squats, hand stand walks, box jumps, and ring muscle ups over a 12 minute duration… Then that is what the workout calls for… modify the workout appropriately asking a coach how to approach this workout that best fits the programmed stimulus. If you are someone that is very cardio inclined, but lacks strength, then it is worth modifying to make the workout relatively heavier for you, to slow you down and work your strength.

The very opposite is true for someone who is very strong, but lacks proper conditioning… Lighten the load to ensure you stay moving on the workout to get the suggested stimulus… If you don’t have the skills to complete the difficult gymnastics work, potentially lower the rep count, or modify the movement all together to the higher difficulty that will get you closer to hitting the movement itself.

Is it the strength in your pull missing from giving you the ability to hit the ring muscle up? or is it the skill of the turnover missing to hit it with confidence? incorporate the missing link into the programmed workout to see furthered progress in the movement, outside of just practicing.

If you’ve got all the skills and strength… worry less about the actual program and more on the competition of getting better… and you will learn how to go fast.

Those are parameters of how we coach the programmed workout per individual.. we steer away from many hyper specific individual programs, as lack of connection can happen due to self isolation. very rarely do we individually program workouts at all. we modify, and scale, but still work to bring people together to push one another. it allows people to feel the togetherness and push a bit harder. keeps athletes showing up on days they don’t feel like training. I don’t want you to see 3 months of success… I want you to see 3 years, 30 years, and beyond. That is how I measure my programs success.

20 people working together to push each other on even a shitty program, will surely garner more results than a lone individual doing all the right things without intensity. If you can train together, or communally online, do it. it will further your progress far beyond what you can push yourself to do alone. it will keep you honest, it will hold you accountable, it will keep your eyes open towards actual progress, or weaknesses thereof.

THE BREAKDOWN

Three Phases -

Phase 1 : Strength Phase 6-9 weeks

Phase 2 : High EfforT Phase 6-9 Weeks

Phase 3 : Max Effort 4-9 weeks

When starting from scratch, we write a strength program first.

Strength and Power are the building blocks to any of our programs.

If you want a race car to go fast, it must have much horse power and torque. “engine” often refers to someones ability to go long and keep the pace. We build engines with power, speed, and strength, and then tune it to go long.

You will never get a Prius moving at constant 60% effort to win any race.

We try to build athletes with great off the line power, in any modality… And we try to lead with intensity, not volume. I believe more fitness is garnered from going at absolute sell out pace at 110%, rather than dogging through multiple workouts at 70%. But also knowing when, and when not to, go full send. Learn how to dial your 110% efforts in to maximize the workout and get the most out of each one.

Our best results as a facility come from having 6 months to train for a specific event.

It is often hard to find the time in between events or competitions to run any sort of a program this long with no interruptions, but when we can, we all see big results.

The program we have created has produced some of the best in-class strength protocols on earth..

During phase 1 We Back squat twice per week on Mon + Fri, once in class.

Deadlift and front squat on Wednesday to have balance of planes, once in class.

posterior accessory on Mon + Fri.

Bench + Shoulders + upper pulling on Tues + Saturday, Once in class.

cardio + upper accessory work on Thursdays, both in class.

Snatch on mon + Fri, once in class.

Clean on Weds + Fri, Once In class.

The snatch and clean will switch dependent on what our focus is on.

but one day of rest for each component in between one another.

and the class gets a taste of it all.

Monday and Friday are the best days to have the biggest effect. Monday is after a full rest day. Friday is a way to end the week on top. so we take advantage of them. First day into the week, and last day out. And the Squat will have the biggest impact on performance, so we lean into our legs.

that is what starts it all. it defines what our program is going to look like. what days we are going to do what. and we dissect our workouts deeper from there.

during a strength program, our Crossfit workouts/metcons will support the strength program.. essentially as sped up accessory work that is “for time.” The movements you will see will reflect what type of day the strength is. On Mondays back squat day, you will get movements that support the squat. On Tuesday bench press day, you will get movements that support the bench. Rep ranges, weights, and time domain will always vary, but the workouts will generally never be overbearing towards impeding our strength phase. it will only support it.

the best way to see strength and skills rise is by allowing rest and recovery in between specific days. Results are found in recovery, not in just hammering that movement every day. your body needs time to adapt. so we factor in rest between the days of each movement.

My style of writing metcon workouts is taking unique formats, some that already exist in the world, and morphing it to fit our program. I often look into the history of world events, successful programs and athletes, large competitions like the Crossfit games, Wodapalooza, Crossfit open, also main-site, and other various sources, to expand our workout formats, and then I fill in with movements, time domains, rep ranges that we need to do to support our strength program.

——— ROGUE INVitational WORKOUT EXAMPLE, AND HOW I REMIXed IT to work during the week of June 15th 2020, our 5th week in a 9 week strength cycle———

I make already compelling formats fit our current structure . I sway support in specific direction for metcons to support the strength, or for strength to support the metcon… that is where mastery in programming lies. looking back in history, finding what works, what type of results, what type of emotion it elicits, what type of recovery is needed, and tying it all together to fit inside of our walls.

in overall strength, you have the ability to gain over 100% OF YOUR starting ability OVER YOUR LIFETIME. THAT IS NOT TRUE FOR VO2 max. IT COMES EASIER AND FASTER. IT IS ALSO MORE BRUTALLY TAXING TO DO at intenisties that make a difference.. SO IT NEEDS LESS dedicated WORK, AS YOU also GET IT conditioning IN METCONS AS IS, so added conditioning is only necessary closer to an event/test or if your true base of conditioning needs much work.

Here is a month sample during phase 1 of 2020 post quarantine. A time when we were all able to get back to the barbell and get stronger after being away from heavy lifts for months due to the shut down.

More updates on phase 2 & 3 coming soon.

A long excerpt of what we have worked for to get where we are. This is my mind constantly looking to improve while trying to share my experiences of how we have developed our facility.

-Rob Thomas