hierarchy of metcon programming

[Chris H Laing]

This was posted by Dr G in the thread about CFSB...

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

My own perceptions on the most effective metcon programming is:

• Power-biased (allowing for higher power outputs round-to-round)
• Heavy metcons (taxing higher levels of strength in a metcon fashion)
• Metcons with weights and/or cals that allow for continuous movement without stopping ((taxing higher levels of CV output in a metcon fashion)
• 6 round Tabatas (because if you can do more rounds, you didn't go hard enough)
• Typically less than 10 minutes (easier on the CNS and adrenals long-term)
• Doublets or Triplets (because chippers just suck the life out of people)
• For sessions of longer than 10 minutes, a single modality more suited to longer work periods is advisable (ie. running, rowing, biking)
• GS-style KB work

...and I didnt want to steer the conversation away from it in that thread, so here it is.

This is extremely interesting to me, and I am wondering about a few things. Overall, why is this the order you have stated for these?

Second, can you give me an example of a power-biased metcon. I cant think of any metcons that I've done where i was able to do more work in the later rounds.

Third, why are single modalities better for longer than 10 minute sessions? When doing mainpage CF i made great gains, and most of the metcons took me upwards of 15 min.

And lastly, and this is kind of a dumb questions, what is GS style KB work, and for what kind of duration would this last? Longer than 10 minutes because it is a single modality?

Sorry for all the questions...

[Derek Maffett]

Originally Posted by Chris H Laing

And lastly, and this is kind of a dumb questions, what is GS style KB work, and for what kind of duration would this last? Longer than 10 minutes because it is a single modality?

Sorry for all the questions...

GS style KB work = Girevoy Sport style Kannon Ball work. And yes, it's a single modality done constantly for an average of maybe ten minutes or so (shorter and considerably longer exist).

[Brandon Oto]

Um... Garrett will have to speak for himself, but I'm pretty sure that's just a bulleted list of nice qualities. They're not in any particular order.

[Garrett Smith]

Chris,
I didn't actually mean it to be an ordered hierarchy, just the things I found most useful (and least draining) for people--especially those with high-stress jobs and children (who don't have a lot of excess energy to waste overdoing their exercise).

Power-biased metcon is based on the article in The Performance Menu by Robb Wolf. An example would be (I think this was in the article) "Helen" done with a full one minute rest taken between rounds. This allows for a higher power output in each round--much like running 4x400m with rest taken between laps would result in faster lap times and better "output" than running a straight 1600m would. Basically, structured interval training. There were other examples, like using clapping pushups instead of regular push-ups. It's a good article.

I think really high-rep cals and BB exercises and plyometrics (think Filthy Fifty) result in appreciably bad form as fatigue sets in, which results in a huge drain on the system as well as a source of accumulated microtrauma due to the poor form. Running is obviously well-suited for longer stretches (assuming form is proper), as is rowing. Push-ups, box jumps, burpees, BB snatches, etc., are not. Quick question--what is the reason you left CF programming if it was so productive for you? Were your long metcons wearing you down, or possibly getting tedious/boring? Were you losing maximum strength, or not progressing? Remember always that anyone new to the CF setup always makes rapid progress, regardless of the length of their metcons.

See here for some info on GS KB stuff.

[Derek Maffett]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

See here for some info on GS KB stuff.

And now for a history lesson on GS KB.


In early times, it was a discipline where Russian pirates would practice catching kannon balls shot from 100m. It was arguably a higher "power output" sport back then, but I digress. Anyways, the pirates who were good at it usually died until a raiding team came back with a drink called sake. This didn't actually make them any better at the sport, but they all became so drunk at this time that no one could catch a kannon ball. However, they insisted that the sake made them better at the game, since death rates had dropped.

One professor Yuri Borishoff claimed "The results obtained by this group should not be considered as meaning that a higher blood alcohol content leads to increased hardiness of any sort."

Professor Borishoff was keelhauled shortly thereafter.

The thefts of sake did not go unchallenged, however, and the Japanese government dispatched several ninja to attend to the problem. But we all know that real ninja don't work for governments, and so the pirates killed them. Eventually, the real ninja got bored and decided to do it themselves, but the excessive amount of snow in Russia made it impossible for the low-ranking ninja to sneak up on the pirates properly and the high-ranking ninja are too busy killing the inept lower-ranking ninja. These pirates exist even today, unaware of the imminent threat and in too much of a drunken stupor to care much one way or the other.

In the early nineteenth century, when a particularly large gravitational disruption occurred (the work of ninja sorcerers who were also killed for daring to even try adding extra coolness to the awesome existence of ninja), several kannon balls landed in Moscow. The Russian in Moscow were soft and hadn't the slightest idea how to use the kannon balls properly, so they fused the handles from discarded tea pots to the pieces of metal and the rest is history (or at least those facts can be read elsewhere).

Experts fear that the pirate clan will soon be destroyed as global warming sets in.

[Chris H Laing]

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

I didn't actually mean it to be an ordered hierarchy

My mistake then. But in that case, I feel like someone needs to make one...

[Garrett Smith]

If/when I decide to add some GPP into my routine, one of my first plans is to get a pair of 16kg GS KBs, along with doing more jump rope (another good long-duration single modaility, as long as it is done on the right surface).

A combo of jump rope and KB work back-to-back supersets (back then it was called the DoD Man-Maker workout) was what I mostly used to train for the TSC. That program's effectiveness was what made sense out of CF when I was initially exposed to it. It was pretty cool to get fit enough that jumping rope was actually "rest".

[Emily Mattes]

Originally Posted by Derek Maffett

And now for a history lesson on GS KB.


In early times, it was a discipline where Russian pirates would practice catching kannon balls shot from 100m. It was arguably a higher "power output" sport back then, but I digress. Anyways, the pirates who were good at it usually died until a raiding team came back with a drink called sake. This didn't actually make them any better at the sport, but they all became so drunk at this time that no one could catch a kannon ball. However, they insisted that the sake made them better at the game, since death rates had dropped.

One professor Yuri Borishoff claimed "The results obtained by this group should not be considered as meaning that a higher blood alcohol content leads to increased hardiness of any sort."

Professor Borishoff was keelhauled shortly thereafter.

The thefts of sake did not go unchallenged, however, and the Japanese government dispatched several ninja to attend to the problem. But we all know that real ninja don't work for governments, and so the pirates killed them. Eventually, the real ninja got bored and decided to do it themselves, but the excessive amount of snow in Russia made it impossible for the low-ranking ninja to sneak up on the pirates properly and the high-ranking ninja are too busy killing the inept lower-ranking ninja. These pirates exist even today, unaware of the imminent threat and in too much of a drunken stupor to care much one way or the other.

In the early nineteenth century, when a particularly large gravitational disruption occurred (the work of ninja sorcerers who were also killed for daring to even try adding extra coolness to the awesome existence of ninja), several kannon balls landed in Moscow. The Russian in Moscow were soft and hadn't the slightest idea how to use the kannon balls properly, so they fused the handles from discarded tea pots to the pieces of metal and the rest is history (or at least those facts can be read elsewhere).

Experts fear that the pirate clan will soon be destroyed as global warming sets in.

Derek, last I heard pirate clans was making a comeback after The Society for the Preservation of Seadogs lobbied a number of major Russian zoos to start concentrated breeding programs. I think they released the first new batch of pirates into the wild about a half-year ago.

[Patrick Yeung]

Though ive never sat down and written out a list of things I beleive to make up the perfect metcon, I think it would look similar to yours.

Those longer, high rep routines really kill me. By the time I get to my last sets, the form and power has disolved away.

And I like how you say 6 round tabatas. I could never understand how anyone could do an 8 round tabata and still keep up the same pace. Either my recovery is terrible between rounds, or they arent pushin so hard. I usually have to do 4 rounds, then take a full rest before I do another 4 rounds.

Thats one of the reasons why I moved away from CF though. The workouts tended to be too taxing for me, and my strength gains wernt going up. Instead, just my times were going down on the workouts.

[Garrett Smith]

Patrick,
I got the six-round Tabata from Gant Grimes. If you search his posts, you'll find his Tabata project posts. They were/are great.

Tabata's first study involved 7-8 rounds. His second study, a year later, involved 6-7 rounds. Hence the 6-8 rounds, of which many overachievers only read as 8 rounds. Six rounds should be hard enough that 7 and 8 almost become counterproductive. Obviously Tabata was learning something about this method by the time he was repeating the study--and he was using Olympic medalist speed skaters!