Brute Compete Introduction Revision 2015.11.18.1205

Contents Welcome

How It Started What We Do

How to use Brute Programming Accountability

Gymnastics Introduction Mission Training Rationale Training Methods

Mastery Pearls and Pitfalls

Advancing Too Slow Advancing Too Fast

Endurance Workout Example

Weightlifting Why is Olympic weightlifting important for CrossFit?

Main Group 1: Absolute Strength (AS) Main Group 2: Explosive Strength (ES)

Mobility Introduction

Who will be doing the testing? What will be measured? How will you test? How will you improve? Why so much testing

Philosophy Athlete Hierarchy of Needs

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Welcome Welcome to Brute Compete. We are excited to have you as a part of our team. The following letters from five of our experts will explain our training philosophy in detail. Before you read those, I’d like to explain to you WHY we started this company in the first place. At Brute we believe that anyone, with the right mindset and information, can achieve any physical goal that they want, or any goal for that matter. We want to empower people to achieve athletic and body composition results that they may have never thought were even possible. We are all athletes and coaches, we love movement, we love enhancing performance, and we love being able to share our knowledge with others. People look up to elite athletes, and a small part of each one of them believes that they can achieve those results, too, if they only knew how. They have the desire. The work ethic. The resources. We want to bridge that gap and help people with the right mindset, or the willingness to develop the right mindset, achieve their loftiest goals. We all want to be healthier, move better, get leaner. At the same time, we want to squat 500 lbs. and run a 5-minute mile. There shouldn’t be a disconnect between health and performance, instead, they should work together in harmony. At Brute we are incredibly passionate about movement, health, and sport. Not only do we want to be immersed in it ourselves, we want to share our expertise with others. We want to reach out and educate more people. What we do is more than just sports performance. More than just “looking better naked.” What if you could have the best of both worlds? You can. It’s about living a different lifestyle. Most of you are already doing that through Crossfit and other fitness arenas. What would happen if you set yourself to an even higher standard to become the very best version of yourself? If you want this, you will need to clearly define your “why.” This standard for living is not easy. It takes perseverance. It takes support. Above all else, it takes laser focus.

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How It Started It all starts with our love of health, sport and fitness. Every member of the coaching staff is currently or has been an athlete at an elite level. From professional football, to winning the Kona Ironman, to Crossfit Games champ. To reach that level in any sport takes passion, a love of the sport so great that it will push one through the years of training and adversity. In December of last year, I had a spinal fusion as a result of overuse and a spine condition called spondylolisthesis. Because of that, I am done competing in Crossfit. It is simply not the safest thing for my future. After surgery, I was still a strength and conditioning coach, and I just was not fulfilled doing what I was doing. It was extremely fun and exciting at times, but at the end of the day I wanted more. I wanted to work with athletes like you, that want to grow and get better, not because their position coach made them, but because they sought out help themselves. Working with Crossfit athletes happened naturally as a result of competing with Hack’s Pack and being a strength and conditioning coach. People started asking me for help, and I really enjoyed it. Something started to become apparent to me: there are hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of highly motivated people out there willing to do whatever it takes to reach their fitness goals, but they lack the proper guidance. I started to look at training Crossfit athletes like I do a football team. On a football team you have your offensive, defensive, and special team coordinators. You have a DBs coach, D-line coach, linebackers coach, etc. At big schools and with all professional teams, each one of these position coaches has at least one assistant. There are dozens of coaches. Then there is the athletic training staff, strength and conditioning staff, medical staff, etc. With how big Crossfit is getting, why is this level of attention not available to these athletes yet? What if we could create a team of experts in each of the areas of Crossfit to create the best training systems Crossfit competitors have ever seen? Is it possible to combine the proven methods of Olympic weightlifting, endurance and gymnastics, and still create enough variance within the program to prepare for the unknown and the unknowable? Of course there is. So Matt Bruce and I started putting together this team. If you are a Crossfit athlete, you will have a serious advantage by being a Brute athlete. We have experts in the 3 main areas of Crossfit, as well as tremendous strength and conditioning coaches. Matt Bruce on Olympic weightlifting, Nick Sorrel on gymnastics, Chris Hinshaw (arguably the most successful crossfit coach in the world) on endurance, and Drs. Sean Pastuch and Jeremy Todd on mobility. We also have the three Hack’s Pack men (Tommy Hackenbruck, Adrian Conway and myself), as well as Jacob Hutton on general strength and conditioning. The four of us have each played and/or coached at D1 universities.

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What We Do Through the collaboration of experts from every area of sports performance, exercise science, dietetics, and beyond, we have developed systems to help you achieve your goals with the highest rate of efficiency and effectiveness possible. We use different assessment tools for every new client from our most basic to most advanced package. That way we can place people in the most appropriate training program to help you reach your specific goal. We provide training programs for any physical goal, as well as education and practical nutrition plans. Bottom line: if it helps you perform better in your sport or life, it is our goal to offer it to you. We are excited to have you on board, and look forward to working with you! Thank you,

Michael Cazayoux

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How to use Brute Programming

1. Every Sunday you will receive programming for the next 6 days (Sunday is always a rest day). You will receive an email from us, or you can just log into Wodomation.

2. You will be testing for the first two weeks. This will include different max lifts, benchmark workouts, gymnastics movements, and endurance workouts. We use the results of these tests to assess your strengths and weaknesses in order to create the perfect program for you. It is important that you are as fresh as possible for these two weeks so we get an accurate picture of your current capabilities. In other words, we recommend only doing these tests for the first two weeks and nothing else. See tables on the following page.

3. When you have completed testing, you will then be given a program with the appropriate training emphasis based on your individual needs (Training Program). The Monday after testing ends you will begin a 5-week On-Ramp period where we prepare you for the rest of your program. Don’t be confused by the words “On-Ramp.” This is NOT a basic or easy 5-weeks. This is just the period of time where we will be introducing all of our methodologies to you and ensuring we are all on the same page. We have found that the majority of new athletes hit PR’s on several lifts at the end of these 5 weeks, so get ready!

4. At the end of those 5 weeks you will be put into a live group with other team members that have the same training emphasis as you. This will allow us to make sure that you are peaked for the competitive season.

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Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

Strength/Power: Max Snatch Max OHS Gymnastics: Max Strict Max Ring Dips Endurance: Fight Gone Bad

Endurance: 500m Row for Time then Recovery Workout

Strength/Power: Max C&J Max Front Squat Gymnastics: Pullups Endurance: 10min Airdyne for Max Calories

Rovery Workout

Strength/Power: Max Strict Press Max Deadlift Gymnastics: Max Muscle Ups Endurance: 2k Row for time

“Helen” 3x: 400m Run 21 OH KB Swings 12 Pullups

Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13

Strength/Power: None Gymnastics: Max Strict Muscle Ups Strict HSPU Endurance: 1 Mile run for Time

Recovery Workout

Strength/Power: Max Back Squat Gymnastics: MAX HSPU Endurance: Fran

Recovery Workout

Strength/Power: None Gymnastics: Max Bar Muscle Ups Endurance: 400m Run for time

Endurance: 60min row for max meters

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Accountability While we believe that our programming is the best in the world, we also believe that support from coaches and other athletes is an even bigger factor for success. So here’s how we will support you, and how you will support each other.

1. Facebook Group As soon as you sign-up we encourage you to request access into the “Brute Compete Team” Facebook page. This is a private group just for our members. Ask questions, post lifts and workout scores, etc. Occasionally, the Brute coaches will post educational articles, video analysis, and make announcements. This is a safe and positive place where teammates can celebrate each other's success as well as support their struggles.

2. Check-Ins Every week you will have the option to check-in with a coach. This is arguably the most valuable part of our program. You will have the opportunity to ask and answer questions about your program and just make sure that we are doing everything in our power to help you reach your goals. Each one of your reports should include as much detail about your week as possible. Here are things to keep in mind every time you check in:

a. How each workout went. What went well, what didn't, how you felt physically, mentally, etc.

b. What did you get better at this week?

c. What will you get better at next week? Set your intention. You and I can discuss this week to week, but I want you to have a goal each week.

d. How was your recovery last week? How do you feel physically?

e. What could you have done better at this past week?

f. How is your mood? Motivation to train? Energy level?

This is by far the most important part of this process. Your honesty with your coach is essential for the whole program to work. If you miss workouts - tell your coach. If you add workouts - tell your coach. They can only work as well as the information you provide. Just know that no matter what is going on with your training or in your personal life, we are here to help you reach your goals! This is a safe and judgement free zone. Your goals are our goals.

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Gymnastics

Introduction You are now among the best. As an athlete, we expect you to be as uncompromising in your pursuit of excellence as we are as coaches. The following is your guide through the first 10 levels of Brute gymnastics training. It will require physical and mental fortitude. Progress requires patience, and you must show patience during the earlier stages to reap the benefits later. If you rush through the initial levels, if you take shortcuts, you are doing yourself a disservice, and setting yourself up for stagnation and possible injury, rather than success. Follow the program exactly as written. Commit yourself to the process of mental and physical growth, and you will be successful. We’re giving you the roadmap; it is up to you to follow the directions as provided. The Brute coaching staff will be with you every step of the way.

Nicholas C Sorrel MD Head of Brute gymnastics

Mission Optimize general athletic and competitive fitness performance by logically and progressively enhancing your ability to manipulate your own body weight.

Training Rationale The ability of a gymnast to manipulate his or her body in space and around external objects is unmatched in the athletic world, and the physical attributes developed during gymnastics training transfer extremely well to general athletics and competitive fitness. Many of the most common competitive fitness gymnastics skills are virtually non-existent in artistic gymnastics, i.e. the swinging muscle up, the kipping handstand push up. So it must be recognized that we have entered an arena of teaching athletes to perform new skills that must be critically evaluated and tested as separate and distinct entities. Artistic gymnasts operate within the restraints of being judged for not only completeness of a skill, but aesthetic (or virtuous) body form while completing the skill. However, competitive fitness athletes generally only operate within the restraints of being judged for completeness (range of motion) of a skill. So we must critically evaluate what body form is of the greatest value for fitness competition from a biomechanical efficiency standpoint. It is well recognized that even though the competitive fitness versions of gymnastics movements are unique and have different form requirements, those with a background in artistic gymnastics learn these skills much faster and perform them far better than those without such a background.

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Brute has designed a foundational gymnastics program to optimize your athletic and competitive fitness performance by teaching you to think and move like a gymnast.

Physical attributes required for competitive fitness gymnastics success

Skill (the gears)

1. Dynamic movement coordination

2. Static body position awareness and strength

3. Mobility and flexibility

Strength (the motor)

1. Pulling strength 2. Pushing strength 3. Core strength 4. Lower extremity

strength*

Endurance (the fuel)*

* Brute is a total body strength and performance program. So your need for lower extremity strength and endurance will be more than accommodated by the other parts of your training program.

Characteristics of a successful progression

Logical From easiest to hardest, building on previously attained attributes

Linear Progressing by levels and not skipping steps

Personalized Allows for progression according to individual ability

Incorporable Can be implemented without detracting from broader training goals like strength and metabolic development.

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Training Methods

To satisfy the above training rationale, Brute has designed a training progression based on levels of performance. The foundational levels are: Levels 1-10. Each level is comprised of 5 components: Three Workouts and Two Supplements.

Workouts Supplements

Each of the 3 workouts contains several exercises. Each exercise has a suggested progression and criteria for mastery. Mastery of all 3 of these workouts is required for level advancement. See Mastery below for more info.

Each of the 2 supplements contains exercises to augment skills and strength required for that level, revisit previous skills mastered and most importantly provide work on mobility. These workouts do NOT require mastery to advance.

The above level progression will be the foundation (the meat and potatoes) of your program. We understand foundational gymnastics training takes a long time, but competitive fitness athletes have a need to incorporate high-level skills on a regular basis to compete. So, to continue to work on higher-level movements we have incorporated Skill Days.

Skill Days

One skill day per week. Typically a low intensity 30-minute session, but this may vary. Focus is on high-level skills for competitors to keep sharp while progressing through foundations.

Mastery Each workout will typically have 3 or 4 components, and each component has defined criteria for mastery. Some components will have progression designations [i.e. (1) easier (2) harder and (3) hardest/mastery]. For example, to train pull-ups you may progress like this: (1) 3x3 (2) 3x6 (3) 3x10. So when you can perform 3 sets of 10 pull ups correctly within the required domain, you have mastered this part of the workout. Our formal suggestion is to FOLLOW these levels as designated. The first time you do the workout do (1), the second time (2), and the third time (3). If you cannot perform (1), (2), or (3) correctly, stay at that level until you can. Some workouts have total rep requirements. For example: perform 3 sets of pull-ups where mastery is defined as 30 total pull-ups in 3 sets. Some workouts have form, or other physical requirements. For example: you have mastered a component when you can do 10 L pull ups with straight legs. When all components of the workout are mastered then the workout is mastered; when all the workouts in a given level have been mastered you will progress to the next level, and a new series of workouts. Suggested rate of advancement is below.

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Rate of Progression

Our recommendation is 1 level every 3 weeks. The only exception for faster advancement would be for the most experienced athletes WITH a formal background in gymnastics. To avoid stagnation for the foundational levels (1-10) you may consider grouping adjacent levels – i.e. alternate doing one level one week and the other the next week until both are complete. This is optional and the levels we suggest grouping, if you choose to do so are: Levels 1&2, levels 5&6, levels 7&8. NEVER skip a level to group – i.e. never go from 1 to 3 or from 4 to 6, etc.

Pearls and Pitfalls Advancing Too Slow You will undoubtedly be frustrated if you reach a point that you have mastered almost all components in a given level but cannot move on because of one or two exercises (for example, you struggle with strict pull ups). The best answer in this situation is to be mentally strong and continue on. It is better not to progress ahead of your capability. You WILL continue to develop skill and strength by repeating the components you have already mastered. That is the definition of practice. It will serve you well. If you find yourself in a situation of being ‘stuck’ for an unreasonable amount of time you can contact Brute admin for further options. But don’t be discouraged, you WILL succeed. Advancing Too Fast You may find yourself thinking that the skills at the lower levels are “below you”, or that you can just skip parts of the progression. This may be frustrating but our answer is the same: be mentally tough and do all of the components every week, again and again, and strive to do them better and better. Leave zero doubt in your mind that each exercise is completely mastered. We have taken a great amount of time and effort to make sure this is a physically and mentally sound way to progress through competitive fitness gymnastics training. Be humble, be patient, and honor your mind and body by not taking shortcuts and settling for mediocrity. “Just good enough” is not good enough for us.

Pursue excellence every day!

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Endurance The Brute Strength program focuses on creating a physiological balance in your overall programming. The endurance aspect of our program focuses on creating a more robust and efficient aerobic system. The primary key to better overall performance is improving your lactate threshold (LT). A variety of different scientific studies have shown that lactate threshold is the single best predictor of endurance performance, better even than the much-vaunted physiological variable, VO2max. Not only is LT the best predictor of performance, it is also very responsive to training, much more responsive than VO2max. If you've been training for several years, your VO2max may not improve much at all over the course of a single year of hard work, but your LT can improve by up to 20% in the same time span! Improved LT is what the Brute Strength endurance programming targets. We define endurance as your ability to resist fatigue. All athletes slow down as distance increases in all activities. This is referred to as a “fatigue factor” or, “coefficient of slowing,” because its value determines the rate at which average speed decreases with distance and time. During your on-boarding process, we asked for your most recent max effort 400m and 1600m times. The relationship between your times in these two distances indicates your ability to resist fatigue, and is an accurate measure of your specific level of aerobic fitness. For reference, world-class runners have a coefficient of slowing factor of 6% for every doubling of the distance they run. For Example: Miranda Oldroyd 400m time: 1:10 Mile time: 6:42 Coefficient of Slowing: 30.9% The success of any endurance training program is dependent on the workout intensity. All of the Brute Strength endurance workouts have targeted intensities for every interval. These personalized pace targets are based on the workout distance, interval distance, recovery duration, and your individual PR times. This is how intensity is controlled, internal pace setting is learned, and confidence is built.

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Workout Example 5x(400m, 200m) at Int-1 pace w/ 200m jog rest b/t reps Personalized Pacing Template:

Code Mile Pace Target

400m Pace Target

100m Pace Target

Speed-1 Sp-1 05:29.8 01:22.0 00:20.5

Speed-2 Sp-2 06:01.4 01:29.8 00:22.5

Speed-3 Sp-3 06:19.7 01:34.4 00:23.6

Interval-1 Int-1 07:03.7 01:45.3 00:26.3

Interval-2 Int-2 07:26.7 01:51.0 00:27.8

Interval-3 Int-3 07:40.3 01:54.4 00:28.6

Threshold-1 LT-1 07:44.0 01:55.4 00:28.8

Threshold-2 LT-2 07:50.0 01:56.8 00:29.2

Threshold-3 LT-3 08:10.7 02:02.0 00:30.5

Easy-1 Ez-1 08:35.7 02:08.2 00:32.0

Easy-2 Ez-2 09:27.0 02:21.0 00:35.2

Easy-3 Ez-3 10:36.3 02:38.2 00:39.5

Personalized Workout Details: 5x (400m in 1:45.3, 200m in 52.6) w/ 200m jog rest b/t reps The above pacing table is an example of the personalized table you will use for all Brute Strength Endurance workouts. This pacing table will be your intensity guide until you perform a new max effort 400m or 1600m time, then your pacing table will automatically update for you. Brute Strength will send you an updated personal pacing table after any new PR’s so that you continue targeting the correct workout intensity.

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Weightlifting Why is Olympic weightlifting important for CrossFit? Olympic-style barbell lifts now account for the majority of all CrossFit movements seen in workouts in the Open, Regionals, and Games. According to http://cfganalysis.blogspot.com, Olympic-Style Barbell Lifts accounted for 35% of the 2014 Open Workouts, 37% of the 2014 Regional Workouts, and 32% of the 2014 Games Workouts.

Movement Subcategory 2014 Open 2014 Regionals

2014 Games

Olympic- Style Barbell Lifts 35% 37% 32%

Basic Gymnastics 35% 18% 8%

Pure Conditioning 10% 12% 17%

High Skill Gymnastics 4% 25% 17%

Powerlifting-Style Barbell Lifts 10% 4% 4%

KD/DB Lifts 4% 4% 2%

Uncommon Crossfit Movements 0% 0% 21%

Not only is Olympic lifting the favored movement, but CrossFit has steadily increased the relative weight at the Games each year for heavier, barbell-oriented and max-effort events (e.g. snatch and clean ladders). Olympic lifting, simply by adding weight to the bar, is the one variable that can be easily manipulated to test athletes as they master the other skills.

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And CrossFit has responded to public demand to see increasingly heavier weights being used. Here at Brute, this is the best circumstance we could hope for. My background is in Olympic lifting, and I was a 7-time USA World Team member. My coach, Gayle Hatch, was one of the first coaches to popularize Olympic lifting in sports and general athletic training. We have adapted a similar philosophy with regards to CrossFit-specific training. First off, let’s take a look at different styles of training. Powerlifting is an absolute strength-based sport, where the objective is to lift maximum weight while abiding by referee commands. Compared to Olympic weightlifting, the weights are moved in a slower, more controlled fashion. Conversely, sprinters train for pure explosive strength, and their training is geared toward building as much explosive strength as possible relative to their body weight. It is well understood that sprinters are faster and more explosive with body weight and jump-based exercises, due to the conditions they train for. The study shown below illustrates how sprinters can jump slightly higher than Olympic lifters, and higher still when compared to powerlifters.

Olympic weightlifting, on the other hand, holds the trump card. Olympic weightlifting combines both speed and strength. Simple physics defines Power as Force x Velocity or, Strength x Speed. CrossFit is a sport that rewards superior power output. Therefore, we will train these systems together as a single unit to create max power potential for our athletes. As shown in the following study, peak power produced from Olympic lifters greatly exceeds power output from powerlifters and sprinters.

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Your Brute strength program will be based off of the Olympic lifts. At times your training will resemble that of an Olympic lifter, while at other times it will vary greatly. Training to become better at Olympic lifting takes significant time and practice. The best Olympic lifters in the USA and the world train 3-4 hours a day, 6 days a week to become stronger and more explosive. While many elite CrossFitters train similarly as often, their time must be applied to other skills and modalities, and not exclusively strength. Much of your strength work will be organized in phases. When it comes down to it, we are making you the best athlete—not just CrossFitter—you can be. Much of the strength programming will transfer over to other CrossFit skills and exercises like muscle ups, handstand walks, handstand push-ups, box jumps, and wall ball shots, to name just a few. Explosive strength training develops overall athletic potential because it trains the central nervous system to fire in the most efficient way possible. Similar to our endurance programming, we will divide our athletes first into two main groups, and later into subgroups based off of individual assessments. One group will focus on developing absolute strength, while the other will focus on converting absolute strength into explosive power.

 

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Main Group 1: Absolute Strength (AS) The first main group is designed for those who need to improve absolute strength. These are athletes that just plain need to get stronger. Strength gains developed in this group will automatically carryover to the Olympic lifts. If an athlete is capable of pulling themselves under more weight than they are capable of standing up with, then that athlete will benefit from improving their absolute strength so it is more commensurate with their speed. The AS group will focus on basic strength-building exercises like squats, pulls, and presses, while still focusing on the Olympic lifts. Main Group 2: Explosive Strength (ES) The second main group is designed for explosive strength development. Athletes assigned to the ES group are already strong, but lack the necessary speed and explosiveness to see sufficient carryover in their Olympic lifts. An example here is an athlete that can deadlift 500 pounds, but can only power clean 200 pounds. ES group focus is on maintaining absolute strength, while putting a major emphasis on technique and quality repetition of the Olympic lifts. Athletes assigned to this group will be instructed on how to efficiently use their strength and leverage to improve their Olympic lifts. Speed and mobility work will also be heavily emphasized. As CrossFitters, your individualized program is built to complement your other Brute endurance, gymnastics, and skill-based training. That’s what makes Brute unique. We brought together a team of coaches who are all experts in their fields, and your custom Brute programming is a product of the combined efforts of the entire Brute coaching staff. We truly believe we’re offering the best coaching and programming available, and we’re excited to have you on board!

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Mobility

Introduction Athletes spend hours per week working on strength, skill, and endurance to improve performance. The expectation is that this progressive work load will produce quantifiable and tangible results. Without such results, athletes would certainly be looking for new programming options. Our philosophy is that your mobility programming should produce similarly tangible and quantifiable results. The days of humping a lacrosse ball and a foam roller to accomplish limited and reflexive increases in range of motion are over for educated athletes; it’s time they are over for you. Who will be doing the testing? We will teach you how to test yourself. If you feel like you need more help with the process, there are options to have a private coach assigned to you for immediate assistance. What will be measured? Through our series of tests, you will develop a clear understanding of what movements you do well, what movements you do poorly, and most importantly, why. We will measure your ability to perform the single joint action portion of compound joint action movements to determine the weakest link. Anatomical Example: Available degrees of Ankle dorsiflexion Anatomical Relevance: Poor ankle dorsiflexion can lead to a posterior shift in the athlete’s center of gravity during a squat causing a forward torso lean for compensation. How will you test? The tests will be accompanied by video instructions in all cases. How will you improve? General programming is available for all Brute Strength athletes at www.livetheactivelife.com/the-active-blog. You also have the opportunity to upgrade your programming by using our specific anatomy modules. The most progressive opportunity at your fingertips is to participate in individual mobility programming. You can email your Brute Strength contact for more information on all above options. If you need hands on treatment, we will help you find the best professional in your area.

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Why so much testing The more you know about yourself, the more opportunity you have for improvement. Just like you wouldn’t keep doing the same lifting program if your clean and snatch didn’t improve, you shouldn’t be doing the same mobility program if your hip flexion or shoulder abduction doesn’t improve (for example). Now you will be able to quantify that improvement from day to day.

Philosophy Every athlete has a need to move well both in isolation and in integration of joint mechanics. Without proper joint mechanics in isolation, the opportunity to groove movement patterns and improve compound strength is a futile effort. Athlete Hierarchy of Needs

Flexibility - A joint’s passive range of motion. Mobility - Your ability to move a joint through a range of motion in isolation or integrated. Integrated Strength - The ability to move multiple joints through a full range of motion actively and synergistically. Skill - The ability to perform simple or complex movements with efficiency.

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The above diagram (provided by William Brady DC) illustrates how soft tissue adhesion can be created through overuse and, or injury. It also demonstrates the difference between cycles experiences with acute injury (inflammation cycle) vs. chronic pain (chronic cycle). Part of our role as the Brute Strength Mobility Team is to help you best navigate exits from this cycle while continuing your training.

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