05/29/09

I was up at 3am and finally ate at 7:30am. It was nice little fast, and I broke it with a Fage Total Greek Yogurt.

I was at work a long time today, so I had to get another protein bar. I ate half of it with a bunch of cashews as a pre-workout snack (2 hours prior). A ate the other half with more cashews immediately post-workout.

Today was Day 1 of a new routine that is based on the Max Effort Black Box (MEBB), a routine created by Mike Rutherford that blends weight lifting and Crossfit type training. I heard of it last year but never really looked into it until a few weeks ago. I know a few people that have personally used MEBB, and they said it is MUCH better than CF - my co-worker said he looked like one of the 300 when he last did it. MEBB is highly regarded, and I've seen nothing but praise for it thus far.

How/why is it better than CF? Well, CF after all, is for the most part really just "superior cardio" when you get right down to it. I realize that avid dogmatic Crossfitters will have a problem with that statement, but it is what it is. Hey, it's not really a bad thing anyway...unless your goal is to get a lot stronger and bigger. I know a lot of people that follow CF, and most of them had begun losing strength over time. CF originally blamed "diet" on this loss of strength, but they eventually had no choice but accept the fact that it was actually the system itself that was to blame. This became such an issue that CF came out with a new version of their program called Crossfit Strength Bias (CFSB), which essentially adds more Oly Lifts into the mix.

Don't get me wrong - I love Crossfit, and I have always promoted it, but there are a lot of things I have questioned over time. Some of the shit they do is just plan stupid; like doing high amounts of Oly Lifts "For Time", which will only lead to poor form and incorrect movement patterns that will create problems down the road!!! The loss of strength experienced by many is also serves as proof that there are issues. CFSB addresses the strength loss issues to some degree, and I do like CFSB, but, it still pales in comparison to the MEBB from what I can see after looking into it more deeply, and from what I was told. The only thing left is to do it and see what happens, and that is where I am right now.

I will deviate from MEBB ever so slightly based upon a recommendation of my co-worker who went through MEBB as well as official Olympic Weight Training in 2 different schools. Full details on the MEBB here soon. For now, I will leave you with today's Day 1 Routine:
Max Effort Upper Body

• Weighted Pull-ups: 5x5, 2x3, 3x1
• Power Clean: 5x5
• Ancillary work (supporting exercises and core work)

I had a salad and meatballs for an early dinner, after a 1 hour nap


More details later....