My Unofficial Crossfit Football Starting Guide

by Colin McLafferty

This guide is meant to serve as a practical manual for beginners and a reference for
athletes currently following CFFB.

The first sections of this guide will address the basics of starting the program (e.g.
selecting Amateur vs. Collegiate, etc).

Most of that information is available on the FAQ, however in this guide, that information
will be presented alongside my personal advice and experiences (2+ years following the
program), thus making it more useful to a CFFB beginner.

The other sections of this guide address issues specific to CFFB including movements
unique to CFFB, scaling guidance, equipment issues, resets, etc.

What is CFFB?

In the words of its creator John Welbourn, “big, fast and strong” is what CFFB aims to
make you.

Straight from the FAQ “[CFFB] use[s] organic functional movements performed at high
intensity to simulate the demands placed on an athlete during a football game.”

While the program is designed specifically for football, it will help you in any athletic
endeavor requiring speed, strength, and power. If you are a marathon runner this is
probably not the program for you, but CFFB has great carry over to water polo, soccer,
rugby, mixed martial arts just to name a few.

Many Crossfitters lack a good strength base. If you are reading this, that’s probably true
for you, too. Doing CFFB will make you stronger and more explosive and will thus make
you better at Crossfit, if that is your goal.

Basics

-What’s the SWOD, DWOD and how do they work?

Basically, there are two workouts; the SWOD (Strength Workout of the Day) and DWOD
(Daily Workout..of the day). The DWOD is the WOD listed above a picture. The SWOD
is in the right hand corner of the page in calendar form.

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If either workout says rest, you do nothing for that particular workout. There will be days
when the SWOD is rest, but the DWOD is on and vice versa. If both days say rest, do
nothing.

Depending on if you follow Amateur, Collegiate, or Professional SWOD level (more on

that later) the SWOD can look like a 3x5 basic barbell movement, an 8x2 power
movement or 3RM basic barbell lift, or a 1RM weighted pull up.

The DWOD is the conditioning portion of the workout. It’s completed after the SWOD
unless otherwise noted.

The DWODs are hands-down the funnest and most brutal WODs I’ve ever done. They
are heavy, intense, short, and often soul-crushing. Barbell movements, shuttle runs,
slamming heavy objects, burpees, and max box jumps are used frequently in the
DWODs.

Examples:

Kalsu
On the minute:
Complete 5 burpees and perform max rep 135 lbs thrusters on the minute.

The goal is to complete 100 total thrusters.

*At the beginning of every minute perform 5 burpees, for the rest of the minute perform as many thrusters
as you can during that minute. At the beginning of the next minute perform 5 burpees and then max rep
thrusters and so on until you reach 100 total thrusters.
Post the total number of minutes it took to reach 100 thrusters.

For time:
150 Push Ups
*Everytime you stop and rest with your chest on the ground this constitutes a penalty. If a penalty is
counted, you must immediately sprint 40 yards. Once the penalty is completed continue with the push ups.
*You can rest in a pike position (the top of a push up) but once you can not do push ups any longer and
need to rest on the ground, a penalty is counted and a 40 yard sprint must be completed.
Post times and number of penalties to comments.

Complete 6 rounds:
1 minute - 15 KB Swings - 2 pood
1 minute -  Row max distance

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*Alternate 1 minute bouts of KB Swings and max distance rowing.
*You have 1 minute to get 15 swings, the next minute row for max distance. Alternate this 6 times for a
total for 12 minutes. 
Post total meters rowed to comments. 
*I recommend doing this as your first DWOD. It has simple movements and is a good introduction to what
the average DWOD feels like.

http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?
menu=blog&page=blog&hide&id=26848

Note that many DWODs do not say “for time.” Rather, they say “post times to
comments.” That constitutes a “for time” WOD.

If it says “post loads / rounds / penalties” to comments, then using the heaviest load
possible / getting amrap / getting fewest penalties is the objective of the workout.

That is critical to understanding the objective of the WOD and how you should prepare
and perform.

-What should I follow: Amateur, Collegiate, or Professional?

http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?menu=faq&page=faq

If you still have linear progression in you, Amateur. If you are intermediate and have
exhausted all LP gains, Collegiate. If you have some big numbers or have advanced
beyond intermediate programming, professional.

-What is the purpose of In-Season / Off-Season?

http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?menu=faq&page=faq

This is very specific to football. If you are using CFFB to attain better fitness, I
recommend following the off-season. If you are currently in your competitive season but
do not compete in football, John recommends using in-season.

-What equipment do I need?

John’s response: http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?
menu=faq&page=equipment

My personal take:
I am not a football player. I followed the program to increase my strength and fitness and
I never used cleats. I still accomplished my goals. I think cleats are good to shave some
time off of your sprints and to achieve better turns. Cleats are a good idea if you are a
player. If cleats present a prohibitive cost and you are a not a player, don’t buy them
since IMO they are not absolutely necessary for the non-football player.

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John’s response leaves out some equipment such as a slam bag and chain belt. Both of
those are addressed in the “Substitution Problems for Beginners” section on page 5.

Common Problems

The most common categories of questions for people new to CFFB fall into these
categories; scaling, substitutions (subs), and format of the workout. Below, there is a
detailed section on each category.

Scaling Problems for Beginners

-Weight

For people looking to get stronger, CFFB uses some huge weight. Take the CFFB Hero
WOD “Tillman” for example:

7 Rounds for time:

7 Deadlifts 315 lbs

1 Full Gasser
15 Pull Ups

*Rest 45 seconds between rounds

315# may be a 1RM or close to it for someone not satisfied with his or her strength
levels. The best thing to do in this case is to follow a day or a few days behind, look at
the comments and find people with a bodyweight similar to yours.

See what weight they used and, judging their experience levels and strength levels in
comparison to yours, try to match or beat them. A general rule for higher reps (49 in this
case) is to use 70% or above of your 1RM. If my 1RM was 315#, I would use 220# for a
scaled Tillman.

That is a general rule for someone getting started. Once you get some experience under
your belt, you will have a better idea of what constitutes a challenging weight for you at
different rep ranges. The comments are a great resource for these sorts of things.

-Weight Percentages

A frequent issue for new followers is when the DWOD uses a certain percentage of your
SWOD. For example:

SWOD- Find 5RM Squat

DWOD-
5 Rounds

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3 Squats @ 80% 5RM Squat
7 box jumps 30’ in
10 bag slams using 40# bag

Post times to comments

Many times, new followers will not be able to use the recommended percentage of
weight for the DWOD without failing and taking long rest periods.

If the DWOD is for time as in the example above, the athlete should select a weight
heavy enough to be challenging but light enough to maintain intensity.
A good way to tell if you’ve selected the right weight in this example would be a fail or
near fail on the squats in rounds 4 or 5. If you’re failing on the second rep in round 2, you
should have scaled down more.

If the workout is not for time, then you should go as heavy as possible even if you have to
rest. As your experience increases, this will become an easier judgment call to make. I
recommend following a day behind or a few days behind and looking at the comments.
That way, you get an idea of what the skilled and more experienced followers are doing
and you can follow their lead.

Substitution Problems for Beginners

-Running and Crawling

If you’re like most people, you work out at a gym. Oftentimes there is no dedicated
sprinting area or bear crawl area at these gyms. The best thing to do is to find a way to do
your shuttles, sprints, and crawls. Don’t make excuses.

Burpees and rowing are the most commonly used subs for sprints and running and, in my
opinion, double unders are another applicable sub. Mountain climbers can be used to
simulate a bear crawl. However, if you really want to follow the program you should find
a place to run / bear crawl.

If your gym has some, basketball courts work well for this purpose. Parking lots work,
too. I did CFFB for two years, always at globos. I ran out into the parking lot to do shuttle
runs, wiped the ice and snow off my feet, and went back to squats or thrusters or
whatever I was doing for the DWODs.

If you have to sub the runs, there are two ways of doing that—I refer to them as the time
and conversion methods. Let’s say you have to do a 50 yard shuttle, which means you run
25yd, touch the “line” and turn, and run back another 25yd for a total of 50yd.

For the time method, figure out how long it takes you to run that shuttle and simply
perform the sub exercise for the same amount of time. If the shuttle takes you 16 seconds

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but you cannot perform the shuttle on that day, perform burpees/rowing/DUs for 16
seconds instead.

For the conversion method, you convert distance to reps. Let’s say you have to run
400m. You may use the conversion of 5 burpees for every 100m and perform a total of 20
burpees for the 400m. A common conversion used when subbing rows for runs is 50m
rowing = 100m running.

Personally, I recommend the time method as it is hard to screw up. You’re working for
the same exact amount of time when using the time method whereas you can make a
faulty conversion and end up working a lot less or a lot more than intended.

-Ball Slams / Plate Slams

Many gyms have light medicine balls that only go up to 12#. CFFB commonly calls for
ball slams at 40#. To resolve this issue, make a sandbag out of two 3 mil contractor bags
and wrap it in a sack. Military laundry bags with a draw string are durable and work well
to protect the inner contractor sandbag from getting hurt.

You can also do plate slams. Simply grab a 45# plate, get in the starting position for a KB
swing (plate touching ground and in between feet, hips low and ready to pop), hip pop the
plate over your head, and slam the edge of the plate to the ground. Repeat. It is not
necessary to actually slam the metal plate into the ground—you can simply touch the
plate to the ground. That is referred to as a “mock plate slam” and is an acceptable sub.
As always, doing the RXed movement is better.

-Sledgehammer Strikes

KB swings, plate slams, and bag slams are appropriate subs. If you have a sledgehammer,
use the heaviest one.

-Weighted Pull ups / Chin ups / body movements

A chain belt works best for the pull ups and chin ups. Sure, you can hold a DB between
your feet but that is a distraction during a strength movement. It becomes hard to hold
onto a heavy weight with your feet when you are exhausted or when the weight is heavy.
Go with a chain belt or a weight vest.

If you don’t have either of those, sling your slam bag over your shoulders or attach a
heavy resistance band to a weight on the ground or around your feet. Be careful with the
band idea—if the resistance is heavier than the weight holding the band down the weight
can come flying up at you. If you’re doing pull ups, chin ups, or dips, a dumbbell flying
up at you from the ground can damage some very precious body parts.

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WOD Format Questions

On The Minute
Example: Sprint 100 yards on the minute every minute for 10 minutes. This means that
the TOTAL time between sprints—meaning from the start of the first sprint to the start of
the second—is 60 seconds.

At the start of your first sprint, start your timer. Your 100yd sprint takes 30 seconds. You
now have 30 seconds (the remainder of that minute) to rest before starting your next
sprint. If your next sprint takes 50 seconds, you have 10 seconds to rest before starting
the next sprint. Example: http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?
menu=blog&page=blog&hide&id=45620

Shuttles
If a 50yd shuttle is prescribed, 50yds is the total amount of distance traveled for the
whole shuttle. For a 50yd shuttle, you would run 25yds, touch and turn, and run back 25
yds. You would NOT run 50yds, touch and turn, and run 50yds. That would be a 100yd
shuttle.

Format of the Workouts and Posting Questions

There are a ton of new posters on the CFFB comments who post a great deal of questions
regarding the format of the workout. For example, users don’t know what “on the
minute” means or assume that since other movements in the workout were performed
with weight that “Push ups” mean “weighted push ups.”

Some of those issues are easily resolved by reading the FAQ or by a few minutes of
research. I can’t emphasize enough that you should follow a day behind as that will
resolve the issues that are not resolved by the FAQ.

The CFFB comments section is not forgiving and will insult you for asking what users
deem to be stupid questions.

This is not productive as it dissuades many a genuine, enthused beginner from posting
good questions. However, I agree that a lot of the questions are dumb ones and show a
lack of research and initiative on the poster’s behalf. You will be made fun of in a non-
WFS way if you do not do your research before posting a question on CFFB.

Look at these real examples of questions on CFFB regarding the format of workouts.
90% of all your questions can be resolved by following a day or more behind and reading
the comments before performing your workout.

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DB Quarter Gone Bad
Five rounds for total reps of:
DB Thrusters 50 lbs, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
50 pound Weighted pull-ups, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
Burpees, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds

A poster asked if the burpees should be performed while holding 50# DBs.
In all cases, unless there is a specified weight for a movement, it is unweighted. Do your
homework, post your WOD results regularly, and ask educated questions. Doing those
things will earn you credibility on the comment board.

Sometimes the way the WOD is written can be confusing. Read it carefully, check the
comments, and follow a day behind.

Nutrition

http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?menu=nutrition&page=nutrition

John recommends basically a Paleo diet with milk. Eat often, eat lots, and drink a lot of
milk. CFFB’s goal is to get you big, strong, and fast. Read the many threads on
crossfit.com about GOMAD if you have problems with milk or if you’re not sure you
need a caloric surplus.

Failure and Reset Protocol

If you are following Amateur level, you are on a linear progression (LP) strength
program. You are supposed to add weight every session in which a certain lift is
performed, thus gradually increasing your strength in a linear fashion.

When you are unable to successfully perform the requisite number of reps (3 sets of 5,
3x5= 15 reps) that are RXed, you follow what’s called the “reset protocol.” After failing
the first session, attempt the same weight for two more sessions.

Let’s say you attempt to squat 240# 3x5 on Monday. You get your first set and your
second set but on the third set you only get three reps.

Every time you fail, you should re-evaluate your recovery which is composed of nutrition
(food and hydration) and rest (sleep, stress, and work volume).

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Fix any problems with those (e.g. cut out the 3 mile runs you added to CFFB or drink
more milk) and come back to squat on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, you still don’t get 15 reps. Re-evaluate your recovery and come back on
Monday.

If you fail to get 15 reps on Monday and your recovery and nutrition are fine, it is time to
reset.

Generally CFFB has you squatting twice a week for a total of a 10# increase in the squat
per week. In this example, the person squatting failed at 240# three times which means
it’s time to reset. To reset three weeks behind, the weight should be dropped to 210#.

Start at 210# and progress in a linear fashion all the way back up.

My Personal Experience With CFFB

I’ve followed Crossfit Strength Bias, Crossfit Endurance, SEALFIT, and SS. Each
program is unique but out of all those I’ve definitely had the most fun on CFFB.

I made dramatic strength increases the first year but after that I leveled off. I followed
Amateur but just could not keep putting weight on the bar. Still, at that point I was only
squatting 265# for 5 or so. With that in mind, I don’t think I had milked all the gains
possible from an LP. Either the programming was not what I needed or my
nutrition/recovery sucked consistently.

I think it was a little bit of both—my nutrition was really good but I probably would have
needed to cut out the metcons in order to keep progressing on the LP.

For Crossfitters who want to be strong and have conditioning, I sincerely believe this
should be the first program they do after getting off of a basic linear progression. Or, this
could even be their first LP if they don’t mind only adding 10# a week to the squat as
opposed to 15# on other LPs.

Take a look at the CF boards today and there are ten times more threads about strength
than there were just a year or two ago. People want to get strong and I think CFFB is a
fantastic way of reaching that goal while hitting conditioning hard.

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Resources

www.crossfitfootball.com/faq

Crossfit Football creator John Welbourn’s blog. Lots of good information here about the
program and interesting anecdotes from a strength legend:

www.talktomejohnnie.

CFFB’s youtube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/thepowerathlete?feature=results_main

CFFB’s Resource Page:

http://www.crossfitfootball.com/page/index.php?menu=newto&page=performance

*This guide represents my personal opinion regarding Crossfit Football only. This is an
unofficial guide of my own making and is not yet endorsed by CFFB. This is simply a
collection of my experiences and my opinions packaged for your entertainment. This
guide does not constitute medical advice and a doctor should be consulted before
embarking on any physical exercise or nutritional program.

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