The Truth About CrossFit Programming: No Magic Formula, Just What Works

As we step into our New Year as of April 5th, I want to give you a clear look at the philosophy behind our programming the “why” behind what we do, how we train, and how we’ll approach the next year of workouts and programming.

Below is the cleaned-up, athlete-friendly version of everything I’ve learned over years of coaching and programming CrossFit and how it shapes the training you do on a daily basis.

PROGRAMMING

For a long time, I believed programming was a highly specific, almost mathematical process. I thought there had to be a perfect volume, a perfect intensity, a perfect formula. I assumed fitness training, strength work included, could follow a precise progression, and that I could improve everyone’s performance by dialing in the exact ratio of deadlifts to push-ups or box jumps to running. I figured that if I followed enough of the big names in CrossFit and bought all their programs, I could, Russel Crowe Beautiful Mind–style, decipher the secret sauce and poof everyone would suddenly become an elite exerciser.

Of course, I wasn’t correct. In fact, I’m dead wrong.

There is no perfect program.There is no magic formulationBut there are numbers, patterns, and principles that matter.

Over the years, I have followed programs like Comptrain, HWPO by Mat Fraser, Bodybuilding forums, CrossFit.com programming, Rich Froning's Mayhem and Training Think Tank, OPEX, you name it I’ve, purchased programs, watched lectures and did their workouts because they have been used by successful CrossFit athletes. High-level athletes like Rich Froning, Mat Fraser, Tia Clair Toomy, and Katrin Davidsdottir.

There’s even several sites, streamers and blogs dedicated CrossFit Games Analysis, dedicated to mathematical breakdowns of the Open, quarterfinals, semis and the old Regionals, and Games. That I have looked into far too many times to admit.

As the saying goes.“The mask is off.”

There’s no mystery to getting people fit, no secret sauce, no hidden spellbook. We know exactly how the sausage gets made… you just might not love every ingredient that goes into it. And here’s the truth: an email can’t explain what it really takes to build a complete, successful CrossFit program. Honestly, a 500-page book couldn’t either.

Because building a legit training system isn’t one big formula, it’s more like constantly tweaking the recipe. You try things, you watch what happens in the gym, you adjust, you test again, and you keep dialing it in. Both to myself and to others as Guinea pigs.

Time, experience, and a whole lot of real-world reps are what make the picture clear. So, what I’m giving you here is not a comprehensive outline it is instead things that I have picked up on and things that I think are important lessons I’ve learned from years of coaching CrossFit and doing CrossFit and how the programming at CrossFit Mayview is written.

At the core of our programming there are two components:

1. A Movement Ranking System

2. Training progression / Time line

Let’s break those down.

DEFINITIONS

Movement

Straightforward: exercises. Snatch, clean & jerk, muscle-up, back squat, toes-to-bar, running. In CrossFit, these aren’t just training tools — they are the sport.

Skill

Your technical competency at a movement. How well you can execute it.

Capacity

Your ability to perform that movement under different demands. And those demands can be wildly different. For example:

• Clean & jerking a 1RM

• Doing 30 reps for time at 70%

• Doing sets of 10 at 40% inside a conditioning workout

Being good at one does not guarantee being good at the others.

This is where people love to bash CrossFit — “Too many movements, too many demands, you end up mediocre at everything.” I disagree. And if you’ve trained here long enough, you already know why.

Which brings us to the structure behind how we train.

This brings us to the hierarchy.

The Movement Ranking System tells us what matters most. The Training Progression tells us when and how to build it.

If you want, I can expand each section next — the tiers, the timeline, how they interact, and how it all shows up in your daily training.

PRIORITIZING MOVEMENTS: THE HIERARCHY

Creating a hierarchy means deciding what matters most. So there are 2 important caveats

What movements and capacities carry the greatest improvement to others?

What movements and capacities are most likely to be tested in competition (The open)?

I want to put movements into three tiers, based on carryover and likelihood of appearing in competition.

The Three Criteria

A movement earns its tier based on:

1. Likelihood of appearing in CrossFit competition

2. Whether it requires constant practice to develop better skill

3. Whether it has high carryover to other movements

Priority A movements meet all three criteria.

Priority B movements meet at least two.

Priority C is everything else.

Two Exceptions to this rule:

Kipping Pull-Up: Appears constantly in competition and rewards efficiency and volume tolerance.Even with lower carryover, it belongs in Priority A.

Back Squat: Rarely appears in competition, but its carryover is enormous.It makes everything else better.

“A LIST” MOVEMENTS

Snatch (and variations)

Clean & Jerk (and variations)

Back Squat

Front Squat

Pull-Ups (Kipping)

Running

“B LIST” MOVEMENTS

(Numbers indicate which criteria they meet)

Deadlift (1, 3)

Push Press (2, 3)

Muscle-Ups (1, 2)

Handstand Push-Ups (1, 2)

Rowing (1, 2)

Wall walk or even Handstand Walking (1, 2)

Toes to bar (1, 2)

“C LIST” MOVEMENTS

This list is long, wall balls, push-ups, thrusters, sit ups, box jumps, sled pushes, burpees, farmer’s carries, double unders, and many more.

These movements matter.They build fitness.They expand your skill set.But they are not the core of any program.

THE YEARLY TRAINING TIMELINE

Once we know the hierarchy, we can plan the year.We break it into three phases:

OFF SEASON

Starts immediately after the Open/Quarterfinals and usually runs until early-to-mid October.

This phase is simple:“Some stuff you love and some stuff you hate.”

You need time to:

Have fun in the gym, but not feel anxious by missing sessions

Do other things you enjoy

Play other sports

Still Fix weak links

Continue training Tier 1 and Tier 2 movements

I encourage you to compete in something else to display your fitness, weightlifting, Running, golf, Hyrox, whatever. Anything that builds athleticism.

PRE SEASON

October → Mid February

A return to full “CrossFit” training with:

Heavy emphasis on A List and B List

Circuits involving C Lists

Targeted work on weak movements and capacities

COMPETITION SEASON

Late February → end of the open / quarterfinals

The Open makes programming tricky, workouts each week are unknown.But the focus is clear:

High volume

High intensity

Competition-style formats

Individualized emphasis on core/ base movements

WE HAVE THE HIERARCHY. WE HAVE THE TIMELINE.

Next, I’ll show you exactly how our weekly training will look starting, and how get the most out of it.