A CCB session is built from a small number of repeating parts. Twelve stations. Sixty-second work phases. Decision points between phases. Burdens before the next phase.
This post walks through the full shape of a session so coaches can picture what running the protocol actually looks like — and so facility owners can see what their room would experience if they added CCB alongside their existing programming.
The setup
Twelve stations. Each station has a defined work task, a target, and a Burden. Stations are occupied by athletes — a station can hold one athlete, two athletes, or sit empty depending on the day's programming.
Athletes join by QR code, no app install. They see their station assignment, the work task, the target, and the Burden on their phone. The coach sees the room from the dashboard.
The setup is the part most rooms underestimate in importance. A session that takes two minutes longer to set up than expected compresses the rest of the session. A session that takes two minutes less to set up than expected gives the room breathing room. The protocol is built so setup is mechanical: stations are pre-defined, athlete assignments are pre-mapped, QR codes are posted at the station markers. The setup is the part the coach does once and reuses all session.
What the room sees on their phones
Every athlete's phone shows the same five things once they join:
- Their station assignment (Station 4, Station 7, etc.).
- The work task for the station (20 burpees, 250m row, etc.).
- The target (the number to hit).
- The Burden (what the room owes if the athlete misses).
- A countdown clock during the work phase.
What the athlete's phone doesn't show is anyone else's station. Athletes see their own work, not the room's. This is the no-public-blame default carried into the phone UI: the room's score is the room's business, and the room sees it on the dashboard or the shared screen, not on individual phones.
What the coach sees on the dashboard
The coach dashboard shows the room and the individuals mapped to it (per Platform Spec §6.1):
- Athlete and station assignments (per §6.1, the dashboard exposes this by default).
- Live station status (occupied, in-progress, submitted).
- Submitted results as they land.
- Active Burdens at the end of each round.
- Failed-station visibility.
- Readiness signal before the next work phase.
- Session controls: start, Freeze, Evaluation, Continue, End, and Stop.
The room sees the room's score, not the per-station breakdown. The coach holds the frame: even though the dashboard exposes the assignment, the coach's verbal call to the room doesn't name individuals. The room owes Burdens together; the coach doesn't identify who triggered them.
The work phase
The coach starts the work phase from the dashboard. Every active station works for sixty seconds. The clock runs on the platform, not on a wall timer. Athletes see the countdown on their phone.
Inputs land during the work phase. Bodyweight stations (rep-counted work per Core Spec §4): the athlete taps reps on their phone as they go. Conditioning stations (rower, bike, ski erg, Echo Bike per Core Spec §4): the athlete reads the machine console and submits the result in the station's official unit when the Freeze locks at T=60. The protocol handles the rest.
The work phase is the simplest part of the session. The room is inside their stations. The clock runs. The athletes push. The inputs land. The work phase ends.
What a good work phase feels like
A well-paced work phase produces visible effort across the room. Some athletes are finishing their last reps at T=55. Some are still pushing at T=58. The room's effort distribution is visible to the coach on the dashboard — but the coach isn't watching to identify freeloaders. The coach is watching to read the room for the decision point that comes after the round.
A poorly-paced work phase produces visible disengagement. Athletes are coasting in the last ten seconds. Athletes are stopping at T=50 with reps to spare. The room's effort distribution tells the coach something the room won't say. The decision point after the round is where the coach responds.
What inputs look like in real time
Bodyweight inputs land as taps. The athlete's phone shows a counter incrementing with each tap. The dashboard shows the count rising for that station in real time. The coach can see effort signals in the rate of taps: a station that's tapping at a steady cadence is working; a station that's gone quiet at T=45 is coasting.
Conditioning inputs land at the Freeze. The athlete reads the machine console at T=60 and submits the result in the station's official unit (meters for the BikeErg, RowErg, and SkiErg; calories for the Echo Bike). The dashboard shows the submitted result for every conditioning station. The coach sees the result locked against the target during Evaluation.
The freeze
At T=60, every station Freezes. Inputs lock. The dashboard shows the round results: which stations hit, which stations missed, and how many Burdens the room owes.
The room sees the Burdens. The room does not see which station triggered each Burden. This is the no-public-blame default.
The Freeze is the moment where the room transitions from individual effort to collective consequence. During the work phase, athletes were inside their own stations. After the Freeze, the room is one unit facing a shared obligation. The mechanic depends on that transition happening cleanly, and the Freeze is what makes it clean.
What the dashboard shows at the Freeze
At T=60, the dashboard transitions from a live-effort view to a round-results view. The coach sees:
- Stations that hit their targets (no Burden).
- Stations that missed (Burden owed).
- Total Burdens for the round.
- Estimated Burden completion time (under two minutes for most rounds).
The room sees the same Burdens total on the shared screen or the coach's verbal call. The room doesn't see which station missed. The room knows what the room owes.
The burdens
The room completes every Burden before the next work phase. Burdens are designed to fit in under two minutes total. The whole room works the Burdens together — not the station that missed.
The Burdens are the connective tissue of the session. They make the round feel consequential without making it punitive. The room pays its debt together and moves on.
What a Burden round looks like
A typical Burden round is the entire room doing the same work: 10 burpees, 20 air squats, 200m row on the rower, or whatever the round generated. The work is paced so the room can finish in under two minutes. The coach calls the Burden; the room performs it; the coach calls the next step.
Some Burdens split the room across multiple stations (a rower Burden and an air squat Burden in the same round). The room distributes itself. The coach doesn't have to assign. The room handles the distribution because the room owns the consequence.
Why Burdens feel different from punishments
A punishment is directed at the offender. A Burden is directed at the room. The same work feels different when the framing shifts. The room doing 20 burpees together is a room fulfilling an obligation. One athlete doing 20 burpees alone is a person being punished. The work is identical. The meaning is opposite.
The coach's framing carries this distinction. A coach who calls the Burdens as "what the room owes" produces collective accountability. A coach who calls the Burdens as "what we owe because someone missed" produces individual shame. The mechanic is built for the first framing. The coach's job is to hold that framing.
The decision point
After the Burdens are complete, the coach calls a Decision Point. Two options per Core Spec §6.7:
- Continue. The next work phase starts. Same stations, new targets.
- End. The session ends. The room finishes the round.
The decision point is where the coach's read of the room turns into the next move. The protocol offers the options; the coach picks.
How coaches read the room at the decision point
The decision point is the load-bearing coaching moment in the session. The coach is reading the room's effort, the room's fatigue, and the room's mood. The dashboard gives the coach the data (which stations hit, which stations missed, how many Burdens accumulated, what the average effort looked like). The coach adds the human read (does the room look like it wants another round, or does the room look like it needs the session to end?).
This is where the format depends on the coach. The protocol handles timing, scoring, and Burdens. The coach handles the room. The decision point is where the room-as-entity frame meets the coach-as-human-read.
A good decision point produces a room that feels the next round was the right call. A bad decision point produces a room that felt either over-coached (continued when the room was done) or under-coached (stopped when the room had more). The coach learns this read over multiple sessions.
Why it holds together
The protocol handles timing, scoring, Burdens, and the transition to the next work phase. The coach handles the room.
The station library defines what each station's work, target, and Burden look like. The penalty mechanics define how Burdens are framed and completed. This post is the session shape — how the parts connect.
Time budget for a full session
A typical CCB session runs 45-60 minutes. The breakdown:
- Setup and athlete onboarding: 5-10 minutes.
- Work phase 1 + Burdens: 4-5 minutes.
- Decision point + transition: 1 minute.
- Work phase 2 + Burdens: 4-5 minutes.
- Decision point + transition: 1 minute.
- Work phase 3 + Burdens: 4-5 minutes.
- Cooldown and wrap: 5-10 minutes.
Three work phases is the typical session length. Some facilities run four. Some run two for a faster mid-week session. The protocol scales; the room decides together how much the room wants to do.
What changes after the first session
Most rooms produce their first clean collective memory by the second or third session. The first session is novel — athletes are learning the phone flow, the coach is learning the dashboard, the room is learning the cadence. By the second session, the format is familiar. By the third, the format is muscle memory.
The room-as-entity frame takes longer to land than the mechanic itself. The mechanic is concrete — work, freeze, Burdens, decision point. The frame is social — the room treating itself as one unit. The frame lands when the room starts finishing rounds with the same Burdens together and noticing what the round cost. The frame lands when an athlete scales down to support the room's decision and the room notices.
Run it once and the shape is obvious. Run it ten times and the shape is muscle memory. Run it for a quarter and the room has changed.