Session Flow

What this page describes

A Group Session has a single canonical lifecycle. Every facility runs the same lifecycle in the same order. This page lists the steps in plain language. The exact authoritative definitions live in the CCB Core Specification.

The lifecycle

A Group Session moves through these phases, in this order:

1. Preparation. The coach sets up the Session and prepares the room.
2. Athlete join and station assignment. Athletes scan a Session QR code and choose where they start.
3. Readiness. The room confirms everyone is in place and ready to begin.
4. Work Phase. Every active station works for 60 seconds.
5. Freeze. The clock hits the minute mark. Results lock.
6. Result confirmation. Athletes confirm their result at the minute mark.
7. Evaluation. The protocol compares the room's result to the target.
8. Burden, where confirmed. A failing station generates its assigned Burden. The room completes the Burden together.
9. Decision Point. A short pause where the room can prepare for the next Work Phase.
10. Continue or end. The coach starts the next Work Phase, or ends the Session.

The lifecycle repeats for as many Work Phases as the Session contains.

Who controls what

The three audiences control different parts of the lifecycle.

The coach controls

• starting the Session from Preparation;
• advancing past the Decision Point to the next Work Phase;
• ending the Session;
• applying session controls for safety or to correct a problem.

The room controls

• each athlete confirming their own result at the Freeze;
• each athlete signalling they have completed an assigned Burden;
• the room choosing to keep going during a Decision Point.

The platform controls

• the 60-second clock and the Freeze boundary;
• the Evaluation step against the per-station target;
• the publication of the active Burdens to every athlete's device;
• the readiness handshake that gates the next Work Phase.

Why the boundaries are firm

The boundaries between phases are deliberate. They exist so that:

• Freeze is the boundary between work and confirmed reporting. Nothing the room does after the Freeze changes the result of that Work Phase.
• Critical actions require deliberate confirmation. Result confirmation is an explicit action, never automatic. The same is true for the readiness handshake.
• The protocol does not silently advance. Every transition is either coach-driven or the room's own decision. The platform never moves the room forward without someone choosing to.

The standardized Targets the protocol compares against are part of the Session's chosen Benchmark. The Benchmarks page explains how the Targets vary across the five official Benchmarks and what stays fixed across all of them.

After a Work Phase

When the Evaluation finishes, three things can happen:

• Clean Work Phase. The room hit every active station's target. The protocol moves to the Decision Point with no Burdens published.
• Work Phase with Burdens. One or more stations missed. The protocol publishes the assigned Burdens to every athlete's device. The room completes the Burdens together before the next Work Phase begins.
• Coach intervention. The coach applies a session control to halt or adjust the Session.

In all three cases, the next transition waits for an explicit signal — the readiness handshake from every athlete, or the coach's action. The room never gets carried forward by accident.

Burdens and the Session Flow

Burdens are part of the lifecycle, not a separate mechanism. When a Burdens round is needed, it inserts itself between the Evaluation and the next Decision Point. The room completes the work together. The next Work Phase does not start until every athlete has signalled completion or the coach ends the round.

The exact mechanic of how Burdens are assigned is on the Burdens page. This page only establishes where Burdens sit in the lifecycle.

Decision Point

The Decision Point is the small pause between Work Phases. The protocol uses the Decision Point to:

• show the room the next station in the cycle;
• let athletes switch stations;
• give the coach the chance to intervene.

The Decision Point is not a rest period. It is a synchronization step.

Group Sessions, Race Practice, and Competition

The lifecycle above describes a coached Group Session. The same engine runs in Race Practice (with the room rather than a coach driving the lifecycle) and in Competition (with a Judge verifying outcomes). The phases are the same; the authority is different.