Workout:
“J.T”
21-15-9 reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Ring dips
Push-ups
Post time to comments.
What’s the hardest metcon workout?
I was asked this question yesterday and I feel it should be posted here.
There is no hardest CrossFit workout, they’ll each put forward different demands, which plays to our need for adaptation to the unknown and unknowable.
“Fran” (21-15-9 45kg thruster/pull ups) is considered the Crossfit benchmark workout. But this is in part to it’s legendary status and the superhuman times we see the CrossFit firebreathers get. Examples here and here of it’s mythical status in CrossFit.
That’s not to say that “Cindy” (As Many Rounds As Possible in 20mins of 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats) isn’t a humbling experience, and extremely taxing on the muscular endurance.
“Nancy” (5 rounds of 45Kg Overhead Squat, 400m) will tax anyone who has a midline stabilisation issues and/or sprinting deficiencies.
“Diane” (21-15-9 100kg deadlift, handstand press ups) combines a raw strength building manoeuvre with a gymnastics technique that is both demaning strength wise and balance/agility wise. If you’ve mastered these skills, the workout becomes systemically taxing over taxing on the muscles.
“Murph” (1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run) is painful! And really about grit and determination.
“Elizaebth” (21-15-9 60kg Cleans/Ring Dips) calls for great technical proficiency and muscular control (stability/cordination etc)
The key thing is to
A) work on your weaknesses, as there is greater athletic benefit than continuing to bolster your strengths, and
B) mix it up! If you do just 1, or 5 of the main metcon workouts, you will adapt to be very good at these metcons. Soon enough, your progress stalls. Plus you’ve become specifically adapted as opposed to fit. In all but the most advanced specific athletes, this is a bad thing. And specific athletes (I’m talking professionals/Olympians here) have made a sacrifice in health to be that way. Of course, they’re compensated by sponsorship deals and the likes.
You’ll see metcon workouts on the main site or ours that are derivatives of the benchmarks, which both improve the benchmark score and also improve your ability to handle the unknown and unknowable as well as increase your work capacity across broad time and modal domains (make you fitter) For example, you’ll see Fran-esque workouts such as;
15-12-9 60Kg Thruster, 30Kg weighted Pull up
AMRAP 20mins: 5 40Kg Thrusters, 10 Pull Ups
9 rounds, 5 40Kg Thrusters, 5 Pull ups
etc, etc.
At the end of the day there shouldn’t be any easy workouts, nor is there by design. If the weight is manageable the time will be the tough part. If the weight is hard that’ll make it tougher. The only easy day was yesterday!
*cough cough* Linda *cough*
Will – 46:54 (15,12,9)
This truly is the anti-Will workout!
Hi guys,
I decided to try “FRAN” today as I’m totally out of shape just to see my current condition.. My god did this open my eyes!!! I loaded 40kgs on the bar with the best of intentions.. I gased after 12 reps took about 3 minutes break and completed the other 9 reps.. I was so bolloxed I didnt even attempt the pull ups.. Needless to say I eventually completed the 3 sets of thrusters didnt even take note of the time!!!!
How to you people do this workout and do you complete it without interruption and are you using the prescribed weight??
How will I ever even complete a “FRAN” let alone manage it in a reasonable time?? Can you shed any light on this…
Thanks great site.. God am I humbled I use to be in great shape or what I perceived to be in great shape!!!
Liam.
Hey Liam,
First time I tried Fran I dutifully loaded what I thought was 40Kg onto the bar (turned out the bar was only 15Kg so I was doing Fran at 35Kg) busted out the full 21reps and said “wow, this ain’t so bad” went over to the pull up station and died!!! 21 singles later, I was back thrusting, and not a happy bunny.
When we headed over to Chris he made the startling point (blindingly obvious now) that you are interested in average power output, and there’s no real point in gassing early and limping home.
I can handle the weight of Fran, so what I try to do is 3 sets of 7 with minimal rest, get through the pull ups, 3 sets of 5 thrusters, and then try bust out the full 9 on the last set. The way I see it, you should start increasing the intensity from the end backwards. That’s not to say you shouldn’t push yourself from the beginning, just that limping home drastically reduces your power output.
You can also scale the weight down to something manageable. At the OCFA, they had an individual do Fran with a PVC pipe and jumping pull ups.
Another option is to scale the reps to say 15-12-9 and keep the weight the same. Both variations have their benefits, and you should mix them up.
Sometimes, as Will points out, it’s best not to scale and just take the workout as a long strength workout, rather than metcon.
Thanks Colm,
Yes I watched a video clip the other day on crossfit’s main site of a man and a very slight woman doin “FRAN” and my god was I impressed he was using I think 60kgs and she 40kgs only on the last set of pull ups did they both fail to complete the set without resting!!!! Not only were these people supremely fit but also incredibly strong for very long periods of time..
I said to myself if this girl can do it I can.. I can honestly say to myself could I have been anymore wrong…. Thats what inspired me to attempt “FRAN” today.. It makes you realise just how many top level athletes are really out there.. Even to complete a “FRAN” without resting would be absolutely astonishing from what I can see never mind the time aspect…
So Colm even you scale “FRAN”!!!! So there is hope for us all:)..
Thanks for the response great site and take care..
Liam.
How dare you!!!??? I don’t scale Fran!!!
Sometimes it’s nigh on impossible to complete all the reps in one set. Honestly, who does the entire 100 pull ups in Angie without putting their feet back on the ground before they’re all completed?
All joking aside, scaling ain’t a bad thing. It is, however, a fine balancing act between maximising output and taking it lightly.
Glad you like the site.
Colm
It really is insane how fit the Crossfit Ladies like Nicole, Annie, Eva, Lynne, Kelly etc actually are. I remember looking through the times posted in the comments back when I first started and thinking how cool it would be to someday do the workouts as fast as this “Kelly Moore” guy. Shock to the system when I found out she was a she!
I like to watch the Nasty Girls video about once a month to remind myself what this “intensity” thing is all about.
Is it wierd that I hope to someday be as fit as a girl?
I don’t think that’s the only reason you watch the nasty girls vid dude!
Colm
-What you do in your own time…
Colm,
I did the 50-40-30-20-10 Air squats, sit-ups, back extensions workout today.. I completed it in 10:44..
The squats I did I touch my back side each time on a stool 13inches high maintaining the concavity in my lower back.
The sit ups I did were feet flat on the ground hands in between my legs one on top of the other fingers interlocked and crunching my top abs towards my pelvis.
The back extensions I did were lying prone hands by my head and lifting my chest off the ground.
Is all of this ok and are these the variations you guys use??
How would you rate my time considering I’m totally out of shape by my standards?
Liam.
Hey Liam, I can’t speak for Colm, but I don’t think worrying about how your workout times rate with respect to everyone else is a great habit to get into.
As long as you: (a) maintain good form (b) push as hard as you can without risking injury and (c) beat your previous best then you’ve had a damn fine workout as I’m concerned.
That said, if you want to get a general idea of “where you’re at”, you could check out Dave Werner’s Athletic Skills Standards.
Thanks Will,
That link you sent me was very helpful… Yep absolutely good form should be paramount as people up the intensity the quality generally drops.. This should be avoided at all costs..
As I said that was my first attempt so it will give me a good benchmark in which to improve for future workouts…
Liam.
Hi Colm,
Personally I find Murph cindy and Calasthenic/Gymnastic WODs easier. The big lift WODS (cleans/thrusters) such as “Fran/Elizabeth” seem to make more of a demand metabolically on me, perhaps some increased lactate threshold training such as repeated 800s may improve this.
Perhaps worth mentioning for relatively new starters (although I’m sure when coaching you do), keeping the form strict is paramount for accuracy when noting the improved results in performance. Sloppy reps may be quicker, heavier, higher numbers but if they are done perfectly every time then improvementr is more easily recognised and recorded.
I myself am ashamed to say that in the past I have sacrificed form for numbers (some sumo dead high pulls at CF manc during FGB spring to mind) and as a result have really had to go back to basics and work massively on form, but it looks like the corner has been turned and a 444 on last nights FGB (modified 3 rounder) suggests that things are moving in the right direction.
Work hard, Play hard, Stay hard.
Ben
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