Crossfit Benchmarks

breadbrain

http://www.crossfit.com/journal/library/13_03_Benchmark_Workouts.pdf

Anyone do any of these Crossfit programs or "Workout of the Day" routines? i have been researching it the last few days as i am looking to start something different when i finish my current routine.

Tried doing the "Angie" workout in the above link.100 pullups, pushups, situps and squats for time. Tried it this morning and was beyond bate after it. Pullups would not exactly be a strong point i got to 12 before i had to use the assisst machines and even then only got to 85 before i was in bits, took about 10 minutes. pushups grand no major hassle but situps and squats really finished me off. Falling asleep at the desk in work after it lol .

Just wondering has anyone gone to Crossfit gyms or just follows the Crossfit programs as i want to know what do i do next? I want to be able to work up to the benchmarks as my understanding is they get repeated everyfew weeks to test you.

Do i just jump into doing workouts of the day from the crossfit.com website or is there a starting point that i am missing somewhere?

Hanley

Don't go near mainsite/CF.com workouts. You'll be broken in no time.

Follow GOOD, intelligent Crossfit - outlaw or CF football programming.

If you want to get into Crossfit, you really are best off in a CF gym. There's tonnes around Dublin/the country, where abouts are you based?

breadbrain

Yeah cheers for the response, well even looking at the crossfit mainsite makes me feel sore lol.I will look up those sites when i get home tonight.


I am in Cork, the gym i go to does some form of crossfit programs as circuit classes, well thats what it looks like after reading about it anyway. But that might be worth investigating. I just want to use it mostly with another program as my off/cardio days as i get bored doing repetitive tasks but obviously doing deadlifts and snatches on off days isnt exactly appealing

Hanley

CrossFit is definitely not an off day thing....

breadbrain

breadbrain wrote: »

Yeah cheers for the response, well even looking at the crossfit mainsite makes me feel sore lol.I will look up those sites when i get home tonight.


I am in Cork, the gym i go to does some form of crossfit programs as circuit classes, well thats what it looks like after reading about it anyway. But that might be worth investigating. I just want to use it mostly with another program as my off/cardio days as i get bored doing repetitive tasks but obviously doing deadlifts and snatches on off days isnt exactly appealing

Whereabouts in cork are you, theres a few crossfit gyms here as well as a number that do crossfit type sessions.

I could recommend one, but would probably get banned pm me if you fancy.

discus

Since the original topic is around crossfit mainsite WODs, could someone recommend 2 or 3 that are not ridiculously stupid, just so I can see how I fare?

They tend to throw "crossfit style" workouts at us in work, so I may as well do them while I have time off.

Molly

Helen
400m run 21 kettlebell swings 12 pull ups x 3

Nancy
400m run 15 overhead squats (42.5kg) x 5

Grace
30 'clean and jerks' (really ground to overhead) (60kg)

Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders, Sit ups

Those were some of my favourite named WODs

Hanley

discus wrote: »

Since the original topic is around crossfit mainsite WODs, could someone recommend 2 or 3 that are not ridiculously stupid, just so I can see how I fare?

They tend to throw "crossfit style" workouts at us in work, so I may as well do them while I have time off.

Helen, Grace (ish), Murph, Cindy, Karen, Fran, Jackie.

I'm not a CF expert but they're some of my faves.

discus

I'll give Helen a shot tomorrow.

I like Chelsea, it's a fairly steady work rate.

5 Pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats every minute for 30 minutes

Molly

Oh I forgot Jackie that was always fun, couldn't recommend Karen though; 150 wallballs is just disgusting

Hanley

Molly wrote: »

Oh I forgot Jackie that was always fun, couldn't recommend Karen though; 150 wallballs is just disgusting

Yup, but it's really hard to f*ck up wall balls, so I like it for that reason only!

Mellor

Hanley wrote: »

Helen, Grace (ish), Murph, Cindy, Karen, Fran, Jackie.

I'm not a CF expert but they're some of my faves.

I went through a phase of adding a CF day every now and again. With the exception of Karen, you named the only 6 I did ever do (plus a rare Main site WOD when in involved a heavy singles or something)

Hailhail1967

If you want decent scaled workouts the place to go is crossfit brand x. Its inked on the mainsite too. The scaling options are all there and they seem sensibly programmed. Crossfit is all about scaling, so that every single person can do the same WOD's.

I love crossfit, been to a few sessions in gyms but mostly include it in my own training. Considering doing the level 1 coaching to see how it goes.

http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums

breadbrain

Cheers for that scaling site, makes it a bit more manageable and is more what i am looking for. Cheers everyone for the advice. I will send you a PM there midleton thai and get some of those gym names off you.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

jeawan

Hanley wrote: »

Helen, Grace (ish), Murph, Cindy, Karen, Fran, Jackie.

I'm not a CF expert but they're some of my faves.

Someone who isn't used to crossfit will be destroyed at Murph , even someone who is good at crosfit will be in pain after murph

Hanley

jeawan wrote: »

Someone who isn't used to crossfit will be destroyed at Murph , even someone who is good at crosfit will be in pain after murph

Yup. But that doesn't mean it's a workout not to try. Do the pull ups strict and there's very little in there that is "dangerous" in the same way something like Isabelle would be dangerous.

rubadub

breadbrain wrote: »

Tried it this morning and was beyond bate after it. Pullups would not exactly be a strong point i got to 12 before i had to use the assisst machines and even then only got to 85 before i was in bits,

From what I see most crossfit videos show them doing kipping pullups, dunno if you knew this, I could not see any mention of kipping in your pdf. When people get proficient at kipping pullups they can usually do a hell of a lot more than regular slow ones.

I wondered if crossfit people change the required figures if they cannot kip yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClbQGjOoNFc

ferike1

This made me lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnnOWfj2TW4

jeawan

rubadub wrote: »

From what I see most crossfit videos show them doing kipping pullups, dunno if you knew this, I could not see any mention of kipping in your pdf. When people get proficient at kipping pullups they can usually do a hell of a lot more than regular slow ones.

I wondered if crossfit people change the required figures if they cannot kip yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClbQGjOoNFc

First time i did Murph i did strict as that was all i could do . i can kip now and tbh would probably still try and do it strict it is slower but i think they are better pull ups

ferike1

Kipping is awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKp7fBtj81c

Brian?

ferike1 wrote: »

This made me lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnnOWfj2TW4

The one thing I never get about Crossfit is: Why so many plates?

If it's a height issue then stick a bumper on each side and off you go. Is it just to look more awesome?

siochain

Best thing to do is workout at a crossfit style gym to get a feel for the movements and the level of intensity they do the WOD's. The group collective effort is hard to replicate one your own in the gym no matter how disciplined you are. When I do a WOD in a regular gym some of the looks you get can be gass.



The lifting focused WOD's suit me better one I really like is Airforce

For time:
20 Thrusters
20 Sumo deadlift high pulls
20 Push jerks
20 Overhead squats
20 Front squats

Men will use a 95lb barbell. Women will use 65lbs. Each athlete must do four burpees at the beginning of every minute before moving on to the barbell work. The athlete is allowed to move to the next barbell skill once an he/she has completed all 20 reps. If the minute clock beeps during a repetition the athlete will complete their rep and then start their four burpees. There is a 20min cap.

Filthy 50 is horrendous but a class one to finish.

50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Hanley

^^I'd call those bad crossfit workouts tbh.

Sumo deadlift high pulls? Eww.

And filthy 50 is more like a big vicious test than anything, not a regular workout.

ferike1

briankeating wrote: »

If it's a height issue then stick a bumper on each side and off you go. Is it just to look more awesome?

Do they not use the same as most gyms (or my experience anyway )

Orange = 25kg
Blue = 20kg
Yellow = 15kg
Green = 10kg

Brian?

ferike1 wrote: »

Do they not use the same as most gyms (or my experience anyway )

Orange = 25kg
Blue = 20kg
Yellow = 15kg
Green = 10kg

Those ones I'm ok with. It's the black rubbery looking ones.

Brian?

Hanley wrote: »

^^I'd call those bad crossfit workouts tbh.

Sumo deadlift high pulls? Eww.

And filthy 50 is more like a big vicious test than anything, not a regular workout.

Airforce looks like a recipe for lower back disaster, or am I missing something.

siochain

Hanley wrote: »

^^I'd call those bad crossfit workouts tbh.

Sumo deadlift high pulls? Eww.

And filthy 50 is more like a big vicious test than anything, not a regular workout.

To be honest we swap the Sumo deadlift high pulls for standard DL's. Above is the rx as per the site. A workout like this won’t be done regularly, other than that if your training at CF a while can’t see nothing too bad with it. This longer or hero WOD’s are OK once or twice a month if your able for it and have good form.

Yes filthy 50 is torture and it’s more mentally challenging than physical. This would be used as a bench mark maybe 2 – 3 times a year.

siochain

briankeating wrote: »

Airforce looks like a recipe for lower back disaster, or am I missing something.

This is the classic argument about CF and why it gets knocked. If you have the correct form, good mobility and good coach calling you on it you should be fine. This is where a good coach comes in, the likes of Airforce should only be done with the more experience members and even then the weight can be reduced if needed.


To be honest when in a regular gym most people I see doing any of the movements listed equal recipe for lower back disaster.

Brian?

siochain wrote: »

This is the classic argument about CF and why it gets knocked. If you have the correct form, good mobility and good coach calling you on it you should be fine. This is where a good coach comes in, the likes of Airforce should only be done with the more experience members and even then the weight can be reduced if needed.


To be honest when in a regular gym most people I see doing any of the movements listed equal recipe for lower back disaster.

I agree that there is terrible form everywhere I look on squats, DLs etc. . My concern was that doing such execises for time only encourages bad form. If the goal is to do the list with good form for however long it takes to get though I wouldn't see a problem, but when done againest the clock it increases the risk dramatically.

siochain

very true when the clock is ticking, this where a good 'order barker' is important

Mellor

siochain wrote: »

This is the classic argument about CF and why it gets knocked. If you have the correct form, good mobility and good coach calling you on it you should be fine. This is where a good coach comes in, the likes of Airforce should only be done with the more experience members and even then the weight can be reduced if needed.

But that's not what happens in reality. The workout comes the precursor of "for time". The goal is to do it quickly, so form breaks down. It's pretty easy to find examples of this too.
A good coach won't use the bad programming from HQ to begin with. As you said, you guys swap out the sumo deadlift high pulls, presumably because they are idiotic. But a lot of CF gyms will follow it verbatim. These are the places that prob dont have good coaches to correct form.
The dumbest thing I've seen was a gym overhead squatting with a baby strapped to his chest. Pretty sure he was one of the head coaches and also went to the games. More experience doesn't mean less stupidity.

siochain

Mellor wrote: »

But that's not what happens in reality. The workout comes the precursor of "for time". The goal is to do it quickly, so form breaks down. It's pretty easy to find examples of this too.
A good coach won't use the bad programming from HQ to begin with. As you said, you guys swap out the sumo deadlift high pulls, presumably because they are idiotic. But a lot of CF gyms will follow it verbatim. These are the places that prob dont have good coaches to correct form.
The dumbest thing I've seen was a gym overhead squatting with a baby strapped to his chest. Pretty sure he was one of the head coaches and also went to the games. More experience doesn't mean less stupidity.

I agree, crossfit like any program\sport is subject to bad coaching. Two CF style places I've experienced in Ireland have been very strict on teaching good form, scaling workouts and calling people out during WOD's on form. I would say most people would learn more in 2 weeks in a decent CF style gym about good form and mobility than 2 years in a standard gym.

From my experience of reality If you have the correct form, good mobility and good coach calling you on it you should be fine.

StevePH

Howya folks, maybe a silly question...but, regardin the Chelsea workout -
5 Pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats every minute for 30 minutes

- would ye do the squats with a (weighted) bar or no?
...or is the idea behind this to be a bodyweight workout?

Hanley

StevePH wrote: »

Howya folks, maybe a silly question...but, regardin the Chelsea workout -
5 Pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats every minute for 30 minutes

- would ye do the squats with a (weighted) bar or no?
...or is the idea behind this to be a bodyweight workout?

Air squat - bodyweight.

Mellor

StevePH wrote: »

Howya folks, maybe a silly question...but, regardin the Chelsea workout -
5 Pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats every minute for 30 minutes

- would ye do the squats with a (weighted) bar or no?
...or is the idea behind this to be a bodyweight workout?

Its harder than it Sounds. I'd imagine that most people wouldn't complete it with a empty bar added.

I'd even suggest doing Cindy first. Same exercises, as many rounds in 20 mins. If you maintain 1 every minute for 20 rounds you are doing well.

StevePH

So, with 'Cindy' in mind, I started.
....sure brought me down to earth! (there was me thinkin I had a reasonable level of fitness :-) )
Knocked out the pullups/pushups/squats in about 45 secs, leaving 15 secs rest till the next round began.

Six rounds in and the little devil on my shoulder started to say 'fek this'...
Persevered for another another 2 rounds...but took a minutes rest between each one...before the little devil finally won :mad:

Despite finding it tough, I loved it and will def try it once or twice a week to see if I can up the rounds tally.

Anybody else successfully knocking out 20 rounds in 20mins or 30 rounds in 30 ins.....if so, how long did it take you to get there?

Burkatron

StevePH wrote: »

So, with 'Cindy' in mind, I started.
....sure brought me down to earth! (there was me thinkin I had a reasonable level of fitness :-) )
Knocked out the pullups/pushups/squats in about 45 secs, leaving 15 secs rest till the next round began.

Six rounds in and the little devil on my shoulder started to say 'fek this'...
Persevered for another another 2 rounds...but took a minutes rest between each one...before the little devil finally won :mad:

Despite finding it tough, I loved it and will def try it once or twice a week to see if I can up the rounds tally.

Anybody else successfully knocking out 20 rounds in 20mins or 30 rounds in 30 ins.....if so, how long did it take you to get there?

The whole point is to do other workouts & test it in a couple of months (along with other benchmarks) time & see if your overall fitness has improved. If you just train Cindy you'll get good at Cindy!