CrossFit rivals Games of Thrones or The Bachelorette in terms of the sheer number of stans obsessed with the workout. But if you’re new to the “sport of fitness,” the first thing you should know is that there are a few CrossFit workouts that, no matter the box, will at some point wind up being workouts of the day (WODs). Did I lose you yet?
So, what’s it mean? In CrossFit training, the goal is always keep you body guessing, explains Courtney Roselle, Strength and Conditioning Coach, CF-L1 Trainer, and Founder of Iron Grace, a fitness program dedicated to empowering women to embrace their bodies. Beyond a select few workouts here, CrossFitters rarely do the same WOD twice.
Oh, and don’t worry if at first-glance it seems lightyears away from what you’re currently capable of crushing. The pros below share tips for finding the movement scales and weights that’ll work for your body.
WOD 1: Murph
Equipment: Pull-up bar, weight vest (optional)
Time: For time
Arguable the most famous CrossFit workout, (yep you guessed it), Murph is Roselle’s, favorite WOD. “No matter how many times you do it, no matter how much faster your time is from the year before, no matter how many times you workout a day, the workout will always test your physical and mental capacity,” she says. “And it’s truly a full body workout taxing your arms, back, shoulders, legs, core and cardiovascular capacity.” Get those gains.
How to do it: Named after Navy Seal officer and Medal of Honor recipient Michael Murphy who died during combat in Afghanistan in 2005, this Hero workout (as WODs named after fallen soldiers are called) entails bookending 100 pull-ups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats with one mile runs. While the prescribed version of the workout recommends athletes doing the workout in a weight vest and competing all the pull-ups before moving on to the push-ups, and all the push-ups before moving onto the air squats, a common scaled version of this WOD is 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats. And, if you need to sub the pushups for box or knee pushups and/or the pull-ups for TRX or ring rows, you do you, boo.
WOD 2: DT
Equipment: 1 barbell
Time: For time
This WOD is named for US Air Force Staff Seargent Timothy P. Davis, 28, who was killed on February 20, 2009 serving in Afghanistand during Operation Enduring Freedom. DT is a punishing Hero workout that tests your proficiency with moving the barbell. “This workout is all about whether or not you have the guts to hold onto the bar, it’s a heavy enough barbell that holding on is hard, but also light enough that it’s completely doable if you have the grit,” says CrossFit Games competitor Brooke Ence CF-L2and founder of Naked Training.
The prescribed weight for this workout is 105 pounds for women, but when thinking about what weight to use, Ence says you want to pick a weight you can easily do 12 push jerks with when fresh. If that weight seems light for a deadlift, go with it—this WOD is spicier than getting Icy-Hot on your netherbits.
How to do it: This WOD requires loading one barbell and using that same barbell in the following circuit performed for five total rounds for time.
- 12 Deadlifts
- 9 Hang power cleans
- 6 Push jerks
Ence says, “When you choose the right weight for this WOD and limit rest, you’re testing your strength, cardiovascular capacity, and mental grit.” Brain gains or bust, Fam.
WOD 3: Death by Dumbbell Thrusters
Equipment: 2 dumbbells of the same weight
Time: Until you can’t complete the number of reps required per minute
The prescribed weight is two 35-pound dumbbells for women. She WHO? suggests picking a set of dumbbells that you know you’ll be able to get through at least 9 rounds using. Damn.
Death by WODs are EMOM (every minute on the minute) style workouts that have you start with one rep and add an additional rep at the start of each new minute until you cannot complete the amount of reps needed before time runs out. So, for example, if you got to the tenth minute and couldn’t do 10 dumbbell thrusters, the workout would be over.
“I like to remind people that they can probably do dumbbell thrusters faster than they realize by pulling the weight back down after the push-press, and get further into the workout than they might guess,” says Ence. “You end up getting way more rounds than you think.” Hurts. So. Good.
How it works: Minute one is one dumbbell thruster, minute two is two, and so on so forth. The workout is over when you can’t complete the number of dumbbell thrustersin the minute. If you DO complete the amount of reps before the minute is up, the remaining time is your rest.
WOD 4: Fran
Equipment: 1 barbell, 1 pull-up bar
Time: 4 minutes
“I wouldn’t describe this CrossFit workout as famous…more infamous…as this classic is a devastating burner,” says Jason Ackerman, CF-L4 and coach with North Naples CrossFit in Naples, Florida. “Complimentary movements, light load, and descending reps make this a burner that strikes fear in the hearts of CrossFitters around the world.” Sign me up.
How to do it: This workouts calls for doing thrusters and pull-ups in order, starting with 21 resp of each, then 15, then 9. The prescribed weight for this WOD is 65 pounds for women and 95 pounds for men. Real talk: “The goal of this workout is to finish it in under 4 minutes, but the best of the best will finish it in less than two-minute,” says Ackerman. (He’s serious.)
Can’t complete this WOD as prescribed within that time limit? “You can lower the weight of the thrusters, even so far as using a 2 ounce PVC,” Ackerman suggest. “Or scale the pull-ups to banded pull-ups or jumping pull-ups.” Do it for the CrossFit street cred.
WOD 5: Hotshots 19
Equipment: 1 barbell, 1 pull-up bar
Time: 35 minutes
Ask Stacie Tovar, eight-time individual CrossFit Games veteran and co-owner of CrossFit Omaha and Go Far Fitness programs, for her favorite Hero workout and she doesn’t hesitate: “Hotshots 19,” she says. She programs it at her box every August to honor the nineteen members of the members of the Prescott Fire Department in Arizona who were known as the Granite Mountain Hotshots team and died fighting a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona in 2013. “My community members always love pushing through this workout together, and I love that it’s a full-body workout that taxes the legs, the grip, and the lungs,” Tovar says.
- 30 air squats
- 19 power cleans
- 7 strict pull-ups
- Run 400 meters
Set up a station with a loaded barbell (95 pounds barbell is suggested for women) and pull-up bar, then measure out 400 meters. While typically Hero workouts don’t have a time-cap, Tovar says she wraps this one at 35 minutes because if you scale the weight properly, five or so minutes a round should be doable. Noted.
If you’re just getting back into the fitness realm or you don’t quite have the strength built yet to power clean at 95 pounds or perform strict pull ups, Tovar suggests women do the ring rows in place of strict pull-ups, and the power cleans with a 55 pound barbell (or less) or a set of 20 pound dumbbells. For the barbell, Tovar says, “Use a weight that you can string at least 5 to 7 reps together with, even when under fatigue.”
WOD 6: Diane
Equipment: 1 barbell, 1 ab mat
Time: For time
Considered a “benchmark” workout, this is one of the few WODs CrossFitters will repeat, in order to track their progress over time, says Nancy Monroe, CF-L1 with CrossFit Grayson in Georgia. That said, it’s so intense athletes only repeat it once every few years.
An advanced version of it, called the 18.4 is performed at the annual CrossFit Games—which is a little bit of trivia you can use to impress the more seasoned athletes at your box. You’re welcome.
How to do it: If you’re planning to do this workout prescribed—21-15-9 reps for time of deadlifts and handstand pushups (HSPU)—set up a HSPU station with two 25-pound plates and an ab mat. (The weights go on either side of the mat and are where you’ll place your hands. The padding itself is intended to be a cushion for your head.) Then, place a loaded barbell nearby—155 lbs. is recommended for women. Complete deadlifts followed by pushups at each rep count before moving on to the next number of reps. If you need to scale the barbell weight, pick something you can safely do 12 reps unbroken when fresh. And if you can’t do HSPUs, sub them for seated dumbbell presses or wall walks. Hello, boulder shoulders.
WOD 7: Kalsu
Equipment: 1 barbell
Time: For time
PSA: Tony Carvajal, Certified CrossFit Trainer with RSP Nutrition says this Hero WOD is best for long-time fitness fiends. “It’s a strength-based workout, it turns anaerobic quickly and really tests your mental fortitude,” he says. Why? Because it’s repetitive AF—you’re doing five burpees EMOM plus, barbell thrusters in between until you reach 100 reps. Deep breaths.
“If you’ve never done CrossFit before, lower the number of thrusters or use light dumbbells.”
So, while this might not be a CrossFit workout for beginners, per se, it’s a good one to start building up to early. “If you’ve never done CrossFit before, lower the number of thrusters or use light dumbbells instead of a barbell—you’ll still get the same benefits and stimulus,” Carvajal says. Warning: Taking the stairs the next day is probs not going to
How to do it: Load up your barbell, then set up your clock counting up. Ideally, your timer will have a feature that makes it beep at the top of every minute.
Pro tip: Pick a weight with which you can do 8 to 12 thrusters unbroken when fresh.
When the clock starts, lift your barbell and do as many thrusters as you can in the first minute. At the minute mark, drop and do 5 burpees. You have the rest of that minute to do as many thrusters as you can before you gotta drop and do burpees again. Repeat this, adding up your thruster reps until you get to 100.
WOD 8: Linda
Equipment: 3 barbells, 1 bench press station
Time: For time, but you’re aiming for 20 minutes
If Linda were actually a woman, she’d most definitely be a fire sign. As it stands, this workout, which is a descending ladder of deadlifts, bench presses, and squat cleans that starts at 10 reps of each move and goes down by one until you reach zero, is all kinds of lit. “I love using barbells in my training so I really doing this 3-barbell workout,” says five-time Regional CrossFit athlete, Colleen Fotsch, athlete with FINIS. Get. Those. Muscles.
“When choosing your weights for this workout, pick ones that will allow you to finish the workout in no more than twenty minutes,” suggests Fotsch. And, if you don’t have access to a barbell this workout can also be done with dumbbells, she says.
How to do it: Start by setting up three separate barbells—the prescribed weight is 1.5 times your bodyweight for the deadlift, bodyweight for the bench press, and .75-times your bodyweight for the clean. Start the clock and complete 10 reps of the deadlift, 10 bench press, 10 squat clean. Then, do 9 of each movement, then 8 and so on, ending with one rep of each move. Phew!
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