12

Apr / 10

Fear of the Known
Categories: Workout of the Day

17add / read
comments

posted by:  Marcus

Some people get scared of the unknown. Others are righteously fearful when they know exactly what’s coming. Today is one of those instances. Fran is one of the most well known CrossFit workouts and for good reason. It crams a ton of work into a very short amount of time. That taxes the heck out of one’s body and leaves them feeling the effects long after the stopwatch has been hung back on the board. Many of you have never met Fran and today will be your first time. In fact, some may look at the simple 21-15-9 rep scheme of the couplet and think — “That’s it??” I’ll be interested to see how many think the same afterward. For those of you interested in knowing where you stack up, the elite finish in the 2 minute range with a select few who have broken the 2 minute barrier. However, anywhere in the 4-5 minute range is something to be proud of, especially if it’s your first go round. Just beware that many in the CrossFit community use their Fran time as some sort of measure of their manhood. Thankfully we don’t have any of those kind of d-bags here at Intrepid!

Here’s a video from the 2008 CrossFit Games where the competitors tackled Fran:

Annie's Thruster

WOD 4.12.10

Thrusters 3×3

“Fran”
21-15-9

  • Thrusters
  • Pullups

17 Responses to “Fear of the Known”

jeff stoehr
April 12, 2010 at 8:16 AM

marcus,
Our firewall doesn’t allow us to see the video. Could you describe the “fran” in some detail.

Michael H
April 12, 2010 at 8:47 AM

Oh how I would love to do Fran, she’s dirty, she’s dominating, she’s silly, she’s a bitch, just how I lik’em.

But unfortunately she’ll have to wait 1 more week.

Jake
April 12, 2010 at 9:11 AM

See CFI next week

ruth
April 12, 2010 at 10:10 AM

Jeff:
Fran is an all-out workout that includes two movements:

thruster (a front squat with a barbell thrusted overhead, ending at the top of a press–see above, I just added a photo)

pullup (kipping permitted)

It takes 3-5 minutes to complete and sometimes ten times that to recover!

jeff stoehr
April 12, 2010 at 11:12 AM

Ruth,
What % of max lift weight should the athlete use as a guide when setting the bar for the thrusters?

Scott
April 12, 2010 at 11:37 AM

Fran?? Manhood?? Until you’ve nailed that dirty bitch Fran and spent the next 30 minutes dizzy and crying, you are not a man. But the only time that matters is your own PR.

I’m gonna try to make it down today. Can’t miss Fran!!!

Jake
April 12, 2010 at 12:06 PM

Well said Scott!

ruth
April 12, 2010 at 2:03 PM

Jeff,
Good question. We usually pick a weight to ensure the athlete finishes in 4-5 minutes or so. The weight “prescribed to elite male athletes is 95# (65# for females) and we work down from there. We’ve started newbie males as low as 45# and females at 15#.

It can depend on the athlete’s wrist flexibility and technique or it sometimes depends on muscular endurance more than it does on max lift, but as a very loose rule, I’d go with anywhere between 35-45%1RM. Some novices can go higher since their measured 1RM’s often are nowhere near their true max’s.

We’ll be starting with 3 progressively increasing sets of 3 reps and I use that to gauge their work set.

We also will use bands to scale the pull ups (if necessary) to keep the intensity up.

Hope this helps!

Avelyne
April 12, 2010 at 5:40 PM

dang! I’m missing Fran!!! I love to hate her!

wait, so Marcus, you mean it’s NOT ok to reject guys because of their Fran time???

Nick R.
April 12, 2010 at 9:31 PM

Dear Fran,

Don’t call me. I hate you.

Love, Nick

ruth
April 12, 2010 at 9:57 PM

Well, Nick, if it makes you feel better, she screwed a lot of people after you…

@Ave, it’s absolutely ok to reject guys because of their Fran time. (i kid, i kid!!)

@everyone else: AWESOME job today! Y’all made me proud while wodding, but especially while cheering on your partners today.

@Pooja, welcome back to CrossFit!!

Brian
April 13, 2010 at 7:54 AM

Worst 7 mins ever.
Way to go Jake for absolutely killing it.

Scott
April 13, 2010 at 9:42 AM

That was….um….fun? Nice job everyone! Welcome to CFI Pooja. Thanks for the encouragement Gary.

Fran (85#, Green Rubber Band) – 7:39

Can’t wait to someday F- Fran without the Rubber…..Band! :) Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Jake
April 13, 2010 at 10:38 AM

That was the worst Fran encounter ever!

Viv
April 13, 2010 at 6:04 PM

Dude – that was the most i have ever been mistaken about anything. I saw 2 movements and thought cake. after about 6 minutes, my belly, she no feel so good. WOW. but exhilarating!

jeff stoehr
April 14, 2010 at 6:46 AM

Hey Ruth… My Block 2 guys tried Fran and they are shot!!! They loved it. I had 5 guys volunteer and they ate it up!

ruth
April 14, 2010 at 9:23 AM

Jeff,

That’s awesome! So glad to hear it! If you ever get any pics to post, please send it our way!
RSS