As I’ve previously mentioned, there are several named Crossfit workouts which are used to monitor your specific Crossfit progress. I first attempted “Fran” 10 weeks ago. There’s a video on that post showing what Fran is, but it’s basically:
21 Thrusters (squat with a 40KG bar on your front shoulders, then stand up quick and straighten your arms over your head)
21 Pull ups
15 Thrusters
15 Pull ups
9 Thrusters
9 Pull ups
It sounds easy, and really it is, but for one thing: doing it the Crossfit way! All Crossfit exercises are done as fast as you can, so you try to blitz through Fran, without pausing, resting or in any other way taking a break (doing the reps “un-broken”). However Fran also has a special reputation for being particularly demanding.
Last time / the first time I tried Fran, I got 7:27 which I felt was a respectable time, but nothing fantastic. So this time I was determined to do better.
Well I did… a lot better: 5:31 Which I was particularly pleased with. Now just to put this into perspective, that was the days workout complete…. in just 5 minutes and 31 seconds. Yes there was the option of doing some Cleans afterwards, but I can tell you that 30 minutes later, I was still barely able to lift myself, let alone any real weight!
Nothing can prepare you for how Fran makes you feel. It’s by far the worst of the Crossfit workouts that I’ve encountered for that. I write this post 2 full days later, and I can still feel the effects of Fran on my legs. She is a beast and no mistake. In some respects, this time I was worse too, because I knew before the start what the effect on my body was going to be, and that made me quite apprehensive.
Still, the sense of achievement is worth it. I managed the whole first round (21 Thrusters + 21 pull ups) un-broken (without a rest) and that’s an improvement on last time for sure. In fact, take my pauses for breath out and I reckon there’s a sub 4 minute time in there somewhere. But for the moment, I’ll be ecstatic if I get a sub 5 minute time next time, I reckon I just need to get the 2nd round unbroken too. Lol, if only it was as easy to do it as say it.