CrossFit Fran Tips The FRAN, the most feared and revered of CrossFit workouts. Simple enough that a beginner can give it a shot. Difficult enough to still scare the most seasoned of CrossFit athletes . What is Fran? For time: 21-15-9 Thrusters (95lbs/65lbs) Pullups If you’re not familiar with the standard CrossFit style of workout let me break it down a bit more as well as explaining some of the movements. The following movements are performed with the timer going.
- Perform 21 barbell thrusters. A thruster is performed by holding a barbell in the front rack position, dropping down into a squat, standing up from the squat and then pushing the bar overhead. (There’s a quick video demonstration at the end of this post).
- Perform 21 pullups. Immediately, upon finishing the 21 thrusters, begin the pullups. The athlete’s chin must rise above the bar, breaking the horizontal plane of the bar, although the chin does not necessarily have to touch the top of the bar.
- Perform 15 thrusters. As soon as the pullups are completed, immediately, return to the barbell and begin the thrusters.
- Perform 15 pullups. Get back on that pullup bar and knock out 15 more.
- Perform 9 thrusters. You’ve got the idea now.
- Perform 9 pullups. Stop the clock as soon as the chin breaks the horizontal plane of the pullup bar on the final rep.
In the scheme of things, the workout is very simple, but it’s definitely not easy. Need a little visual representaion of what Fran looks like? Checkout this video from CrossFit Albany showing CrossFit Games regular Camille LeBlanc-Bazinet knocking out the workout in just under two and a half minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VShHz27QxeU Also notice the knee collapse of the person behind her during thrusters. That particular person should have scaled down, rested to regain form, spread the ground, kept her chest up, etc. Also the style of “pullup” Camille was doing is called a butterfly. I know you guys have heard me speak of these. These are to be done ONLY if you plan on entering a competition AND you have passed the strict pullup test AND shoulder mobility test. Although, Camille gets through this workout very quickly, remember that she’s one of CrossFit’s top competitors. For new CrossFitters, trying the workout with the prescribed weights, a 10 to 20 minute time is not surprising. Although, there are no official guidelines the following times provide a rough guideline: 10:00+ Beginner 10:00-4:30 Intermediate 4:30 – 3:00 Advanced 3:00 or less Elite According to Mobility WOD’s Kelly Starett, one of the easiest, but least utilized, tips is performing some Fran specific mobility work prior to your workout. Review the video below for some Fran specific mobility tips from someone who has spent a lot more time thinking about Fran than you have. (Note: unfortunately the video quality is not the best on this one but you can definitely get the gist of what Kelly is suggesting). That’s the extent of it. Fran remains the queen of CrossFit workouts (and if Fran is the queen then there is clearly no king). Good luck, go hard! And feel free to post to the comments if you found this useful or if you’ve got your own tip or trick!]]>
