Cross Training Benchmark Workouts and Their Best Times

CrossFit benchmark workouts have their best completion time, and from the onset, these may seem impossible to attain and that they can only be held by the elite. Since these benchmark workouts are well known across the CrossFit community, they are the best when comparing times.

The main purpose of benchmark workouts in CrossFit is that they give you a platform and serve as an instrument through which you can measure your progress. Workouts change from time to time, and this makes it difficult to compare your performance today with past performance levels. Using benchmark workouts, you can gather tangible evidence on the progress of your fitness level.

Not all benchmark CrossFit workouts are timed, but most are, and CrossFitters have posted some amazing times. Some of these benchmark workouts have gained entries into year-end CrossFit games. What is important with these times is that they give you a comparison yardstick, but you shouldn’t feel bad if you find your times being nowhere closer to these records. CrossFit has hundreds of thousands of participants and it is a very competitive sport.

Fran

This is a famous CrossFit workout and a deceptively challenging one. In this workout, you will perform pull-ups and thrusters. Thrusters are barbell front squats done using an overhead press at the top. Both exercises are done in three sets and the reps for each set are in a descending order starting from 21 then 15 and lastly 9. The barbell used by men and women vary in weight with men using a 95pound and women 65pound. The best time set for this workout is 1 minute and 53 seconds and it was done by Jason Kaplan.

Diane

This workout shares lots of similarities with Fran. It comprises of deadlifts and handstand push-ups. The deadlifts for men comprise 225 pounds while for women it is 155 pounds. Every exercise is done in 3 sets with descending repetitions in the order of 21, 15 and nine reps. The best time was posted by Dan Bailey who did 1 minute 35 seconds in the 2012 CrossFit games.

Murph

This is commonly referred to as a hero workout of the day. It was named in the memory of Michael Murphy, a Navy lieutenant. This workout gives you an option of wearing a vest measuring 20 pounds to mimic military body armor. This workout is done by running one mile, then 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and lastly 300 bodyweight squats. After you have done all of them, you run another mile. The best time was recorded by Josh Bridges in 34 minutes 38 seconds.

Naughty Nancy

This is slightly more difficult compared to its sister CrossFit workout, Nancy. It is a relatively newer benchmark workout and featured in the 2013 CrossFit games to give the competitors an extra challenge. Every athlete completes four sets of 600-meter runs coupled with 25 overhead squats. The best time ever recorded for the Naughty Nancy workout is 16 minutes 31 seconds by Josh Bridges.