When you start hearing “What’s your Fran time?” more than you hear “What’s your bench? Opens a New Window. ”, it’ll be clear you’ve wandered far from Kansas and the yellow-bricked road and into the Wonderful World of CrossFit. You’ll then start wondering, “Who the hell is Fran and why does she have a time?”
WHO IS FRAN:
Fran, as written, is a couplet of barbell thrusters (a front squat/push-press combo) and pull-ups.
WHAT A FRAN LOOKS LIKE:
Three rounds, 21-15-9 reps of 95-pound barbell thrusters and pull-ups, all done for time.
HOW TO COMPLETE A FRAN:
Perform 21 thrusters followed by 21 pull-ups, 15 thrusters followed by 15 pull-ups, and 9 thrusters followed by 9 pull-ups. As fast as humanly possible.
WHY YOU SHOULD COMPLETE A FRAN:
Fran is CrossFit’s 100m sprint. It’s a measure of fitness and a benchmark that can be monitored over time to record an increase in power. As a budding CrossFitter, your Fran time may be well around the 12-minute mark. As you stick with the CrossFit-style programming, a few months down the line you may shave 3-4 minutes off that time. Therein lies the beauty of the workout. How much faster can you perform these same movements over these same rep schemes from Day 1 to Day 101?
GIVE FRAN A SHOT:
> 21 Barbell Thrusters
> 21 Pull-ups
> 15 Barbell Thrusters
> 15 Pull-ups
> 9 Barbell Thrusters
> 9 Pull-Ups
Complete 3 rounds. Record your time.