Aug 09
10
CrossFit – Fran is EVIL!!
There’s really no other way to say this I suppose, “Fran sucks”.
I love Fran.
Now before anyone goes running to tell my wife, Fran, is a CrossFit workout. As I mentioned in my last article about CrossFit, many workouts are done for time in order to foster competition. The most popular (or most evil) are given names, either for fallen soldiers or after women.
Let’s go over exactly what “Fran” is, before I tell you all how much I sucked.
Fran consists of only 2 exercises: Squat thrusts, and pull-ups. For those not familiar with squat thrusts, imagine doing a deep front squat and using you upward momentum to help press the bar over your head in one motion. These exercises are done back to back in sets of 21, 15, and 9.
In other words Fran looks like:
- 21 Squat thrusts
- 21 Pull-ups
- 15 Squat thrusts
- 15 Pull-ups
- 9 Squat thrusts
- 9 Pull-ups
Oh you noticed I didn’t include the rests? I didn’t forget, Fran, is for time. You only stop when you need to, otherwise its full throttle through the whole workout!
Despite its simple appearance, Fran is an excellent workout. The deep squats engage nearly your entire lower body, and the press at the end works the core, chest, shoulders and arms. Couple this exercise with pull-ups which are (in my opinion) the best way to work your arms and back and core, and you have one fast, brutal total body workout.
Based on my verbiage, I’m pretty sure you can figure my “Fran time” was less than stellar.
3 of us are standing over our barbells, poised to tear into our workouts, Nik, armed with a top watch shouts “GO!” and the rest turns into a blur. Here are the highlights:
9 reps in and I am already winded and end up swapping weights for something lighter.
Finishing the squat thrusts I approach the pull-up bar, I can barely bring my arms up high enough to grip the bar. I want to cry.
What started as good deep squats are replaced in my second by something awful looking, I don’t know what it was, but it wasn’t squatting.
At the final set I’m not even in control of my body anymore. It’s moving on its own with me along for the ride. Everything is on fire and even if I had the breath, I’m not sure I could utter a complete sentence I’m so out of it.
The final few pull-ups take everything I have an I fall away from the bar as I croak “Time” signaling I’m finished.
Competitive people consider a 4min+ time to be excellent. The rest of us mortals are typically happy with a 10min+ time.
Mine?
Over 12:30. I would hang my head in shame as Nik writes my time on the board, but I’m already lying on the floor so I figure it’s a futile gesture.
As I mentioned before Fran engages the entire body and I can tell you for a fact it does indeed work. Even now, almost 5 days later I can Fran in my legs and my shoulders, the signs of a good workout.
Perhaps it’s slightly sadistic of me, but the soreness is welcome. It’s telling me that in spite of a lousy time, I did in fact push myself.
With total body engagement and a poor first performance, I have a lot to look forward to next time Fran and I meet.
Anyone else have a Fran time out there that wouldn’t mind sharing, even if your embarrassed of your time, please share your experiences with our good friend (*sarcasm*) Fran.