Australians love kicking goals. Whether it’s at work or in the gym, there’s an inherent sense of satisfaction when you achieve your goal. It’s no different in the world of functional fitness, where hitting a PB snatch or Dianne means jubilation for you, your peers, and your coaches. Recording scores and tracking progress are important to growing as an athlete, for recognizing areas of improvement and keeping motivated. We do this by periodically testing and retesting benchmark WODs.
Benchmarks exist as a baseline measurement for you and others to measure your fitness progress. They range across various modalities, intensities, and time domains, but what they all have in common is that they should put you on your butt. These are the workouts you give everything you’ve got and empty the tank.
As such, they should be used sparingly. Blasting through Fran three times a week is not conducive and in fact may be detrimental to effective training. Benchmarks are your training gauge and ideally fall at the end of a training cycle.
Here are four WODs to knock you out.
Our 4 Favorite Benchmark WODs
1. Fight Gone Bad
3 rounds for total reps in 17 minutes
- One minute wall balls (20/14 lb)
- One minute sumo deadlift high-pulls (75/55 lb)
- One minute box jumps (20 in)
- One minute push press (75/55 lb)
- One minute row (calories)
- One minute rest
Probably my all-time favorite benchmark, Fight Gone Bad throws you in the spin cycle, knocks you silly, and then spits you back out ready to go again. It’s named as such as it’s programmed to feel like three rounds in the ring. Elites will go unbroken every round and be pushing 500 reps.
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2. CrossFit Total
Sum of the best of each lift
- Back squat
- Shoulder press
- Deadlift
Back with a vengeance at this year’s Games, the CrossFit Total tasks athletes with performing their best 1RM back squat, shoulder press, and deadlift. This workout is severely taxing on the central nervous system, so plan appropriately and maintain safe movement.
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3. Cindy
AMRAP in 20 minutes
- 5 pull-ups
- 10 push-ups
- 15 air squats
Cindy is a great test of both bodyweight mastery and aerobic capacity. It is also a fantastic WOD when travelling or with limited equipment. Set a pace, stay consistent, and then fire off in the last two minutes.
4. Death Race
Five rounds for time
- 15/10 calories Assault Bike
- 10 burpees
This one is from the guys at CompTrain and is a pure anaerobic sprint. Fire off fast and hold on for as long as you can. Your quads will be lit up as you fall down after round five.
