Fran WOD

FOR TIME: 21-15-9 reps of thrusters (95/65lb) and pull-ups

What is the Fran WOD?

The Fran WOD is one of the original Girl WODs and is a staple of CrossFit. Athletes must perform 21 thrusters (95/65lb) followed by 21 pull-ups, 15 thrusters followed by 15 pull-ups and 9 thrusters followed by 9 pull-ups, all as quickly as possible. Fran is a Crossfit benchmark WOD used to assess an athlete’s progress over time.

Challenging both physically and mentally the Fran WOD should be completed with speed in mind, with elite CrossFit athletes able to complete the workout in under 3 minutes. Thrusters can be technically challenging so it’s important to work on the technique – the bar should rest in the front rack position and not in your hands, using the force generated through the squat movement to push the bar from the front rack position overhead.

Typically the options for scaling will be reducing the weight on the thrusters and performing alternative pull-ups such as banded pull-ups or jumping pull-ups. Before starting the WOD have an idea of how to break up the reps if required – the 21 thrusters could be broken up as 15 and 6, for example. If you can’t put many consecutive reps together reduce the weight and focus on speed and technique.

Tips for the Fran WOD

  • Work on your thruster, mastering the technique and identifying a suitable weight for the WOD.
  • Break up the reps if required, otherwise find a maintainable speed.Scale the weight and pull-ups if required. Use 10 minutes as a time cap to help determine appropriate scaling.