The Best Long Crossfit Wods
Crossfit is undoubtedly the sport of multimodal exercising.
Classic wods range from the duration of as little as a few minutes to hours long. This variety in duration allows competitors and class goers alike to develop a broader range of fitness.
Although it’s true that, for the sake of time and creating a well balanced program, short to medium duration workouts are favored, this isn’t an excuse to overlook the longer pieces.
Long workouts (going on the 30-minute upward windows) help develop endurance and stamina while also being an opportunity to work on other skills like strategy.
In this blog we will be spotlighting these workouts, sharing the classics and some of our favourites as well as breaking down strategies and tricks to give you an extra edge when that timer clock goes off.
What is a HERO WOD?
A Hero WOD is a tribute to a fallen first responder or member of the military who died while serving honorably in the line of duty. Performed to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, these workouts are some of the hardest and most well known WODs in the sport. Additionally many of them have longer than average working windows.
MURPH
Run 1 mile
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
Run 1 mile
There are two versions of execution:
Perform pull-ups, push-ups and squats in the stated order. You must complete all the reps of one exercise before moving onto the next.
Partition the pull ups, push ups, and squats as needed.
For both options you must start and finish with a mile run.
RX version requires you to wear a vest.
Find more info about Murph Workout.
HOLLEYMAN
30 Rounds For Time
5 Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lb)
3 Handstand Push-Ups
1 Power Clean (100/70kg)
With 30 rounds to get through the aim of this workout is to be smooth on the transitions.
Holleyman can be an opportunity to learn a lot about yourself and how you approach long workouts.
It’s reliant on your mental game and unwillingness to stop when you're deep in the rounds yet the end still seems quite out of reach.
What are the CrossFit girl WODs?
Another term Crossfitters commonly refer to is “The Girls”. The Girls are some of the most iconic and oldest workouts in the sport. They range in a variety of time domains. Some are bodyweight, some are all about raw strength and others challenge your mental fortitude. They are a great opportunity to work on your weaknesses and can often be found in their variations as part of the programming for competitions.
LINDA
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Reps, For Time
Deadlift (1½ bodyweight)
Bench Press (bodyweight)
Clean (¾ bodyweight)
Linda is for the bros… and the ladies who love pumping iron.
Based on your strength to bodyweight ratio this workout can feel very different.
Regardless, anyone and everyone can benefit from a good lifting session. Grab you gym buddies and get to it!
CHELSEA
EMOM for 30 min:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats
If unable to complete a full round within the minute, rest the whole of the following minute.
If this workout seems familiar it’s because it probably is.
The pullup-pushup-squat combination is the golden trifecta of bodyweight WODs in Crossfit.
Many workouts utilize this triplet and are based on the 5-10-15 rep scheme. Chelsea is definitely one of the most challenging out of the bunch. Not only because of the physical demand, but due to the mental game required as well.
BARBARA
20 Pullups
30 Pushups
40 Situps
50 Squats
Either 5 rounds for time, or 5 rounds with 3:00 rest between each round.
Another workout where it’s all about chipping away ad strategy. If you decide to try the 3 minute rest between rounds version be warned it's no easier.
The goal of the rest is to recover just enough to be able to maintain a higher level of intensity through each round.
Check yourself and fight to not let that pace drop when the going gets tough.
EVA
5 rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
32/24 Kettlebell swing, 30 reps
30 Pull-ups
This one goes out to our pullup lovers.
The overall volume isn’t necessarily higher than in other workouts. This said the bigger sets rely on the athlete’s strategy.
The gymnastics ninjas among us may be able to knock out all 5 rounds unbroken, for the rest of us having a good strategy paired with listening to internal fatigue cues can pay off on the longer workout domain.
The Mash
The Mash has long been a tradition within our weekly programming.
The idea behind it has always been to bring together the community.
You may not always be able to train with your gym BFFs during the week but it’s easier to make time in the weekend to get together and smash a long and hard but also incredibly fun workout.
Each week we have a different theme for The Mash and we take care of sharing it on our social media platforms to make it accessible to those who may not be part of our athlete community.
Each week we program this specific session with the goal of offering a workout that is both fun and a growing opportunity as well. We send out specific cues and pointers for our athletes and share some tips on our newsletter and Instagram as well. Each Mash can be a lesson in strategy, self-pacing and competitive attitude.
We are extremely proud of the success The Mash has had and we always look forward to watching box communities come together to train hard and have fun while doing it. Here are some of our favourite sessions we programmed.
Sixty rounds of Heaven
30 rounds for time
3 burpees
2 power cleans
1 ring muscle up
5 minute rest into:
20 rounds for time
3 burpee box jumps
2 thruster
1 sHSPU
5 minute rest into:
10 rounds for time
3 box jumps
2 snatches
1 bar muscle up
Kong is the King
For time
1 round of King Kong
80/60 cal Assault bike
**Every 30 seconds: 4 DB box step overs
3-5 minute rest into:
For time
1 round King Kong
80 burpees to target
**Every 30 seconds: 4 toes to bar
3-5 minute test into:
For time:
1 round of King Kong
80 box jumps
**Every 30 seconds: 4 burpees
King Kong (RX): 1 deadlift 205/145kg
2 ring muscle ups
3 squat cleans 115/80kg
4 handstand pushups
The At Home Mash
1 round of complex
Straight into:
6-9-12-9-6
burpee over the object
object squat
object bent over row
3 minute rest into:
1 round of complex
Straight into:
4 rounds:
20 sit-ups
4 wall walks
3 minute rest into:
1 round of complex
Straight into:
4 rounds 20 jumping lunges
10 jump over object
(Odd object) Complex:
10 ground to overhead
10 swings
10 ground to shoulder
10 shoulder to overhead
The AT HOME Mash workout was the first Mash we programmed at the start of the 2020 Lockdown in March.
It holds significance to us as we wanted to keep the Mash tradition even when our sport’s community was confined in their houses to ensure the safety of all. When life is turned upside down and stress is at an all time high, not many things beat a sweat session, especially if it allows to keep some sense of normality in a world that feels so different.
Looking for more long CrossFit workouts? Follow us on instagram! @theprogrm
Long classic crossfit workouts
Covering all the most famous long domain workouts would be an impossible feat. This said we wanted to include a couple more iconic pieces that you need to know if you are serious about Crossfit.
FILTHY 150
50 Box Jumps
50 Jumping Pull-Ups
50 Kettlebell Swings 24/16kg
50 Walking Lunge Steps
50 Knees-to-Elbows
50 Push Presses 30/25kg
50 Back Extensions
50 Wall Balls 9/7kg
50 Burpees
50 Double-Unders
There’s plenty of reps in the Filthy 50 but it's one of those WODs where your level of fitness can drastically change your score.
It’s a great workout for beginners looking for an extra hard challenge, but also an opportunity for more experienced athletes to get back to basics and test their capacity.
MIKKO'S TRIANGLE
EMOM for 40 minutes
1 minute X cal Row
1 minute X cal SkiErg
1 minute X cal Assault Bike
1 minute Rest
There isn’t an official calorie range for this workout, instead your score is the calories totaled by the end of the 40 minutes. This means you can strategize the workout and approach it differently based on your needs.
You can go from hard effort rounds paired with lower calorie recovery rounds or choose to stick to the same number for all 40 minutes. We love this workout because it’s a great benchmark to evaluate how your conditioning is progressing through months of hard work.
How to approach long distance wods?
Usually the longer a Crossfit workout is the higher the amount of variables that need to be accounted for becomes. For those who love the strategy and mind games part of this sport long duration WODs are an opportunity to test their skill.
On the other hand if you aren’t sufficiently experienced or very comfortable with long workouts they will definitely wreck you.
This said there are some essential cues that are universally true for all athletes.
Strong-and-Steady or Push-and-Pull
These are the two most common approaches to longer workouts.
What you choose is really dependent on different variables such as amount and type of exercises included as well as rep scheme.
Of course your level of comfortability regarding each skill has to come into play.
Sometimes pushing on the movements you’re best at so that you can focus on moving smoothly and recovering on the ones you struggle most with (pulling away).
Ready, set, go(?)
How you start a long workout isn’t necessarily very indicative of how you will finish.
However there are some benefits to pushing the pace right out of the gates, especially if you are racing against others.
Setting a hard pace to follow can challenge your competitors mentally but you must be ready for consequences. Some may try to keep up with you and if aren’t able to be consistent through the workout you may risk losing your lead.
Ultimately you need to evaluate your strengths within the workout and be honest with yourself about your level of stamina and ability to red line throughout the whole time domain.
Have a plan but learn to listen to yourself
Going into a 30 minute workout with no solid plan is a rookie mistake that should never be made more than once.
However talented competitors not only are able to formulate a plan (and stick to it!) but have also learned to listen to their internal cues that allow them to regulate their pace and keep just enough in the tank to make a move further on in the workout or surprise their competitors by turning up the pace when least expected.
This quality is partially due to talent but for the most of it can be learned through experience and mindfulness.
Pay attention to how you feel and react in your next long session and make notes on how you can improve upon that.
