Barbara

06 May 2018

CrossFit Girl WOD “Barbara”

5 rounds of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-up (abmat)s
50 Air Squats

Rest 3 mins between each round

Good time to beat for 1 round:
08 min 05 sec – Fitness Level 0 – Beginner athlete
07 min 08 sec – Fitness Level 25 – Beginner athlete
06 min 12 sec – Fitness Level 50 – Average athlete
04 min 48 sec – Fitness Level 75 – Average athlete
03 min 56 sec – Fitness Level 90 – Advanced athlete
03 min 27 sec – Fitness Level 95 – Advanced athlete
02 min 57 sec – Fitness Level 98 – Elite athlete
02 min 27 sec – Fitness Level 100 – Regional athlete

What is Barbara?

The CrossFit Girl Barbar is one of the first named girl workouts introduced in the 2003 as one of the first CrossFit benchmark workout together with other girls like Angie, Chelsea, Diane, Elizabeth and Fran.

Barbara is a different than other CrossFit WODs as it involves prescribed rest. The rest doesn’t make the workout easier, but it allows you to push much harder in each round.

What is good time to beat for Barbara?

Good time to beat for 1 round of Barbara ranges from 2:27 for a Regional level athlete up to 8:05 for a beginner. An advanced CrossFitter will have a good time to beat of 3:27.

All rounds in the Barbara should be about the same length as the 3-minute rest between each round is long enough for you to recover enough to be able to keep the pace high.

How to get good time in Barbara?

If you are aiming for 3:00 or faster you have to go unbroken. There is no strategy involved, start fast, finish fast, and try to not rest before finishing one round. Repeat that 5 times.

For slower times you will have a slight problem with unbroken pull ups or push ups.

Pull Ups

You always start pull-ups fresh after the rest so try to finish them in as a few sets as possible. Try to always do a larger + smaller set, for example, 12+8 or 8+7+5.

Push Ups

If you have a problem with push-ups, try to do 6 sets of 5 with quick rest. Make sure to do smaller sets even when you are fresh as you will save energy for later rounds. Your goal is to avoid muscular fatigue in pecs as much as you can.

Sit Ups

Try to do sit-ups unbroken at all cost. The only difference between a beginner and an elite CrossFitter is in the pace. The only limiting factor on sit-ups is abs muscular fatigue, your heart rate will lower down after a few reps.

Air Squats

You can either go unbroken and slowly or do a few sets of quick air squats, for example, 5 sets of 10 air squats. Anyway, make sure to push hard as it is the last movement and quick 50 air squats will take about a minute.

How to scale Barbara?

Super Beginner Barbara

3 rounds of
10 Ring Rows
20 Knee Push Ups
30 AbMat Sit Ups
40 Air Squats
3 Min Rest

Beginner Barbara

5 rounds of
20 Ring Rows
30 Knee Push Ups
40 AbMat Sit Ups
50 Air Squats
3 Min Rest

RX+ Barbara

5 rounds of
10 Muscle Ups
20 HSPU
30 TTB
40 Pistols
2 Min Rest