Nancy

08 Sep 2018

CrossFit Girl WOD “Nancy”

5 Rounds of
400 m Run
15 Overhead Squats 95/65 lbs

Good time to beat for Nancy: </p>

18 min 16 sec – Fitness Level 0 – Beginner athlete
16 min 56 sec – Fitness Level 25 – Beginner athlete
15 min 33 sec – Fitness Level 50 – Average athlete
13 min 16 sec – Fitness Level 75 – Average athlete
11 min 48 sec – Fitness Level 90 – Advanced athlete
10 min 53 sec – Fitness Level 95 – Advanced athlete
09 min 52 sec – Fitness Level 98 – Elite athlete
08 min 51 sec – Fitness Level 100 – Regional athlete

What is Nancy?

Nancy is one of the CrossFit Girl Benchmark workouts (WODs) that includes run and higher rep lightweight overhead squats.

Nancy is also one of a very few Girls WODs that has been programmed at the CrossFit Games. But athletes had to do an RX+ variant called Naughty Nancy.

Naughty Nancy consists of 5 rounds for time of 600-meter run and 25 overhead squats with 140/95 lbs. You can see athletes going through Naughty Nancy in the video below.

What is a good time to beat for Nancy?

According to our app WOD Time Calculator, the best athletes should be able to finish Nancy in under 9 minutes. Advanced athletes should try to beat the 12-minute mark. Average athletes should aim for 15:30 or faster and beginners should be able to finish Nancy in about 18 minutes.

How to get a good time in Nancy?

Both run and overhead squats should take you about the same time during this WOD.

You don’t want to run too fast and then have a problem with overhead squats or force yourself to do all overhead squats unbroken and then going slowly on the run.

The key is in a consistent pace where you would go slightly slower for the first two round, but later you try to keep that pace even when you are fatigued.

Run

You need to keep pushing on the run. You can’t use run as a recovery movement. Difference between five 1:30 and 2:00 400m runs is 2.5 minutes.

Try to start your first two runs at about 85% of your best 400m pace and if it feels slow, speed up in the last three rounds. No matter how hard it feels, try to not slow down.

Those first two rounds shouldn’t affect your overhead squats performance, you should still feel fresh during round #3, and you will need to push through last two rounds.

Overhead squats

Good mobility on overhead squats is the key. Make sure to warm up properly before the WOD, so you don’t find yourself struggling with reps.

Try to do a lot of exercises that open your shoulders, do a few hangs and handstands. Also, you can work on a heavy overhead squat before the WOD, so you will get used to a heavy weight which will make those 95/65 lbs feel way easier.

Now it is time for the WOD. When you get back from a run, you should go straight to a bar. There is no need for chalk before overhead squats. Take chalk with you on the run, just stick a small block to a pocket and chalk your hands just before you return.

You can start with a squat snatch but do that only if you are 100% sure that you won’t miss the rep and that you won’t need to reposition your feet after the first rep. Otherwise, it is much faster to do power snatch and get to the correct position with the bar overhead.

The fastest strategy is to go unbroken in each round but only if you can string all 15 reps without resting in the extended position.

If you find yourself resting too much try to do three sets of 6+5+4. Always aim for a quick set without a rest in extended position. Drop the bar from the top position and with almost no rest pick it up again and do the next set.

Three sets of 6+5+4 should be little faster than 15 unbroken reps and should allow you to have a better pace on the run as you won’t be so tired.