Crossfit WOD "Cindy"

[Dan C]

So I had my first attempt at a Crossfit workout today. For those that don't know, "Cindy" consists of:

10 bodyweight squats
10 push ups
5 pull ups (overhand thumbless grip)

As many rounds as possible for 20 minutes.

Well, I lasted 7 minutes. I did 5 rounds in 7 min before I couldn't do anymore pull ups, even with kipping (I actually found the kipping to be quite difficult). At 255lbs, even the push ups were a struggle towards the end.

At a loss for what to do, I contemplated over a 60 second wall sit and a couple sets of roman chair sit ups. Not being one to quit, I hung a pair of gymnastic rings from my pull up bar and continued on.

In the remaining 13 minutes I went for 9 more rounds. Keeping with the BW squats, I modified my push ups and pull ups by doing them on the rings with my feet on the floor. The good thing about rings is you can easily adjust the load by stepping to and from, putting your body at more or less of an incline thus allowing you to go with no rest the entire time. The only draw back is there is no way to measure the load you're working with.

I ended up doing 10 "pull ups" / inverted rows each set because of the angle I was working at made the pulls quite easy (improper ring height). I wasn't overly concerned about how many rounds I went, or how much weight I was pushing or pulling, I just wanted to work as hard as I could.

And I did. It was a good workout.

[gymgirl]

Hey Dan! Great job on your first attempt at Cindy! I don't know if that is a typo on your post but Cindy has 15 squats. so 5 pull-ups 10 push-ups 15 squats. Anyway, good improvising by doing body rows on the rings. I subbed bodyrows quite a bit when my sub scap tendonitis was really bothering me.

You are right, kipping is difficult when you first try it, but once you get the hang of it you will blow through workouts. I don't know if you've seen this video but it is pretty helpful. http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C...g1-Concept.wmv

this one is good too: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/eva-on-kipping.wmv

Anyway, great job on your first Cindy! any plans for future WOD's?

[CF-OC_gal]

Nice work on Cindy!

I am not strong enough to kip so I do jumping pull-ups after my one PLU that I can do on my own. I also do combos of on toes and on knees PUs since I now have to do "correct form" arm placement for pushups. It reduced my regular pushup numbers back to under 5 at first.

My first Cindy I had to do pushups against the wall by the end because I was so weak.

Did it surprise you on how it made you feel?

[tim_mcf]

MWAAH HAH HAH HAH... (Evil laughter, hand wringing) Excellent...

My evil plan is working...soon the whole WORLD will be leaving sweat angels on their gym floors...

[Dan C]

Ahh, the squats was a mistake on my part then, for some reason I thought it was only 10. That makes sense then because the squats were very easy compared to the push/pulls.

I'll probably try a few more of these workouts. Not sure that it coincides with my strongman training being that I already have a "conditioning" day worked into my routine. But after the season is over (3 weeks for me) I'll probably hit a few more WOD's. It's a nice change of pace, and there's no getting around hard work in a timed test like that.

I've actually done workouts that were very similar to this, so I kinda knew what I was getting into. And the conditioning workout I mentioned earlier (more of a metabolic conditioning / HIT workout) always leaves a sweat angel on the floor which makes me think of Tim. It was about 85 degrees yesterday with 65% humidity, not too bad, but I did the workout with my shirt off and laid on top of it when I was done... the sweat still soaked through both front and back of my relatively dry shirt and left a mark on the patio. I clocked my heart rate at 23 beats in 10 seconds, so about 138bpm, but this was after laying on the ground for 30 seconds or so.

[minime]

great job on cindy dan!

gymgirl that video is great, that guy does 67 pullups in a row! wow!

Very, very good job Dan! I am impressed. Only the brave cross over and try different training protocols so you are brave. We are only as strong as our weakest link.

DF member JDR3 tips the scales in the 240-245 range depending on what he's had for breakfast. I believe he has completed 15 rounds of "Cindy".

And what do you think about our big guy Firehawk running an 800 meter distance in 3:47?

It's all good and it all spills over to what we like to do which is normally what we are best at.

Keep the pedal to the metal!

[86drop]

i dont know why this just came to me as ive read about crossfit in the past but when they say "bodyweight" squats do they mean just standing and moving through a squatting motion or are they referring to squatting at a bar with a weight equal to your body weight? i always assumed the former but just want to make sure. seems super crazy if its bar squatting.

[gymgirl]

no bar squat! just use your own body as the weight!

[Dan C]

I did two "half" Cindy's yesterday.

1st set - 7 rounds exactly
2nd set - 6 rounds and 1 pull up

I planned on doing a 3rd set but decided against it because my arms were dead. So instead I did a 5 min Cindy and did 4 round using rings (actually took me 5:20).

Also did Roman Chair sit ups for sets of 20 while I rested in between sets.

[.V.]

Congrats on your discovery of yet another kind of strength Dan.

I've never tackled a crossfit workout although they do look interesting. The closest I ever came was a challenge between some DF members a few years back to do burpees, pushups, and pullups.

The one you tackled looks pretty tough, especially considering that you train for a different kind of power. Thumbsup to you.

[mrss]

I followed the scaled CF WOD's for quite a while and it's probably the fittest I've ever been. Keep at it and you will become legendary at pullups.

Cindy is a pretty hard test of both physical and mental ability to push yourself. If it's too much for you then you should consider doing a scaled versions of it, this will allow you to set attainable targets without killing yourself!

Don't get me wrong when I say 'if it's too much for you' I'm not having a dig, the prescribed workouts on the CF site are epically challenging if done correclty and at pace.

If you Google "brand x crossfit" and visit there forums you will find all the WODs posted with scaled versions. These are still difficult but are a much better place to start - unless you have elite fitness.

Agreed. A couple years ago I introduced a big guy (245 lbs.) to Cindy and suggested a scale of 3-6-9 rather than 5-10-15. I think the trick is to have a scale that allows you to complete the rounds as prescribed with decent form while having to work hard.

[mrss]

Yeah you're right. It's important to manage the complete time or be under a certain time if its a WOD based on a time measurement rather than rounds.

Quality workout though.