Fran: fast+light or slow+heavy?

[Ric Lister]

My first three Frans, including today, were:

65lb - 8:50
75lb - 6:50
85lb - 7:45

So I'm making some kind of progress.

Today thrusters were broken into approx 5's and pullups into 10's.

Next time Fran comes up should I increase weight to 95lb to be "as rx'd", even if it takes me >10 minutes? Or would it be better to drop weight to 65lb until I can do 21-15-9 through without a break, then start increasing weight again?

[Christopher G. Woods]

Up the weight. If you can go as Rx'd in 12 minutes or less, stick with that.

[Stephen Flamm]

You might hear from both sides of the camp here, but my vote is to give it a go with the rx'd weight. For that matter, anytime you can complete any WOD as rx'd in a respectable time, you should probably do it. The key to scaling is to maintain the spirit of the WOD; for example, if Fran was taking you 30 minutes at 95lb, it has turned into an almost pure strength workout as opposed to the short, metcon killer it was designed to be. Judging from your improvements thus far (and really, all of those times are pretty good), you will be just fine at 95lb.

[Derek Maffett]

http://www.board.crossfit.com/showthread.php?t=32641 wfs

Not sure what page, but I'm pretty sure it was discussed in there.

[Ted Apollo]

i think you should go with option (c) fast+heavy

either way you did it and next time you will do it heavier and faster. the first time i did it with 60lb thrusters and it took 8:00, then i did it a few weeks later with 90lbs and it took 6:31, and today i used the rx'd weight and finished in 4:43.

[Ric Lister]

Hey folks, thanks for all the input. Derek, I read that thread, quite a discussion, and I'm not sure I really came out of with a clear idea of what's best. But I think next time I'll go with rx'd weight and scale reps to 15-12-9 or something.

Ted, I like your attitude. It'll be great if I can manage the great progress you did.

Thanks!

[Brett Dartt]

Originally Posted by Ric Lister

Hey folks, thanks for all the input. Derek, I read that thread, quite a discussion, and I'm not sure I really came out of with a clear idea of what's best. But I think next time I'll go with rx'd weight and scale reps to 15-12-9 or something.

Ted, I like your attitude. It'll be great if I can manage the great progress you did.

Thanks!

just do it as rx'd you'll be fine with those numbers. dont be scrrrrd

[David Schneider]

Like most others have said, if you're getting a decent time (10-12 min.) with the Rx'd weight, then do it.

I would scales rounds, reps or time before scaling the weight, but that's just my opinion. I'm a fan of going heavy and hard. If a metcon is dragged out too long then just cut the rounds or reps and use the rx'd weight. I have seen great progress doing it this way.

Maybe try different combos, see what works for you. Whatever you do, do it heavy, hard, and fast.

-David

[Sean Dunston]

Originally Posted by Ric Lister

Hey folks, thanks for all the input. Derek, I read that thread, quite a discussion, and I'm not sure I really came out of with a clear idea of what's best. But I think next time I'll go with rx'd weight and scale reps to 15-12-9 or something.

Ted, I like your attitude. It'll be great if I can manage the great progress you did.

Thanks!

Don't mess with the reps!
If you do - it is NOT Fran.

Since you've scaled the weight 3x in the past, and your time is going down as the weight has increased - do it as RX next time. If it takes you 10:00, so what. That is not an awful time in the world of Fran. Plus, then you'll have a benchmark WOD as RX'd and a time to beat for the next time she comes up.

[Derek Maffett]

Originally Posted by Sean Dunston

Don't mess with the reps!
If you do - it is NOT Fran.

No, it isn't - it's a scaled down Fran (lower weights isn't really "Fran," either). However, I think what he's looking for is a good (better) training stimulus rather than a benchmark workout checked off.