20 of the Coolest CrossFit WODs in the World (2017)
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With Murph done for another year for most of us, you might be wondering, what’s next? There’s a whole world of challenging and fun WODs to be explored; some much worse than Murph, and a few that are just straight-up crazy.
We’ve scoured competitions, the Games, Regionals and Hero offerings, to bring you 20 of the coolest CrossFit WODs in the world. Don’t see your favorite on the list? Let us know in the comments.
Contents
Murph
1 mile run
100 pull-ups
200 push-ups
300 air squats
1 mile run
Wearing 20 lb / 14 lb weight vest
In CrossFit, we kick off summer with a visit from Murph. It’s one of the most loved and hated WODs around, and while everyone can run a mile, doing it in a weight vest after 300 squats is a different story.
Fran
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pull-ups
It’s the quintessential benchmark WOD, and even though it sucks to do, there aren’t many cooler feelings in CrossFit than shaving a few seconds off your Fran time.
2016 Regionals event 6
1,000m bike
100ft handstand walk
10 overhead squats
500m row
50 burpees
5 overhead squats
This one was great fun to watch because it gave everyone a chance to see top CrossFit athletes taking on regular moves like burpees, while showing us how to smash a 100ft handstand walk and destroy heavy overhead squats.
Linda
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Squats clean ¾ bodyweight
Bench press bodyweight
Deadlift 1 ½ bodyweight
Linda is one of the few CrossFit WODs in which the weight is determined by your bodyweight. That means if you’re light and strong, you’re having a great time. If you’re a bigger individual, we hope you like powerlifting.
Cindy
20 minute AMRAP
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
The perfect practice WOD for Murph, we’re sure every box was doing this one the week before. The key to Cindy is staying consistent, and not burning out in the first 10 minutes.
2016 Open WOD 16.2
Beginning on a 4-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:
25 toes-to-bars
50 double-unders
15 squat cleans, 135 / 85 lb.
For most regular CrossFitters, this was an awesome workout. Finish a round, and the weight on the cleans increases. A great test of some fundamental movements.
2015 Games Event 2
Sandbag move
Move sandbags across the stadium
Not the easiest to recreate in your own gym, but cool to watch, the sandbag move was something none of the athletes had done before, and there were some unique challenges thrown up throughout.
Nancy
Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
Overhead squat 95 pounds, 15 reps
Another of the New Girls, Nancy is all about how well you can keep your composure at high intensity, when your heart rate is up.
Karen
150 wall ball shots for time
Karen has become something of a special challenge all of her own. Can you string 150 wall balls together unbroken? That’s the goal, although 75 and 75 is still damned intense.
Grace
30 clean and jerk for time
135 lb / 95 lb
Likewise with Grace, the top guys and girls are going unbroken for 30 reps. If you can hold on for two sets of 15, you’re in for a great score.
Kalsu
100 thrusters for time (135 lb / 95 lb)
5 burpees on the minute, every minute until completion
Some people call Kalsu the most difficult CrossFit WOD there is, and there’s no around it, you’re doing 100 thrusters as fast as you can, and if you’re resting, you’re doing burpees.
CrossFit Open WOD 17.4
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:
55 deadlifts, 225 lb.
55 wall-ball shots, 20-lb. ball to 10-ft. target
55-calorie row
55 handstand push-ups
This is a repeat from 2016, and people enjoyed it because everyone had something to aim for. A few more handstand push-ups or a few more calories on the rower.
Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double unders
Sit-ups
She’s not the most glamorous of girls, but as one of the ultimate 5-minute hotel WODs, we couldn’t leave out Annie.
Diane
21-15-9
Deadlift (225 lb / 115 lb)
Handstand push-ups
Dan Bailey famously completed Diane in a little over 01:30, proving that this is totally a sprint workout. If you’re willing to go for it, this can be a super fun WOD.
CrossFit Open WOD 13.1
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible
17 minutes cap
One of the earlier Open WODs paired two movements which took a lot of people by surprise. Classic push and pull, but with plenty of lungs and technique to contend with.
2015 Regionals event 2
Tommy V
21 thrusters
12 rope climb
15 thrusters
9 rope climb
9 thrusters
6 rope climb
115 lb / 75 lb
One of the few time we’ve seen a hero WOD at Regionals, Tommy V was cool to watch just to see how the athletes paced out their reps.
Isabel
30 snatch for time
135 lb / 95 lb
Just like Grace, if you can complete Isabel without putting the bar down, you’re immortal.
2015 Regionals event 3
1 mile run
50 overhead squats
100 GHDs
150 double unders
50 sumo deadlift high pulls
100 box jump overs
Few events in the history of Regionals have fired up the crowd like this one. When athletes reached the box jump overs and started racing full-on, it was like the Games final had arrived early.
2014 Regionals event 5
10 rounds
1 legless rope climb
200m sprint
This one doesn’t sound like much, but it had athletes failing all over the place. A tough challenge, for sure.
Nicole
Run 400 meters
Max rep Pull-ups (unbroken)
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.
Note number of pull-ups completed for each round.
Our final choice for the 20 coolest CrossFit WODs in the world is Nicole, because it’s simple, and like every great CrossFit WOD, the biggest limiting factor, is your own ability. Don’t want to run? Keep doing pull-ups.
Those are our picks, and if you’re going to give a try, pick up a Fire 2.0 and some intense hand repair balm in the Velites online store and get moving.Picture: Edgewater CrossFit

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