I Followed Rich Froning’s CrossFit Workouts for a Month: Can You Keep Up with the Fittest Man on Earth?

Rich Froning Jr. won four consecutive CrossFit Games (2011-14) as an individual and then led his team to an unprecedented six championships (2015-16, 2018-19, 2021-22) before retiring from competition.

While I have no aspiration to compete in CrossFit, I wanted to see what it’s like to train like a champion, so for the past month, I followed Froning’s CrossFit workouts, and let me tell you — they were no joke.

Rich Froning’s CrossFit Workouts — What I Did For a Month

Froning has discussed his training on multiple occasions, making my job super easy. All I had to do was check out his workouts and copy them for a month — which is precisely what I did.

Here’s everything I did for the past 30 days — both in the morning and the afternoon:

Monday Morning & Wednesday Afternoon

This was an intense workout. It’s only about 30 minutes long (excluding rest), but it’ll tire you out. I would do it Monday morning and Wednesday afternoon, as I wanted to get two workouts in, as that’s how Froning trained.

You start with power cleans. I performed them with 130 pounds, but you can pick whichever weight feels right for you. The first few rounds feel deceptively easy, but as soon as you start closing in on the tenth round, you realize how taxing this movement is. Those three reps felt like 30 by the final round.

After resting for five minutes, I did five minutes of back-to-back bodyweight exercises. I started with five, 10, and 15 reps, but as I got increasingly tired, the reps started dropping.

Finally, I took another five-minute rest to lower my heart rate and finished the workout with a wall ball drop set.

Wednesday Morning & Friday Afternoon

Here, we have another 45-minute grueling workout.

Once again, I started the session with 130-pound power cleans followed by a five-minute rest. What followed was a 10-minute session that wrecked my upper body, especially my shoulders.

Doing handstand push-ups after power cleans and following them up with a snatch is not something I’d recommend doing unless you’re quite experienced. It is very demanding on your delts, it causes a ton of systemic fatigue, and about three to four minutes in, you’ll want to stop. I know I did.

To finish things off, I did box jumps with a weighted vest to work on my lower body explosiveness. The box was 30 inches tall.

I would do this exact workout on Friday, usually around 5 p.m.

Friday Morning & Monday Afternoon

The final morning workout of the week was the shortest one, but don’t let that fool you — it was equally as demanding as the other two.

The first portion of the workout is the circuit, which you must complete in under seven minutes. Froning did his in about four minutes and 30 seconds. 

I usually completed the circuit in about six minutes, which I was super pleased with, considering this was a back-to-back-to-back, no-rest circuit. The only rest between “sets” you get is the time between exercises, which is a few seconds at most.

After resting for five minutes, I’d go into three rounds of back-to-back drop set touch-and-go deadlifts and overhead squats to finish the workout. Load-wise, I went with 150 pounds for the deadlift and 110 for the squat.

I would be super tired after this workout, but I’d still have enough juice in me to train in the afternoon.

This is also the second daily workout I’d do on Mondays.

What I Noticed After a Month Of Rich Froning’s CrossFit Workout

Apart from the judgmental looks for performing kipping pull-ups in the gym, I noticed more than a few things after a month of Froning’s CrossFit workouts.

CrossFit Requires a Ton of Focus

While I used to do some rope jumping when I was training like a kickboxer, I rarely did double-unders and never jumped rope immediately after finishing another exercise. The level of coordination, strength, endurance, and focus you need to jump rope for five to six minutes into a circuit is astounding.

While I wasn’t struggling too much with weightlifting, I often hit myself in the shin or the back of my neck during the first few sessions. I would lose focus for a second, just enough to push my arms to the side and shorten the rope.

You also need to stay super-focused while performing weightlifting exercises. Doing power cleans or overhead squats without minding your form is a recipe for disaster. If you drift away for only a second, you could loosen your shoulders and have the barbell throw you back.

It Is Deceptively Hard

While I was never under the impression that CrossFit is easy, I could honestly say I wasn’t expecting it to be this hard.

I have done interval training and HIIT numerous times, but none felt as difficult and taxing on my whole body as Froning’s workouts. Whether it’s the subtle tweaks to classic exercises, the relentless intensity, or likely a combination of both, Froning’s workouts are in a league of their own.

For example, a kipping pull-up is much easier on your lats and arms than a regular, strict-form pull-up. However, mastering the kipping pull-up form takes time and a very strong core. Without a strong core, you’d be flailing around on the bar without performing a single rep. Couple that up with the fact that you’re doing 10–15 reps in a matter of 25–35 seconds, and it quickly becomes clear why CrossFit is so popular and delivers consistent results.

It’s the Best Combo of Strength and Cardio Work

Froning’s workouts are hands down the best combination of strength and cardio work I’ve ever done. The blend of high-intensity circuits, strength exercises, and functional movements hit nearly every muscle group while pushing my cardiovascular system to its limits.

The workouts weren’t about targeting specific muscle groups or training for hypertrophy but about enhancing overall strength, endurance, and stamina. Every time I finished the workout, I was completely drained, and my heart rate was above 150, which has never happened with regular strength training.

Mental Toughness is Key

I know a lot of people who have started CrossFit and quit shortly after, and I think I now know why.

One of the biggest eye-openers from this month was the mental resilience required to complete these workouts. CrossFit isn’t just physically demanding — it challenges you mentally, too. 

There were numerous times during the sessions when I wanted to quit and call it a day. Or at least cheat a little, skip a few reps, or finish a minute early. I didn’t, but I really wanted to during those circuits, so the truth is, pushing through those moments required a lot of mental strength and determination.

Month of Rich Froning’s CrossFit Workouts — Did It Yield Results?

If you’re only focused on muscle-building, then no, a month of Froning-style CrossFit training didn’t yield results. However, when it comes to strength, endurance, and cardiovascular fitness, I have definitely improved.

The improvement isn’t massive, of course. After all, I’ve been consistently training for years, so a month of CrossFit training couldn’t possibly transform me, but it did help — mainly in the areas I’ve neglected over the years.

I’ve Become Noticeably Stronger

Push presses and handstand push-ups have strengthened my shoulders. How? I’ve mostly limited my shoulder workouts to lateral raises and face pulls (and an occasional military press), so I’ve lost quite a bit of explosive power in my anterior delts. Now that I have regained some of that power, I’m absolutely certain push presses and military presses will return to my regular routine. 

I also feel a bit stronger. I know that’s hard to quantify, but I feel stronger. It’s not easy to describe, but when I started with cleans, snatches, and overhead presses, I felt a bit wobbly. That’s gone now.

My Stamina Improved Tremendously

My stamina improved quite a bit. I was always quite resilient and wouldn’t get fatigued quickly, mostly because of years on the tennis court, but this was something different. Every CrossFit workout I did felt like a 10-minute sprint, so if there’s one thing you’ll notice if you, too, decide to hop on the Froning’s program, this is the thing.

I was just in the gym this morning and wanted to do my old assault bike routine. I sat down and did the same Tabata intervals I usually do, and once I was done, I genuinely felt like I had a few more rounds in me, even though I had not used an assault bike in the past month.

Is Rich Froning’s CrossFit Workout Adaptable?

If you look at this workout and think a beginner could never do it — you’d be wrong. The beauty of Froning’s workout is that you can scale it to your fitness level.

Take the pull-up, push press, and double-unders circuit, for example. That’s a grueling circuit that many can’t pull off in under seven minutes, let alone five like Froning did. However, with a few tweaks, even a beginner could complete it in a reasonable time. Here’s how:

1. Instead of doing kipping pull-ups, you do assisted pull-ups, either with a resistance band or a pull-up machine. 
2. If you can’t do a push-press that requires a degree of coordination, do a regular shoulder press and use a lighter weight. You can use only a barbell or even a pair of dumbbells.
3. Instead of double unders, do single unders. If you can’t do that, do jumping jacks.

Simply push yourself too close to failure and focus on the intensity during those few minutes, and you’ll be more than fine. (1) You’ll get stronger and more explosive, gain some muscle, undoubtedly tone your body, and lose weight.

On the other hand, if you’re a menace who finds these workouts easy, you can always add more weight to the bar or wear a weighted vest while doing pull-ups and double unders.

When asked why CrossFitters “look so jacked, even though they don’t do any real hypertrophy work,” Dr. Mike Israetel (Ph.D. in Sports Physiology) had this to say:

“If you do enough workload under tension, you will grow. CrossFitters do many front squats, snatches, handstand locks, push-ups, and all of their exercises are basically compound, full-body movements involving shoulders, hips, knees, and elbows. That’s the whole body! You would expect all their bodies to be jacked. And they are!”

Wrapping Up

One of the things that have dawned on me while I was doing a full month of CrossFit workouts is that combining CrossFit training with resistance training bodybuilders do is probably one of the best ideas if you’re someone looking to both look and feel good.

When you get caught up in resistance training and isolating every single muscle in your body, you lose track of the bigger picture. You get stiff, your range of motion suffers, you lose mobility, and soon enough, you train for looks, not performance. On the other hand, training like CrossFitters may leave you with a few underdeveloped muscles, but it’ll help you maximize your functionality.

So, why not combine the two? Train like Froning and lift weights for hypertrophy several times a week, and you’ll be golden. You’ll be strong and aesthetically appealing, and you’ll never have to worry about cardio training again!

References:

1. Santanielo N, Nóbrega SR, Scarpelli MC, Alvarez IF, Otoboni GB, Pintanel L, Libardi CA. Effect of resistance training to muscle failure vs non-failure on strength, hypertrophy and muscle architecture in trained individuals. Biol Sport. 2020 Dec;37(4):333-341. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2020.96317. Epub 2020 Jul 5. PMID: 33343066; PMCID: PMC7725035.

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