Linda - women’s opinions?

[mixpanema]

Today was Linda (CAP programming). For reference, this one is 10-9-8-…-1 of deadlift at 1.5xBW, bench press at 1xBW, and squat clean at 0.75xBW.

I’m curious how women feel about this one. First, a man and a woman who weigh the same and are at similar fitness levels are going to have a big strength difference. Second, bench is hard for many women - I Rx’ed the cleans, but I feel like the bench is totally unattainable. For many women, benching bodyweight is a huge accomplishment, so to see 55 BW reps prescribed is daunting.

Below are my stats and what I did as a 150# woman with above-average strength. I finished in 25:11. Spoiler: turns out that I ended up doing 60-something% of 1RM across the board.

Deadlift

1RM: 285#

Rx: 225#

Today: 195#

At 79% of max, Rx would have been extremely challenging, but I supposed I would have eventually finished given lots of time. It would have been singles, and not “quick singles”. I feel like I can eventually get to Rx here. Today’s 68% was challenging but doable.

Bench Press

1RM: 165# (but I haven’t hit that in a minute)

Rx: 150#

Today: 105#

At 91% of max, Rx isn’t happening for that many reps. Especially on bench, where once you hit that wall, you’re dead in the water. Rx feels very far away. Today’s 64% worked well.

Squat Clean

1RM: 175#

Rx: 112.5#

Today: 110# (F it, calling this Rx!)

At 63% of max, these are fine! I did quick singles. Definitely a gasser (I was sucking wind here), but strength-wise these were no issue.

 

[alaric]

@mixpanema Not a lady, but I will say doing 55 reps at BW of bench is difficult for most men. I’d say the average, non-firebreathing, male cross-fitter probably has a max bench of somewhere between 200-250. So, you figure all these men probably weigh somewhere between 175-220, that’s a daunting task.

 

[cgmezmer]

@alaric So I’m 185# male, but was a power lifter prior to CrossFit so I actually love Linda. Breaking it down the way OP did:

Bench: Max - 305 // RX - 185 // 61%

Dead: Max - 415 // RX - 275 // 67%

Squat Clean: Max - 235 // RX - 140 // 60%

I agree though, CrossFit severely under practices Bench press, then asks for a pretty hefty workload in workouts like this. My wife’s 1RM on Bench is her BW, so she’d absolutely have to scale this one too.

 

[xrt]

@cgmezmer I run a Powerlifting club at a CrossFit gym. We only program Linda for the PL club for exactly the reason you mentioned.

 

[alaric]

@cgmezmer You’re definitely above average. I think for most, completing Linda as RX is a huge accomplishment.