The workout
How Barbara works
Barbara is done for time: all rounds and reps as fast as possible, in the order given. Your score is the time to your last rep.
Barbara is one of the Girls. The Girls are the best-known benchmark workouts in functional fitness and come from CrossFit® training. Short, with just a few movements, and built so you can repeat them every few months and read your progress straight off the clock.
What's a good Barbara time?
The standards apply to Rx, meaning with the prescribed weights and no scaling. They're a rough reference, not statistics across all athletes. For women, times are set about 10% longer and rounds about 10% lower.
| Level | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Elite | up to 27:00 | up to 29:40 |
| Advanced | up to 31:00 | up to 34:05 |
| Intermediate | up to 36:00 | up to 39:35 |
| Beginner | up to 43:00 | up to 47:20 |
| Novice | over 43:00 | over 47:20 |
Tips for Barbara
A long workout. Start slower than feels right and break high-rep movements into small, even sets from the very beginning. Staying hydrated and breathing steadily pay off here.
How to scale Barbara
If part of it is still too hard, scale it so the workout keeps its pace and intended stimulus. Log it as "Scaled". Possible options:
- Pull-up: Banded pull-up; Jumping Pull-up from a box
- Push-up: Push-up with hands on a box; Push-up on your knees
- Sit-up: Crunch; Sit-up with feet anchored
- Air Squat: Squat to a box; Squat holding on to a rack