Fight Gone Bad: Tips & Tricks to Achieving 400/300 Reps
Fight Gone Bad is arguably the most challenging CrossFit workout. Limited only by your own effort each minute, the lactic acid, high heart rate and quick pace of these exercises certainly make it one of the most exhausting. In this post, we will discuss some tips and tricks that we've picked up over the years to help athletes earn the 400/300 mark, and how you can set goals for your next attempt! Coach Jeff and Coach Mitchell from Friendship Fitness & Nutrition are here to get you set up for success today in the video below -- Enjoy!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3Ub5wBMWWg&feature=youtu.be
Overview --
Fight Gone Bad is a 3-round workout with 5 exercises, and one rest station. Each movement is done for 1-minute, and your goal is to score as many reps as possible in each minute. In total, the workout lasts 17-minutes, with two of those minutes being rest. Our hope with this post is to help you strategize, set goals and achieve those goals during this fun, classic benchmark workout.Initial goal -- 300/200 Reps:
The first goal in an athletes attempt at FGB is to achieve 300 reps for men, 200 reps for women. I would recommend if this is your first time doing FGB and you scale wallballs, or barbell movements frequently, to use an empty barbell and a 10lb Wallball and aim for these rep numbers. Once you achieve a 300/200 score scaled, move up to the RX version and work towards these numbers. Make no mistake, 300/200 is a VERY hard effort that you will have to earn.
2nd-4th attempt Goal -- 350/250 reps OR 5-10% improvement:
If you've already done FGB in the past, you should be aiming to achieve an improved score. Typically a 5-10% improvement is a good goal to shoot for (don't assume you're going to earn 50 more reps!), or if you've achieved your 300/200 mark, your next tier up is 350/250.
Elite Goal -- 400/300 reps:
Some athletes with a great engine and strong mental push can achieve north of 400/300 reps, some even over 450, and it's been rumored that Mikko Salo did over 500 reps in the past! This effort will take planning, precision and a solid training regimen leading up to it.
Maximizing reps & efficiency:
Wallballs: The Wallball starts each round so it is important not to over-fatigue ourselves. Fan the shoulders out and relax them in between reps (seen in video), do not just hold them overhead waiting for the ball. Breathe and plan to transition with about 8-10 seconds to spare over to the SDHP. You should not break more than once -- If you struggle with WB plan on a 12-10 split.
SDHP: This is a very fast movement, and if you're a strong puller you should score well on this. Use your posterior chain and hip power to move the bar (not your arms!), and ensure you place the bar down in a perfect position when taking a break. Do not move far away from the bar during breaks, a quick 4-6 second rest, then begin doing reps again. If you're fatigued in the later rounds, doing quick reps of 5, with a short break will be best.
Box Jumps: Pick your style, know your strengths! If you never rebound your box jumps, DO NOT start today. Step-down box jumps at a good pace will still earn you between 20-25 reps each minute, which is good enough to score highly on this workout. Your next step up is a jump down, land and fire back up quickly, this will earn you 22-30 reps. Lastly rebounding is the fastest, but will definitely toss your heart rate up through the roof as it earns you 30+ reps. I also caution that rebounding box jumps are not a safe exercise at this rep range.
Push Press: In my opinion, the Push Press is where you should earn your reps. It is the fastest cycling exercise, and the shortest range of motion you will have in the workout. Reps go fast, so it is IMPORTANT to breathe while pumping these out. Whatever you do, DO NOT drop the bar from overhead, you must set it down, no matter how tired you are. You can do 10, rest, 10, rest, 10 and still have time to transition if you set the bar down. I aim to get 40 reps in my first round if going for 400
Row: :20-:30s is all the time you want to spend on the rower. Get on quickly, do not worry about your feet, and begin to pull with mostly hip flexion & extension and your upper body. Knock out 8-10 cals and then begin your rest break early. The extra 5-10 reps that could be earned on that back end are not as valuable as the additional rest in the first two rounds. When you get to the final round, empty the tank (obviously).
Rest: You should set yourself up to have ~1:20-1:30 of rest. Get a small drink of water, a little chalk, and breathe deeply. Be standing tall at the WB ready to go as the countdown begins.
Last points:
Have someone to help you count this workout. We like to set up with a clipboard or whiteboard and have a bracket for each of the rounds. Then participants can shout out their scores for each movement to the counter, and log that way, snap a photo at the end and log it in BTWB so you can plan for your next attempt! Have fun, FGB is a great workout and a fun challenge to continue progressing in for the future.
Have your counter RESET your rower each round as you approach it. The monitors typically will stay on for :30s-1:00 -- So have them do it whenever you rest on a Push Press set. If you're solo, during a Push Press break, flip it on and get it ready!
Check out our Dublin, Ohio Gym Benchmark CrossFit Class or Remote Coaching for work on Functional Bodybuilding with a Friendship Coach.