The Annie Workout of the Day may be a benchmark workout for CrossFit athletes.

In 2003, CrossFit founder Greg Glassman developed a series of workouts meant to check the bounds of CrossFitters across the world. There are now nearly 30 of those intense workouts that test the strength, endurance, and agility of their triers — and they’re all named after girls.

Walk into any CrossFit gym and you’ll likely hear the names “Fran,” “Helen,” “Grace,” and “Diane” tossed around. It’s common CrossFit lingo, and therefore the athletes are probably talking about their best scores or what proportion the workout hurt.

One popular girl WoD, “Annie,” is known as after Annie Sakamoto, one of the primary trainers at the first-ever CrossFit gym in Santa Cruz, California. Sakamoto played a crucial role within the development of CrossFit, appearing within the CrossFit Games as a team member and individual athlete multiple times.

Her namesake workout was first posted on the CrossFit website because of the workout of the day (WoD) on September 7, 2005, and it’s been a staple in CrossFit gyms ever since.

Annie is completed as follows:


  • 50-40-30-20-10 double-unders
  • 50-40-30-20-10 abmat sit-ups

How to do the Annie WoD
Score: Annie is scored “for time,” which suggests you complete the WoD as fast as possible.
Goal times: 10-12 minutes for beginners; 8-10 minutes for intermediate athletes; 7-8 minutes for advanced athletes; but 6 minutes for elite athletes.
Equipment Needed: Jump rope an abmat.
Level: Annie is suitable for all fitness levels, but some athletes may struggle with the jump rope (double unders) portion.

Benefits

A relatively simple workout in terms of rep scheme, Annie combines a complicated skill with an easy core exercise to challenge your endurance and agility.

Core Strength

All in all, Annie includes 150 sit-ups, a powerful number for any athlete to finish.

Speed

This Girls WoD is supposed to be quick — extremely quick. how briskly are you able to complete 300 total reps? For elite athletes, 50 double-unders takes 30 seconds or less and 50 sit-ups might take 60 seconds. The more you practice Annie, the faster you’ll get.

Endurance

Because this workout is so quick, it's going to not appear to be Annie challenges your endurance. But don’t be fooled: Double-under leave even the foremost elite athletes in need of breath, and 150 sit-ups may be a true test of muscular endurance within the core.

Agility

Agility is defined because the ability to maneuver quickly and simply. Attributes related to agility include coordination, alertness, dexterity, gracefulness, and sharpness. Double-unders require incredible agility to perform correctly, and you'll expect to become better at this skill whenever you complete Annie.

Step-by-Step Instructions

 Now that you simply know the history behind Annie and the way it can improve your health and fitness, it’s time to offer this benchmark WoD ago. Here’s the way to found out and obtain a score you’ll be pleased with.

Equipment and found out

For the Annie WoD, you’ll need a jump rope and an abmat. Any jump rope will do, as long as it’s suited to your height and you are feeling comfortable with it. Most CrossFit gyms stock many ab mats, which are small floor pads that mimic the curvature of your spine. Ab mats assist you reach a full range of motion within the sit-up and reduce the danger of injury to your spine and tailbone.

How to do abmat situps

When done correctly, abmat sit-ups are an incredibly safe and effective core exercise. This movement is analogous to an abdominal crunch, but abmat sit-ups involve a bigger range of motion to challenge your core muscles and adaptability . to try to an abmat sit-up, follow these steps:


  1. Start by sitting on the ground with the bottoms of your feet touching one another (knees pointing to the sides).
  2. Lie back, using the abmat to support your lumbar spine, and touch your hands to the ground behind your head.
  3. Use your abdominal muscles to lift your torso copy into the seated position.
  4. Continue leaning forward: The rep is complete once you touch your hands to your feet.


How to do double-unders

All CrossFitters can agree on one thing: Double-unders aren't easy to find out. This advanced skill involves swinging the rope twice under your feet during one jump, instead of the standard one swing per one jump.

Double-under require a couple of key components to be successful:


  1. A slightly higher jump
  2. Quick wrist movements
  3. Arms on the brink of body
  4. Nearly straight arms and legs (see “Common Mistakes” below)


Double-under tip: Get your jump rope! Your gym probably has enough for everybody, but getting your means you practice with an equivalent rope length, width, and handles whenever, which suggests you'll become easier more quickly.

Common Mistakes

To get your best Annie time yet — or to blow your first attempt out of the water — avoid these common Annie mistakes.

Failure to warm up properly

You should warm-up before any workout, especially a troublesome one sort of a Girls WoD. Warming up will prime your body for exercise, ensuring it’s ready for the extreme stimulus it’s close to receive. Spend a couple of minutes on a general warm-up and follow with a 10-minute specific warm-up (more thereon under Safety and Precautions below).

Abmat sit-up technique mistakes

CrossFit uses standards for a few movements to make sure all athletes complete workouts within the same way. Sit-ups are one among those movements with standards: confirm you don’t get a “no rep” by avoiding these common mistakes.

Hands don’t touch the ground overhead: an accurate abmat sit-up involves a full range of motion of the abdomen, which suggests your shoulders should touch the ground and your arms should reach overhead to the touch the ground behind you. during a competition, you would possibly get a “no rep” if you don’t bring your hands all the thanks to the ground.

Hands don’t touch the feet: Similarly, the full range of motion within the abmat sit-up also involves reaching your hands to your feet. This standard is in situ to discourage athletes from only sitting halfway or 1 / 4 of the high.

Double-under technique mistakes

Double-unders take months, if not years, to perfect. Most CrossFit athletes are conversant in the sting of plastic jump ropes on their skin during the training phase — temporary red marks or welts become a sort of badge of honor, sort of a silent way of claiming, “Hey, I’m getting there!”

While learning double-unders, many of us commit these common mistakes.

The “donkey kick”: this happens when athletes excessively bend their knees during the jump. During double-unders, your knees should remain only slightly bent to soak up shock. Kicking your lower leg up behind you presents the danger of getting the jump rope caught on your foot, reducing your efficiency, and ending up with one among those infamous red jump rope welts.

Arms too far away from the body: A key component of efficient double-under? Keeping your arms on the brink of your body. Often, athletes think they have to swing their entire arms to get more force with the rope, but the other is true. Good double-unders involve a mild, but fast, flick of the wrists. Your elbows should remain on the brink of your torso.

Modifications and Variations

 Every CrossFit workout is modifiable. If you can’t complete the 50-40-30-20-10 reps of double-unders and sit-ups as prescribed, modify it in a way that suits your needs and fitness level. Here are a couple of ways to switch Annie for fitness level, pregnancy, and injuries.

Single Unders

The double-under may be a tough skill to learn: It takes most CrossFitters a minimum of six months to at least one year to become proficient, and that’s with diligent practice. If you can’t do double-unders yet, do single-unders (regular jump roping) instead. For benchmark workouts just like the Girls, the rep count usually remains an equivalent. However, some CrossFit coaches might encourage you to double the reps to urge an equivalent cardiovascular stimulus. If that’s the case, you’d complete Annie as follows:


  • 100-80-60-40-20: single-unders
  • 50-40-30-20-10-: abmat sit-ups

Reduced Reps

If you’re just starting at CrossFit or exercising generally, the rep scheme for Annie could be an excessive amount of. you'll reduce the reps however you wish (or however your coach recommends), but here are two popular reduced versions:


  • Cut out the round of 50: 40-30-20-10, double-unders (or single-unders) and sit-ups
  • Halve the rep scheme: 25-20-15-10-5, double-unders (or single-unders) and sit-ups

Modifications for Pregnancy

For some women, jumping rope and sit-ups are two challenging movements during pregnancy. If you’re pregnant and feel uncomfortable with either of those movements, try these modifications.

Instead of double-unders:

Single unders. If you'll do double-unders, but find that they create you are feeling uncomfortable during pregnancy, try doing single-unders, which are much gentler.

Plate hops. employing a thin bumper plate (10 or 15 pounds), hop and touch your toes to the plate. Hop back to the bottom for one complete rep.

Cycling. Most CrossFit gyms have a minimum of one wind-powered (motorless) stationary bike. Cycle for as many seconds as there are reps. as an example, cycle for 50 seconds for the round of fifty double-unders.

Instead of sit-ups:

Plank hold. Hold one second for every rep. for instance, 30 sit-ups equals a 30-second plank.

Cat and cow. This gentle yoga pose (Chakravakasana) works your abdominal and back muscles. Do an equivalent number of reps as you'd sit-ups.

Modifications for Injuries

Even with a current injury or pre-existing injury that limits range of motion, most of the people can complete some version of Annie. Neither jumping rope nor sit-ups require any ranges of motion that typically aggravate injuries (like pressing your arms overhead or squatting), but make certain to speak together with your coach about modifications if you are feeling any pain doing either of the movements.

Variations of Annie

“Annie on the Run” or “Rannie”: a well-liked variation of Annie, this WoD adds a 400-meter run to the top of each round, therefore the workout is completed like this:


  • 50 double-unders - 50 sit-ups - 400m run
  • 40 double-unders - 40 sit-ups - 400m run
  • 30 double-unders - 30 sit-ups - 400m run
  • 20 double-unders - 20 sit-ups - 400m run
  • 10 double-unders - 10 sit-ups - 400m run

A 400-meter run can take anywhere between 90 seconds and three minutes, counting on each athlete’s speed and endurance, so expect “Rannie” to require significantly longer than the first Annie.

Toes-to-bar Annie: This variation of Annie follows an equivalent rep scheme because the original Annie, but it replaces sit-ups with toes-to-bar. Toes-to-bar is a complicated movement that needs proficiency within the kip, good grip strength, flexibility, and a robust core. Toes-to-bar involves hanging from a pull-up bar or rig and flexing your hips to bring your toes all the thanks to the bar that you simply are holding.

Safety and Precautions

You should take precautions before any workout, especially one where you’re getting to give an all-out effort. Before completing Annie, confirm you cross these things off your pre-workout checklist.

Do a general warm-up

A general warm-up primes your body for exercise by increasing blood flow to your muscles, slightly elevating the guts rate, and loosening up your joints. A general warm-up should last a minimum of five minutes, but ideally 10 to fifteen minutes. Walking, jogging, cycling, jumping rope, rowing, or other monostructural movements are fantastic for warming up, as are dynamic stretches to relax your major joints.

Do a selected warm-up

A specific warm-up involves exercises that mimic the movements you’ll do during the workout and have interaction with the muscles you’ll need permanent performance. For Annie, this will include practice reps of single-unders or double-unders, calf raises, and straightforward core exercises.

Hydrate and eat before

To get your best score on Annie, it’s important to hydrate and fuel your body before the workout. If you would like to eat a full meal before understanding, do so two to 3 hours beforehand. you'll eat snacks or a little meal 30 to an hour before understanding. Carbohydrates are your body’s main source of fuel, so make certain to incorporate some in your pre-workout fuel!

Wear the proper shoes

Annie involves 150 reps of jumping rope. If you don’t wear proper shoes, your feet, ankles, calves, and knees might combat unnecessary wear and tear. Good shoes for jumping rope would have adequate cushioning and suit your feet snugly. confirm to lace tightly to avoid tripping or getting the rope caught on your shoe!

Cool Down

The calm down is perhaps the foremost overlooked and under-appreciated aspect of fitness. many of us complete an intense workout then rush away to satisfy other obligations. But taking just five to 10 minutes after a WoD can prevent an excellent deal of soreness. Try these stretching recommendations post-Annie:


  • Cobra
  • Wheel pose
  • Anterior shoulder stretch
  • Cross-body shoulder stretch