The 11 Greatest CrossFit Team Workouts

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You probably walked into a CrossFit “box” on your first day and were immediately greeted by a number of sweaty, yet smiling faces.

From there, you were partnered up with the scariest-looking gentle giants in existence and “conscripted” onto their team for the WOD. You could barely clean the almost empty barbell, but you just had to give it your all for these guys you met literally 30 minutes ago.

…and you probably experience this all over again a few times a week ever since then (well…that is…until you started working out in your garage!)

crossfit team workouts

We all love to throw down during one of the best CrossFit team workouts and there is just something about working as a group that kicks us into hyperdrive. Considering that, as the CrossFit Level 1 manual says, “…that men will die for points”, just think about what they’ll do to win when they’re dying for points as part of a team!

Without further ado, we present to you the greatest CrossFit team workouts of all time!

The 11 Greatest Crossfit Team Workouts

DT-ish

Equipment: Kettlebells, barbell, bumper plates, Concept2 rower

If you like DT, you’ll love doing it with two of your best friends!

In this case, you get a little bit of a “break” in the weights and one could argue that the kettlebell swings are much easier than the sticking point for most people (me!): the hang cleans. However, the kettlebell thrusters are no joke and even if you’re the partner getting to “rest”, you’re still essentially doing a max calorie row.

Truly, “no rest for the wicked” with this one!

Triple Trick or Treat

Equipment: Concept2 rower, Assault Bike, ski erg, dumbbells, climbing rope

Hopefully, each of your team members has a preferred erg machine that they don’t mind busting out 45 sprint calories on.

They do?! Congratulations; now you get to focus your worries on performing some hard dual dumbbell movements!

So you’ll get a short break on the rope (unless you’re the climber designated to perform the vast majority of these, but otherwise, this one is hard and fast).

Babieca y El Cid

Equipment: Dumbbells, Assault Bike

Welcome to Spain!

I can assure you it isn’t too important that you can understand the name of this one; just be aware that there is a bit more strategy involve here than in some of the others.

Designed for 2 male team members and one female team member, you’ll likely want your lone woman to handle the 25-pound dumbbell (unless she happens to be Emma Lawson or something). I would also suggest that she completes that Assault Bike cals first so she’ll have a bit more time to rest before the synchronized burpees.

I’m probably not giving your team’s female representative enough credit, though. After all, my wife is a better CrossFitter than I am!

Fight for the Throne

Equipment: Jump ropes, kettlebells, dumbbells, Assault Bike

With the majority of CrossFit team workouts being much more confusing to follow than they need to be, sometimes you just want to shut your brain off and do a classic “relay” format.

In this one, each team member will do a bit more work than they might in a more traditional, continuous working team event, but man will they be able to sprint through these. Nothing is more exciting than watching each team member absolutely sell out on the Assault Bike to finish things off each round!

Sync up and Squat

***Those squat snatches should read 115 for women***

Equipment: Pull-up bar/rack, gymnastics rings, barbell, bumper plates

The first of two straight Wodapalooza entries on this list, the rather straightforward rep scheme and…somewhat manageable weights should allow you to move quickly through this one. The best part? One person is always completely resting.

If these weights still seem a little too heavy, feel free to drop them 10-15 pounds for women and 20-25 pounds for men. I promise you’ll still be in for a heck of a workout!

The Kitchen Sync – A

Equipment: Pull-up bar/rack, plyo boxes, dumbbells, wall balls

As promised, the second of the 2023 Wodapalooza WODs to make an entry on this CrossFit team workouts list. Unlike the previous workout, this one is a little more involved and you’ll want to think a bit more about how you intend to split the reps up!

Athletes 1 and 3 have continuous work while the round that Athlete 2 gets to sit out is arguably the “easiest” (if you’ve been working on your dumbbell bench press reps like you were told to!) However, if someone on your team doesn’t have the best handstand walk, the choice should be pretty easy here.

Again, if those dumbbell weights look a little heavy (or the wall ball shots, for that matter), there is no shame in dropping them down a bit!

The Same, but Different

Equipment: Wall balls, barbell, bumper plates

Another one of the relay-style CrossFit team workouts…but with a twist. The question you have to ask yourself: do I prefer to break up my work or would I prefer to just barrel through each exercise?

(make sure to ask your teammates, too…their opinions count!)

I know I’d prefer to be the guy to go last and just try to ball out on these movements as quickly as possible in big chunks. That being said, my snatch grip dies fast from the hang so I’d probably be better breaking this one up, anyways!

2017 Rider’s Throwdown WOD 1

Equipment: Assault Bike, worm, pull-up bar/rack

This picture pretty much says it all about my experience with this WOD.

Truth be told, we didn’t even make it to the pull-up bar (there was a 10-minute time cap…don’t feel like you need to include one in your workout, though!) The worm is no joke!

That being said, the teams that did pretty well had developed a pretty good cadence on the worm and didn’t overly fatigue themselves on the Assault Bike (like we did). Be like them…not like my team!

Moreno

Equipment: Assault Bike, air runner, barbell, bumper plates, jump ropes

Although this is another one of the relay-style CrossFit team workouts, none of the movements are particularly “easy” and it simply doesn’t make sense to break any of the movements at some random interval (i.e. the 12th Assault Bike cal, the 43 double-under). As such, I would suggest setting round numbers for these to allow each team member to enjoy an equal work-rest ratio.

I can assure you, nothing will feel better than finishing up your 100-meter sprint, knowing that you get to rest up while your teammates complete their runs.

nothing

Regulators

Equipment: Pull-up bar/rack, wall ball

I find it hard to believe that Warren G ever completed a workout like this one (and Nate Dogg, R.I.P. certainly didn’t!). Nevertheless, G-funk (“…where rhythm is life and life is rhythm…”) has provided us with one of the spiciest CrossFit team workouts on this list.

…and yeah…you read that right; you have to walk a mile carrying your partner! Now, I would suggest pacing yourself on these and adopting a “carry Rudy off the football field after jumping offsides and sacking the nerd quarterback” approach. This will more evenly distribute the weight and will not be overly taxing on any team member (unless, of course, the guy you’re carrying is yuge).

That being said, if you take this slower approach, then you really have to ball out on burpee pull-ups and heavy wall ball shots. I suggest maintaining a strict 5-5-5 or 10-10-10 cadence rep split on these so each member can sprint when it’s their turn.

Renee

Equipment: Wall ball, barbell, bumper plates, Assault Bike

My sister happens to be named Renee and this final entry on the list of the top CrossFit team workouts appears to be as annoying as she is.

(just kidding…that’s mean! My Renee is more of a “Fran” level of annoying!)

Anyways, working that row in is the real tricky part and, as annoying (there’s that word again…) as it sounds, I suggest getting this out of the way for each team member ASAP. Nothing would be worse than getting to the last 20 minutes of this and each member being forced to row a 7-minute 2K in order for the team’s score to count!

(that was while I was fresh!)

Just get the row finished and enjoy the rest of the workout. If everyone is done with the row by the ~25-minute mark, you get to split the remaining work up between all three team members to finish things off.

Go Assemble your Team…Now!

We tried to include something for athletes and teams of all levels here. Don’t feel like you have to do those Wodapalooza workouts, but I can assure you, there are a lot of…”interesting” people you’ll meet if you ever find yourself competing at that event…

Teamwork does make the dream work…whatever dreams you might have!

CrossFit team workouts can be especially beneficial for those of us who train alone 95 percent of the time (or more!) Throwing down with your friends brings out the best and you and I don’t doubt you’d hit a PR of some type, if nothing else, just because one of your teammates looked at you sceptically!

You just gotta prove him wrong, right?

Okay…I get that team WODs aren’t for everyone (at least not all the time) and there are plenty of times you’d rather experience more focused and solemn suffering. If this is you, check out our list of the top CrossFit Hero WODs. No teams or partners are (usually) necessary; come with an appreciation of those who gave it all.

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AUTHOR

Tom, CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, ISSA-CPT, PN1-NC, DPA, CAPM has been CrossFitting for over 10 years. He has participated in a number of team and individual CrossFit competitions across Europe and the United States. He was the 2012 Chick-fil-A Race Series champion (North Georgia Circuit) and has put together a few gnarly garage and basement gyms in his time!

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