How to do CrossFit Workouts At Home

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CrossFit can be tough, but it’s the thrill of it that keeps us coming back time and time again.

It’s that feeling you get when you PR on your clean and jerk, the adrenaline rush after an intense AMRAP WOD, the daps you get from fellow CrossFitters after pushing yourself to the absolute brink; it’s why four million people worldwide still practice CrossFit on the reg.

You can’t simulate the same electrifying energy from your home gym essentials, but you sure as heck can set up the same WODs. As long as you have a timer handy, and a few other key pieces of equipment, you’ll be able to get in the same effective workout from the comfort of home.

We connected with CPT, CrossFit Level-1 Trainer, and GGR Staff Writer Amanda Capritto to find out what you need to perform CrossFit workouts at home. Check it out below!

RELATED: CrossFit Hero WODs

Equipment Needed for CrossFit Workouts At Home

It’s totally possible to put together a CrossFit workout at home that uses no equipment, but having a few pieces of gym equipment expands what you can accomplish at home.

Essential

Our essential equipment picks qualify for this category because they are effective and versatile while remaining inexpensive and low profile. These items will provide great value without breaking the bank or requiring loads of space.

Here are our essential picks:

A pull-up bar
Pair of the best dumbbells
One or two of the best kettlebells
A medicine ball
A jump rope
One of the best exercise mats

“A timer never hurts to have either,” says Amanda Capritto, CPT, CES, CNC, CF-L1. “Sure, you could use your phone to time your WODs, but having a timer that you can read from across a room helps immensely when you’re mid-WOD and trying to strategize in the moment.”

Ideal

You could skate by with just the above pieces of equipment and perform a ton of WODs, but purchasing a high-quality Olympic barbell and the best bumper plates will take your loadout to the next level.

Sure, you could perform weightlifting movements like deadlifts, squats, snatches, and more using a simple set of dumbbells, but having an actual barbell on hand unlocks so much more.

We recommend starting with the essentials but consider grabbing yourself a barbell and plates as you progress in your at-home CrossFit training.

Nice-to-Have

Do you have a big garage or basement, and you’re just dying to fill it with workout equipment?

You can’t go wrong buying a power rack or squat stand to up the ante, in that case. Having a power rack on hand opens the door for heavy lifts like back squats, front squats, push presses, and push jerks.

RELATED: Squat Stand vs. Power Rack

Adding a cardio machine, like a treadmill, rower, or assault bike, helps enhance the loadout too, enabling you to do virtually every CrossFit WOD without leaving your home gym.

CrossFit Workouts to Try At Home

Annie is essentially divided into five rounds. You start out performing 50 double-unders, followed by 50 sit-ups, followed by 40 double-unders, and so on. The goal is to complete all reps in the shortest possible time, taking little to no rest.

“You want to try to keep moving until all reps are complete,” says Amanda. “If you do have to rest, take very short periods. Take a few breaths, then pick it up and start chipping away again.”

Beginners can expect to take 10 to 12 minutes completing Annie, while seven to eight minutes is considered very good, and sub six minutes is elite.

Annie is ideal for home workouts because it only requires a jump rope to perform, although a cushy exercise mat will make the sit-ups more tolerable.

If double-unders are outside your skillset, doubling the number of reps and performing single rope jumps is a good substitute, but it will obviously affect your time. Alternatively, you could cut the number of reps in half for the double-unders and aim to use the time as double-under practice.

It can’t hurt, except when you inevitably whip yourself in the shins with the jump rope. Ouch!

“Rannie”

“Rannie” is a great CrossFit WOD to perform at home, too, because it is literally just the Annie WOD with a 400-meter run at the top of each round.

“Adding the 400-meter, or quarter-mile run, at the beginning of each round adds cardio to an already excellent workout,” says Amanda. “Plus, it helps you practice performing a skill movement like double-unders under fatigue, which is a great skill to have when the going gets tough!”

If you have a treadmill, that’s suitable. Otherwise, measure 200 meters outside and mark it off so that running out and back totals the 400 meters you’ll need each round.

Cindy

For those not “in the know,” AMRAP stands for “as many rounds as possible,” so Cindy will have you performing five pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats forever, or at least until the 20-minute timer runs out.

Cindy isn’t just a great at-home workout; it’s also a benchmark WOD that CrossFitters worldwide use to gauge their current fitness level. Scoring more than ten rounds during the 20-minute period is admirable, but scoring twenty or above is very impressive.

As with all WODs, there are modifications available if the Rx version is beyond your abilities.

“Swapping out the pull-ups in exchange for ring rows or inverted rows works,” says Amanda. “You can also trade regular push-ups for push-ups performed from your knees to make the volume more manageable.”

Since Cindy only requires bodyweight movements, it’s an easy WOD to perform even in your own living room!

Angie

Unfortunately, you must complete all required reps of one exercise before moving to the next when you pick Angie as your workout of the day. That means you’re stuck cranking out all one-hundred pull-ups before you can do a single push-up.

A good score for Angie is in the 25- to 35-minute range, while 15 to 25 is considered very good, and sub 14 minutes is pure insanity.

“The best way to tackle Angie is by breaking it up into smaller sets,” says Amanda. “Most people aren’t able to complete all one-hundred reps in one unbroken set. So, instead, try hitting sets of 10, 12, 15—whatever number you feel you can hit consistently until the reps are done.”

Death by…Anything

The beauty of the “Death by… Anything” WOD structure is that, well, you can choose anything to place at the center of the workout. For example, you could do Death by Burpees and endeavor to do one burpee in round one, two burpees in round two, and so on.

In case you’re wondering, EMOM is an acronym for “every minute on the minute.” So, the workout involves a running timer and continues until you can’t. You do one rep in round one, wait until the timer reads 1:00, then do two reps in round two—you get it.

What will eventually happen is that you’ll run out of time before the top of the next minute. Your score then becomes the total number of reps you successfully completed before you failed to complete a round. This score will vary depending on the exercise, as “Death by Air Squats” will be much easier than “Death by Thrusters” or “Death by Pull-Ups,” for example.

“Keep a slow and steady pace right out of the gate,” says Amanda. “If you rush in the beginning, you risk spiking your heart rate, which could complicate the later rounds when you need all the strength you can muster.”

21-15-9 Format

21-5-9 is another popular CrossFit WOD format that works exceedingly well at home. Again, you get your pick of what exercises to feature, typically a couplet of two movements, and perform them with a 21-15-9 rep scheme.

The most popular workout that uses this format is Fran:

You could definitely perform Fran at home if you happen to have a barbell (or even two dumbbells can work for the thrusters) and a pull-up bar.

Really, any set of bodyweight exercises or other at-home options work just as well. For example, you might choose doing a 21-15-9 couplet with, say, push-ups and box jumps. Or walking lunges and kettlebell swings. The sky’s the limit.

“I always try to combine two exercises that work antagonistic muscle pairs so you’re not burning out the same muscles with both movements,” says Amanda. “That’s why Fran works so well; you’re using your pushing muscles on the thrusters, then your pulling muscles for the pull-ups. It’s a match made in heaven!”

Respectfully, it seems more like a match made in hell.

Choose Your EMOM

Another smart way to structure your home CrossFit workouts is by adopting the EMOM structure. Organize the exercises so that you are performing some quota of reps every minute on the minute, and from there, the sky’s the limit.

You could, for example, endeavor to do 10 push-ups each round for as long as possible. You could do two exercises, like shooting for three handstand push-ups and six walking lunges each minute.

Or you can do an “every other” kind of split, like performing five heavy deadlifts in the even rounds and knocking out 20 mountain climbers during the odd rounds.

RELATED: How to Deadlift Heavier

The only limit is your imagination.

Chipper Workout

Are you familiar with chipper workouts? Here’s a hint—it has nothing to do with being chipper because you’ll probably feel the opposite by the time you’re through.

Chipper workouts involve large quotas of a handful of exercises. The goal is to chip away at one exercise until you’ve completed all reps, then move on to the next, lather, rinse, and repeat.

Here’s an example:

“Chipper workouts are most often about endurance,” says Amanda. “It’s more important to work at a pace you can sustain for the whole workout rather than go as hard as possible, red line, and then waste time catching your breath. Consistency is key.”

Running Interval Workouts

Running goes hand-in-hand with CrossFit. After all, running workouts are crucial to improving your VO₂ max, providing you with a powerful engine that will keep you moving and grooving through even the most intense WODs.

You could work short-distance runs into the WOD like this:

Or you could do longer distances, as is the case for the famous Memorial Day Murph WOD:

They are two distinctly different flavors, Helen and Murph. A decent Helen score will cost you between 10 and 15 minutes, while the Murph WOD will take you about an hour for the average person.

Oh, and one more thing about the Murph—the pros also wear 14- to 20-pound weighted vests during this WOD in honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, after whom the WOD is named.

Utilize CrossFit Mainsite

With a little inspiration and experience, it’s not too tough to craft an effective CrossFit workout designed to be done at home, but it still helps to have guidance when structuring a WOD.

That’s why the official CrossFit website offers a WOD blog that serves as an invaluable resource to CrossFitters everywhere. Although some of the WODs require specialized equipment that’s often not found outside the CrossFit gym, plenty of WODs require no equipment whatsoever, combining functional movements to get the job done.

If you can’t make it to your CrossFit box, or you’ve paused your membership to save yourself time and money, check out the CrossFit website for help putting together some effective at-home workouts that will help you stay in shape!

CrossFit Workouts At Home: Final Thoughts

CrossFit blends elements of weightlifting, high-intensity workouts, and a strong sense of community to offer one of the most immersive, effective training programs on the planet.

You can’t really capture that energy while you’re working out by yourself at home, but you sure as heck can perform the same WODs and keep after your fitness goals anyway!

Follow our guide and try some of the above CrossFit WODs during your next home workout!

CrossFit Workouts At Home: FAQs

Can CrossFit be done at home?

Absolutely. Many CrossFit WODs require no equipment or only a handful of essential pieces, making them totally doable from almost anywhere in the world.

What equipment do I need for CrossFit?

It all depends on what the WOD calls for, but buying a pull-up bar, dumbbell set, kettlebell, medicine ball, jump rope, and exercise mat will give you the tools to perform a vast majority of WODs without breaking the bank.

RELATED: Medicine Ball Workouts

How do I get started with CrossFit?

“You get started with CrossFit the same way you get started with anything— by doing it,” says CPT, CrossFit Level-1 Trainer, and GGR Staff Writer Amanda Capritto. “I recommend working with a CrossFit coach or personal trainer if you’re brand new to fitness, but anyone at a novice or intermediate level can pick a straightforward WOD, like Cindy, for example, and just give it a try. You might be surprised at what you’re capable of!”

Christopher Covello

Christopher Covello is a professional freelancer and published author. He writes copy, content, and SEO-focused material in various niches with a heavy focus on fitness and nutrition. Christopher’s personal fitness and nutrition journey began in 2009 when he was working as a short order cook and came to recognize that his habits were unhealthy and unsustainable. He educated himself on mindful eating and balanced nutrition and has prioritized healthy living ever since. Today, Christopher writes in the fitness and nutrition niche, and is often found running, hiking, rock climbing, Spartan Racing, training at his CrossFit box, or practicing yoga.

CrossFit Workouts At Home: No Gym Membership, No Problem