Scoring AMRAP workouts appropriately is super important in competitive exercise.
Use the following formulas when calculating your score for AMRAP workouts published on Cavemantraining, or elsewhere.
I’ve been programming, running, and participating in WODs for over a decade now, here’s my experience on how to score them, feel free to use and share.
Let’s for demonstration purpose use the Sneaky Anna WOD, which consists of:
- 4 half snatches
- 4 burpees
- 4 squat deadlifts
20 MIN AMRAP
Scoring remains pretty simple, you just keep track of rounds, plus the rep you stopped at when the timer went off, if you completed one squat deadlift, you would look at the number of rounds you did plus 9 (4 + 4 + 1). If you did 24 rounds that would be 24.9 or 297 ((24 x 12) + 9).
If you’re programming short wod cycles with rest, like for example:
- 10 Russian kettlebell swings
- 2/2 dumbbell snatches
- 2 deadball over the shoulder
6 MIN AMRAP
2 minutes rest
3 cycles
You count full rounds plus the number of reps, meaning if you completed 8 full rounds, and then just finished 2 dumbbell snatches when the timer went off, you would have done 12 reps that round (10 swings + 2 snatches). Write down 8.12 for that round. At the end of your three cycles, if you have for example a score of:
Cycle 1 — 8.12
Cycle 2 — 8.2
Cycle 3 — 7.13
you would add the rounds up, as 8 + 8 + 7 = 23, you then add the reps as 12 + 2 + 13 = 25. We know that one full round equals 16 reps, thus, your final score would be 24.9, 24 full rounds and 9 reps, or written as a total of 393 reps.
If you want to score fairer, taking into consideration the amount of weight lifted, you’d use the following formula. For demonstration purpose we’ll use The HULK Test which is a WOD designed to test every inch of your being—you either smash HULK, or hulk smash you!
- 1 minute of strict presses with double kettlebells weighing approx. 70% of your 1RM
- 2 minutes of half snatch into a squat with double kettlebells medium weight
- 5 minutes rest
If you’re working with a partner, it’s 1 minute and then you’re counting or no repping for them
5 rounds AMRAP
In this case, we add the total weight used multiplied by the number of reps to get the final score. If you’ve programmed a WOD which uses the same weight throughout, but the athlete scaled back to lighter weight half-way through, then the lowest weight is used to calculate the score.
Let’s continue with The HULK Test as an example, I completed the test as follows:
- 22kg + 22kg for strict press equals 44kg (97lbs)
- 16kg + 16kg for snatches and squat equals 32kg (70lbs)
- Total of 76kg times 134 equals 10184
- Hence, my final score is 10184
As you can see, there are many different ways to score fairly, and how you score and keep track depends on the type of workout you programmed. Make sure you subscribe to our mailing list for weekly wods in your inbox. I’m not just talking the regular wods you can get anywhere, I’m talking 100% original WODs, designed at Cavemantraining.
Experimenting
I’ve been experimenting with some of the approaches to scoring different ways, taking endurance into account, like for example issuing penalties when weights are put down during a set time frame, or a set is broken, partnering people up into teams and scoring as a team. Our level 3.2 online certification will cover programming, coming out end of 2018.
Keeping score
If you do not have someone to count for you, then keeping score is another task you need to get good at, after all, you don’t want to be called out for cheating. Trust me, nothing worse than cheaters in a class, no one speaks about them in the open, but behind closed doors, they’re the topic of conversation. Everyone knows better though, they don’t fool anyone but themselves, so, if you don’t have any tools at your disposal to keep a good record of your score, and you lose count, take the approach of “Let’s do one or two extra to be sure”!
Putting that aside, here are some tools to keep track of your score.
If you’re completing a wod with low reps and is one that can easily be completed unbroken, then you don’t want to be writing each round down. You can repeat the round number in your head, i.e. let’s say the wod is 2 push-ups, 2 squats, 2 pull-ups, you would simply repeat the round for each rep, i.e “one” for all six reps in round one, then “two” for all six reps in round two, “three” (push-up), “three”(push-up), “three” (squat), “three” (squat), “three” (pull-up), “three” (pull-up), and so on. This way you don’t confuse round three with round four, or even worse, deduct one.
Shouting rounds out loud is also fun, but with lots of people in a class, it can become noisy. The great thing is that you’re aware of where your competition is at and makes you work even harder. Also, less chance of cheating/mistakes, because for sure someone will pick you up on it.
Writing down your rounds or reps on a whiteboard is also an option, but this usually takes time to get to the board, if you lay the board on the ground, it will become a puddle of sweat mixed with ink. Great option if you want to program in a slight 3 to 5-second rest, however, you do need to make it clear that everyone needs to write down their round after completion, rather than some people writing them down, and others only writing them down after they completed 5. This only works with long rounds though, for example, rounds that take a minute or so to complete, if they’re short, you can decide on which number they write it down, i.e. 5 rounds equals one marker. Whatever it is, be clear upfront, and or write it on the board.
If you find a whiteboard marker becomes messy, you can write the names down, next to each name you draw a line or multiple, and simply have the athletes wipe away part of the line for each round. Be careful not to use two fingers, or wipe some else’s line!
The fastest and in my opinion the most authentic way to keep score is with a piece of chalk and marking your rounds on the ground! Not every box seems to appreciate this, but a real gym is where people sweat puddles and throw chalk around (in moderation of course)!
WOD Terminology:
-
- WOD
Workout Of the Day
Usually something different every-time, but repeated over an x period of time to measure progress - AMRAP
As Many Rounds as Possible; or
As Many Reps as Possible
Complete a set task as many times as possible within the set time - FOR TIME
Complete a set task in the fastest time possible - Rx (℞)
Prescribed or recommend weight to use as a benchmark - Scaled
Using a weight or exercise that’s more suitable than what’s prescribed
- WOD
Participate, your ideas or feedback on this post.
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