One movement. One number. No rounds to hide in, no rest built into the structure — just 150 reps standing between you and the clock stopping. Karen looks simple on paper. It rarely feels that way at rep 100.
Suggested time cap: 12 minutes · Competitive target: sub-5 minutes at Rx. Your score is the time it takes to complete all 150 reps.
Most benchmark WODs test conditioning across multiple movements. Karen tests something narrower and, for a lot of athletes, harder to manage: load selection under fatigue. There’s no second movement to catch your breath on and no rounds to reset your pacing plan. Every rep is the same rep.
The athletes who struggle most with Karen usually aren’t undertrained — they picked a ball weight they could technically lift, not one they could actually cycle for 150 reps. Karen rewards honest weight selection more than almost any other benchmark.
Karen scales through load and target height together — not load alone. Choose the row below that matches sets you can sustain, not the heaviest ball you can technically lift.
| Level | Load | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Rx | 20 lb (M) / 14 lb (W) to target | Cycling efficiency, sub-5 min |
| Scaled | 14–16 lb (M) / 10–12 lb (W) | Sets of 10–15, sub-8 min |
| Beginner | 10–12 lb (M) / 6–8 lb (W) | Unbroken sets, focus on form |
Scale the target with the load: if you’re scaling the ball weight, it’s fine to scale the target height too — a lighter ball thrown to a full-height target doesn’t test the same thing Karen is designed to test.
Elite athletes don’t go unbroken on Karen. They go strategic. The fastest times come from athletes who plan their breaks before the clock starts — not athletes who white-knuckle it until they drop the ball. A pattern like ten sets of 15 or fifteen sets of 10 beats a single hero set that falls apart at rep 60.
The mistake happens before the fatigue does. Most people fail Karen in the first 30 reps — not the last 30 — because they go out too fast on a weight they can’t sustain.
Karen is a squat-and-throw workout by design, but the stimulus survives a handful of straightforward substitutions.
| Equipment | Substitution | Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| No medicine ball | Dumbbell thruster | 1:1 reps |
| No 10 ft target | Lower to a reachable overhead mark | 1:1 reps |
| Ball too heavy | Drop to nearest lighter ball | Same rep count |
| No wall space | Front squat + push press | 1:1 reps |
FITL scales this automatically based on the equipment in your profile — no manual substitution math required.
Sub-5 minutes at Rx weight is considered a strong competitive time. Most CrossFit athletes finish Rx Karen in the 6–9 minute range. Scaled athletes should aim for sub-8 minutes at a manageable load.
Rx is 20 lb for men and 14 lb for women. If you can’t cycle sets of at least 10–15 reps at that weight without stopping for long rests, scale down — a lighter ball you can move continuously beats a heavier ball you can only lift a few times before failing.
Yes. Substitute a dumbbell thruster or front squat + push press at a 1:1 rep ratio if you don’t have wall space or a target.
Yes — it’s one of the more approachable benchmark WODs since it only involves one movement. Beginners should scale the load down significantly and focus on unbroken sets with good depth rather than chasing a fast time.
Get Karen — and every benchmark WOD — automatically scaled to your equipment and experience level.