Every other benchmark in this library uses a fixed weight for everyone. Linda doesn’t — every load is a percentage of your own bodyweight, which means this workout is exactly as hard for a 130 lb athlete as it is for a 230 lb athlete, in a way flat Rx numbers never quite are.
Most benchmark WODs prescribe a fixed load — 135 lb, 225 lb, and so on — that’s the same number for every athlete at a given Rx or scaled tier. Linda instead prescribes each of its three lifts as a percentage of your bodyweight: 1.5x bodyweight for the deadlift, 1x bodyweight for the bench press, and 0.75x bodyweight for the clean. Two athletes doing “Rx Linda” are lifting different absolute weights, but the same relative demand.
This also means the workout takes real prep: you calculate your three target loads from your own bodyweight before you start, rather than reading a fixed number off the whiteboard.
Suggested time cap: 25 minutes · Competitive target: sub-12 minutes at Rx. Calculate all three loads before you start the clock — see Strategy. Your score is the time it takes to complete all 165 reps (55 of each movement).
Linda is a genuine grind — 55 reps of each movement, 165 total reps, across three different loaded barbells. But the real difficulty most athletes underestimate is how heavy the Rx percentages actually feel in practice. A 1.5x bodyweight deadlift isn’t a light lift for most people even for a single rep — doing it for sets of up to 10 reps, descending through a long ladder, is a serious strength-endurance demand that catches a lot of athletes off guard who assumed “bodyweight-based” meant “manageable.”
On top of the loading, this is traditionally done with three separately loaded barbells so you’re not re-plating between movements — which most home or garage gyms simply don’t have the equipment for.
Linda scales per movement, using a lower bodyweight percentage rather than a flat weight reduction. Choose the row below that matches loads you can move through 55 total reps without long, unplanned rests.
| Level | Deadlift | Bench Press | Clean |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rx | 1.5x bodyweight | 1x bodyweight | 0.75x bodyweight |
| Scaled | 1.25x bodyweight | 0.75x bodyweight | 0.5x bodyweight |
| Beginner | 1x bodyweight | 0.5x bodyweight | 0.33x bodyweight |
Because the loads already scale to you personally, the main scaling lever here is the percentage itself, not a flat weight reduction. You can also shorten the ladder (6-5-4-3-2-1, for example) if the full 10-to-1 volume isn’t manageable yet, while keeping the percentage-based loads intact.
Calculate and load all three weights before you start the clock — figuring out bodyweight percentages and re-plating bars mid-workout costs real time and breaks your rhythm. If you only have one or two barbells, decide in advance how you’ll swap plates between movements each rung, since that transition time adds up over ten total rungs.
Pace the early, higher-rep rungs conservatively on the deadlift and clean especially. Break early rather than finding out mid-set that the load was heavier than expected.
1.5x bodyweight for 10 reps is a real strength-endurance test, not a light warmup weight, even though the Rx percentage might sound approachable on paper.
Linda is traditionally run on three separately loaded barbells, but it survives straightforward substitutions and workflow adjustments.
| Equipment | Substitution | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Only 1–2 barbells | Swap plates between movements each rung | Costs transition time — plan the swap order in advance |
| No barbell at all | Dumbbell deadlift, bench, and clean at the same bodyweight percentages | 1:1 reps |
| No bench available | Floor press | 1:1 reps, same load |
| Don’t know your accurate bodyweight | Weigh in before calculating loads | Accuracy matters more here than in fixed-weight WODs |
FITL calculates your three target loads automatically from your bodyweight and scales the substitutions to your available equipment.
It’s Linda’s common nickname, referring to the traditional setup of three separately loaded barbells (one for each movement) so you can move between deadlift, bench press, and clean without re-plating mid-round.
Sub-12 minutes at Rx is a strong time for an experienced athlete. Most CrossFit athletes finish Rx Linda in the 12–20 minute range, though times vary more than usual here since the absolute loads differ athlete to athlete even at the same Rx tier.
Use one or two bars and swap plates between movements at each rung — it costs some transition time, but the workout is still valid. Plan your plate-swap order in advance to minimize the time lost.
No — even scaled percentages represent a real strength-endurance demand across three lifts, and the workout assumes comfort with a deadlift, bench press, and clean. Beginners should build confidence with each individual lift before attempting the full ladder, even at reduced percentages.
Get Linda — and every benchmark WOD — automatically loaded to your bodyweight and scaled to your equipment.