Fight Gone Bad – The BJ Penn CrossFit Workout

Fight Gone Bad (F.G.B.) was originally designed about a decade ago for local boy, LW UFC Champ BJ Penn! When BJ Penn did F.G.B. for the first time, he was put flat on his back when it was over! When he was asked about to compare the workout to a fight, he said it was like a “fight gone bad”.

F.G.B. was designed to match the time and domain of a UFC fight, while EXCEEDING its metabolic demands. Meaning, whatever the demands were in a UFC fight, F.G.B. exceeds them in terms of force (heavier), distance (longer ranges of motion), and time (work faster). In the workout, you work for 5 minutes on 5 different stations (Concept 2 Rower, Wall Ball, SDLHP, 20″ Box Jump, and Push Press) and rest for 1-minute. Normal F.G.B. lasts for 3 rounds, while a Championship Fight or Championship F.G.B. would be 5 rounds long. The reasoning behind the 1-minute at each station then on to the next station, was because Coach Glassman didn’t want stamina to be a significant factor in the workout. Since localized muscle endurance limitations reduces the metabolic demands by cramping you up and forcing you to rest, in this workout right when localized muscle endurance is about to be a significant factor you move to the next movement. Thus, 1 minute was deliberately chosen because it is the time limit found at the crest of the glycolytic pathway (the middle metabolic pathway).

F.G.B. in my own words: “Just when you’re getting to your threshold of pain and don’t think you can pull off another rep, 1-minute is up and you jump to the next station. So precise and so awesome!” Now, go get your fight on!