Isabel is 30 barbell snatches for time, with Rx loading of 135 lb for men or 95 lb for women. Finish the prescribed repetitions as quickly as sound technique permits. Your score is the elapsed time, together with the load and any movement changes.
Isabel workout
For time: 30 snatches. Rx load: 135 lb men / 95 lb women.
What Isabel should feel like
A short barbell sprint similar to Grace but using the snatch.
Isabel Rx weights and scaling
| Version | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Rx | 135 lb | 95 lb |
| Intermediate example | 115 lb | 75 lb |
| Beginner example | 55 lb | 35 lb |
These scaled examples follow CrossFit’s August 2021 Isabel guidance. They are examples to adjust, not minimum entry weights. That guidance uses a finish under seven minutes to help choose a load, with technically reliable repeated reps. New lifters should practice the movement and reduce weight substantially before treating Isabel as a timed test.
What is a good Isabel time?
A useful first target is to preserve a short barbell effort rather than turn 30 reps into repeated maximal attempts. The under-seven-minute reference above is a coaching stimulus, not an average time or a percentile. Compare your own attempts at the same load and movement standard. If long rests or failed reps dominate, scale the next attempt instead of chasing an arbitrary time.
Isabel pacing strategy
Touch-and-go only while positions stay reliable. Fast singles often outperform oversized opening sets followed by long rest.
How to score and pace 30 snatches
Start the clock before the first snatch and stop after the thirtieth completed rep. Breaks count. Log, for example, 4:48 at 75 lb, scaled, along with your snatch variation. A lighter, faster attempt and a heavier, slower attempt measure different changes.
For planning, divide a proposed finish by 30. A 3:00 finish averages six seconds per rep; 5:00 averages ten; 7:00 averages fourteen. Those averages include every rep and all rest. They are arithmetic examples, not recommended cadences for every lifter. Time a controlled warm-up set and consider whether the same pace is realistic after fatigue.
As one set option, six sets of five makes the remaining work easy to count. Choose smaller sets or singles when they keep positions more consistent, and avoid racing the opening set at the expense of the final ten reps.
Isabel or Grace? Isabel uses a snatch; Grace uses 30 clean and jerks. Both are short single-barbell benchmarks, but skill in one lift does not establish an appropriate load in the other.
What counts as a snatch?
Move the bar from the floor to overhead in one continuous lift, rather than cleaning it to the shoulders and then jerking it. Finish standing with hips and knees extended, elbows straight and the bar controlled overhead before lowering for the next rep. See CrossFit’s snatch instruction and demonstration.
CrossFit describes both full-squat and power receiving positions. Agree on and record the version you use before the clock starts. The linked August 2021 workout prescribes snatches but does not supply a separate competition judging sheet. A hang start, dumbbell substitution or clean-and-jerk is a changed workout; label and compare that version separately. Practise with a light implement before using a timed benchmark.
Movement standards and substitutions
Scale before the clock starts. If a movement is inappropriate for your current skill, mobility or injury status, choose a variation that preserves the intended training effect.
Choosing a bar for snatch practice? Our 28mm vs 29mm barbell guide explains shaft diameter, sleeve rotation and weightlifting use. Equipment selection supports practice; it does not replace learning the lift.
Keep a 30-rep set and split record
Record each set or singles block, cumulative completed reps, split, total bar load and snatch variation. The cumulative total should reach 30 only when all planned reps are completed; log misses separately. Set examples such as 6 × 5 describe arithmetic, not a required cadence or a tested best strategy.
Download the isabel log (CSV). Open it in your spreadsheet app or print it; keep the exact version and standards with each result.
Choose another workout
Open the workout generator and choose your time, equipment and goal. It creates a separate session; this link does not automatically reproduce the benchmark or establish an equivalent training dose.
Open workout generator settings
Related workouts
Grace and Fran are useful next benchmarks. You can also browse the WOD Finder.
Training information only. Scale loading, volume and movement selection to your current ability.