A chipper is a workout where you do a list of movements once, in order. You finish every rep of one movement before you start the next, and the workout ends on the last rep of the last movement. Most chippers are scored For Time, and if a time cap ends the workout before you finish, your score is your total reps instead of a time.
The name comes from the way you chip away at the list, one movement at a time, until nothing is left.
What makes a workout a chipper?
This is a chipper workout:
For Time · one pass · 150 reps
- a50 wall-ball shots
- b40 box jumps
- c30 pull-ups
- d20 toes-to-bar
- e10 clean and jerks
You complete all 50 wall-ball shots before you touch a box, and all 40 box jumps before you touch the bar. Unless the workout says otherwise, you cannot change the order of the movements or mix them, for example by doing 10 wall balls and 10 box jumps and then repeating. Mixing the movements like this is called partitioning. The five movements add up to 150 reps.
How a chipper is scored
If you finish the last rep before the time cap, your score is the time on the clock. If the cap ends the workout first, your score is the number of reps you completed, unless the workout publishes its own capped-score rule.
That number includes every rep since the start of the workout. In the workout above, your total at the end of each movement is:
- Finishing the wall balls = 50 reps
- Finishing the box jumps = 90 reps
- Finishing the pull-ups = 120 reps
- Finishing the toes-to-bar = 140 reps
- Finishing the clean and jerks = 150 reps, the whole workout
So if the cap ends the workout after your 12th toes-to-bar, your score is 120 + 12 = 132 reps.
Score at the cap
At the cap, your score counts every rep since the start, so 12 toes-to-bar after the pull-ups scores 132
- 150
- Full workout
- 132
- Capped at 12 toes-to-bar
If a judge counts your reps, these totals also let you check that you agree on the count after each movement. Some chippers also have a tiebreak, which is the time you reach a set point in the workout, for example when you finish the pull-ups at 120 reps. If two athletes have the same score, the faster tiebreak time ranks higher, so finish that movement fast.
Why chippers are hard to pace
A chipper is hard to pace because each movement tires you in a different way, and the fatigue from one movement carries into the next. In the workout above, the wall balls and the box jumps tire your legs and lungs, the pull-ups and the toes-to-bar both tire your grip, and the clean and jerks get harder as your technique breaks down. No single pace covers all of that, so ask three questions about each movement:
- Can you keep moving? If yes, hold a steady pace and rest only where you planned to. The wall balls and the box jumps are this kind of work.
- Could you fail a rep? If yes, break the set before you get close to failing, because a failed rep costs more time than the short rest that would have prevented it. The pull-ups and the clean and jerks are this kind of work.
- Does the next movement need the same muscles? If yes, hold something back so you have enough left for it. The pull-ups are this kind of work too, because the toes-to-bar right after them need the same grip.
A chipper also has no repeated rounds, so you cannot compare one round time with the next to see if you are slowing down. The only way to know how a chipper is going while you do it is to compare it against a reference, such as your times from an earlier attempt or an athlete who usually finishes close to you.
How to pace a chipper workout
Before you start:
- Name the movement most likely to stop you.
- Plan the sets for that movement first, and then for the others.
- Find out if there is a tiebreak and where it is taken.
- Prepare the equipment to minimize transitions.
As a rule of thumb, end each set two or three reps before you would fail, and plan smaller sets for the movements late in the workout, because you will be more tired when you get to them. In the workout above, that could mean 50 wall balls as 20, 15, and 15, then 30 pull-ups as 10, 8, 6, and 6, and then 20 toes-to-bar as 7, 7, and 6, because your grip is already tired when you reach the bar for the second time.
During the workout:
- Start the first movement at a pace you could hold for the whole workout, because every movement after it needs the energy you save.
- Take your planned breaks on time, before a failed rep forces a longer one.
Push harder as you get closer to the end, because fewer movements are left that need your energy. Nothing comes after the clean and jerks, so go as hard as you can on them.
Chipper vs. rounds for time
A chipper and rounds for time are both scored For Time, but a chipper runs through its list once and rounds for time repeats a shorter list. That changes how you pace them. In rounds for time, you can compare each round time with the one before and adjust your pace, but in a chipper you do each movement once, so you get no second try.
| Feature | Chipper | Rounds for time |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | One ordered pass through the list | The same list repeated for a set number of rounds |
| Each movement | Done once, as one long block | Done once per round, as a shorter block |
| Pacing feedback | A time per movement, each for different work | A time per round, each for the same work |
| Typical score | Time, or reps at the cap | Time, or reps at the cap |
Common mistakes
Reordering the work: Unless the workout lets you partition it, finish the movement in front of you before you start the next, because reps done out of order do not count.
Racing the first movement: Finishing the wall balls fast does not help if you then stand under the pull-up bar at rep 104 with no grip left.
Frequently asked questions
Does a chipper have to be For Time?
No, although most are. A chipper can also run on a fixed clock, where you work down the list until the time ends and your score is your total reps.
Can chipper reps be split into smaller sets?
Yes, you can rest inside a movement as often as you need to, and unless the workout says otherwise only the total reps and the order of the movements are fixed.
Is Murph a chipper?
It can be either, and the version you run decides it. Done straight through, the 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 air squats, and second 1-mile run are one ordered pass, which makes Murph a chipper. CrossFit's Murph standard lets you partition the middle three movements, and a common split is 20 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats, which runs like rounds for time.
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