start with fewer iterations
diff --git a/test/core/support/sync_test.cc b/test/core/support/sync_test.cc
index 04b9e94..768f96d 100644
--- a/test/core/support/sync_test.cc
+++ b/test/core/support/sync_test.cc
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@
    */
 static void test(const char* name, void (*body)(void* m),
                  void (*extra)(void* m), int timeout_s, int incr_step) {
-  int64_t iterations = 1024;
+  int64_t iterations = 256;
   struct test* m;
   gpr_timespec start = gpr_now(GPR_CLOCK_REALTIME);
   gpr_timespec time_taken;
@@ -240,7 +240,6 @@
   fprintf(stderr, "%s:", name);
   fflush(stderr);
   while (gpr_time_cmp(gpr_now(GPR_CLOCK_REALTIME), deadline) < 0) {
-    iterations <<= 1;
     fprintf(stderr, " %ld", (long)iterations);
     fflush(stderr);
     m = test_new(10, iterations, incr_step);
@@ -258,6 +257,7 @@
       GPR_ASSERT(0);
     }
     test_destroy(m);
+    iterations <<= 1;
   }
   time_taken = gpr_time_sub(gpr_now(GPR_CLOCK_REALTIME), start);
   fprintf(stderr, " done %lld.%09d s\n", (long long)time_taken.tv_sec,