Monday 10/19

AM….PM

In the AM… This morning Zdenek took me to the newly opened location of Crossfit Prague. It’s located on the bottom floor of a great building, and the space looks like it used to be a cafeteria of some kind. He has the entire floor at his disposal, though only the main room is finished as of yet. It’s got everything you’d need and expect from a top notch box: bars, bumpers, bands, kettlebells, pullup racks, rings, you name it. They’ve only been officially open for 1 week but they’ve already got 10 members that have bought monthly packages.

More than anything, the place just feels cool. There’s a ton of light, high ceilings, and a definite stillness about the place and the area that make it ideal for training.

As we were in a bit of a rush to get me on the train, we came up with a workout that would only take 11 minutes to complete. Naturally, these were 11 pretty intense minutes…

The Workout

3 rounds of 3 minute AMRAP w/ 1 minute rest

5 Sumo Deadlift High Pull

5 Thruster

1 Muscle Up

I used 60 kg, Zdenek used 50 kg. This gassed us both pretty badly… SDLHP and thrusters are a great combination if you want to test your metabolic conditioning. I was sucking for air by the 4^th round, and by the end my arms were having trouble keeping the bar racked during the thrusters.

In all, I was able to complete 9 full rounds, plus 5 SDLHP and 2 thrusters.

Zdenek finished 8 full rounds, plus 5 SDLHP and 5 thrusters.

After this I felt like a nap.

But, next thing I knew I was in and out of a cold shower and on the train toward Germany. This was a wonderful experience in Prague, mostly due to Zdenek and his wife Keri’s amazing hospitality. During the course of 2 days and nights I walked practically the entire city, seeing it from above and below, and raising more than a few half liter beers in a toast to the town with one of it’s own. We explored the inside of Prague Castle, including the historic church where countless Czech kings are buried to this day. We strolled the old hunting grounds where the medieval princes and knights spent their summers tracking game. We watched professional Czech League soccer, drinking grog (hot water and rum) to stay warm whilst the die hards to our left burnt opposition paraphanalia in ephegy. Then, in a true send off, I got a kick ass workout at what will soon be Prague’s premier elite fitness location. Seriously… what a weekend.

In the PM… I got off the train in Ansbach, a German small town of 40,000 or so, at around 4:00 and was immediately met by Robert Powell, head trainer and co-owner of Crossfit Ansbach. After a brief stop at his home, where I met his lovely wife Susie, we headed over to the facility for his evening round of classes. At the moment, they run three 1-hour classes nightly: 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30. Although they’ve only been open to the public for 3 months, they’ve already just about outgrown their space. The first class had 9 participants, the second 14, and the third 5. The space they have is built to accommodate 10 at the most, so it took some creative programming by Rob, Ralph, Simon, and Rolph to make it work on this night.

The overwhelming impression I got from watching these sessions was the palpable excitement level of everyone involved. Of course it starts with the coaches- extremely positive, motivating, and intelligent guys, all of them; but the clientele were equally as impressive. Representing an age range from 14 to 80, these people were getting AFTER IT. Having been denied access and opportunity to functional physical exercise, they literally could not get enough Crossfit. Box jumps, handstands, kb swings, knees to elbows… you name it. All of them embraced the challenge of whatever movements they were asked to perform. Granted, with that zeal came some over-eagerness (poor technique, too much clock watching), but no more than what we see routinely in the States. It’s obvious that they have something here, and it’s only going to get better.

After the people had gone, Rob put me through a workout he had pulled from the site of Crossfit Jacksonville. It was as follows:

10 deadlift (60 kg)

20 wall ball

10 hang power clean (60 kg)

20 kb swing (24 kg)

10 front squat (60 kg)

20 box jump (24 “)

10 push jerk (60 kg)

20 pullups

10 back squat (60 kg)

20 burpees

With the exception of a some questionable pullups (definitely didn’t get my chin above the bar on a few early on), this went REALLY well. I never felt like I was all out gasping for air or completely fatigued. My hands ripped during the pullups and my quads were a bit tired from the morning thrusters, but, all in all, the body held up well. I only had to break the sets during the pullups, and ended up stopping the clock at 5:28.

It was a long day, but I will sleep well.