My favorite workouts don’t cram in complicated moves for the sake of it. Instead, they deliver the intended stimulus with a minimum of fuss.
That’s exactly what this workout from elite coach Michele Letendre does. Letendre trains five-time CrossFit Games podium athlete Pat Vellner and 2023’s Fittest Women On Earth Laura Horvath, and Letendre made six appearances at the CrossFit Games herself. In other words, she knows a thing or two about hard work and effective training.
In her Instagram Reel sharing this workout, Letendre says this type of session helped Vellner fine-tune his pacing strategies and “improve his power endurance”.
Letendre has taken the 21-15-9 rep format—a standard CrossFit Workout—and combined it with a longer EMOM to create an 18-minute conditioning workout.
You have six minutes to complete 21 calories on an exercise bike and 21 kettlebell goblet squats, another 15 calories on the bike and 15 goblet squats, then a final nine calories and reps of each. Rest for any time remaining on the timer, then repeat two more times for a total of three rounds.
According to Letendre, you should aim to complete the sequence in four to five minutes, giving you enough time to get your breath back and go again, but advises you to take a bit longer to complete the first round.
“You have to be willing to sacrifice rest time in the first interval to set yourself up for the next two,” Letendre wrote on Instagram. “High intensity is the goal, but not maximal intensity. Keep some in the tank and give it everything you’ve got on the last one.”
You can use any exercise bike as long as it counts calories on its monitor. Letendre opts for a Concept2 BikeErg in the Reel, while the version of this workout shared on CrossFit.com prescribes the Rogue Echo Bike (an air bike).
The suggested kettlebell weight is 32kg for men and 24kg for women, but don’t hesitate to scale the workout to your ability with a lighter kettlebell.
“When I wrote this one I wasn’t sure it was doable, but with some scaling, I actually managed it,” Letendre wrote.
You can also adjust the rep scheme to 18-15-9 or 12-9-6.
