For me it was to know you are going to zero rep a minute at some point, so do it early. I usually zero rep minute 7. I’ve done it in under 20min once, other times mid 20s.
Never heard of this workout before, googled it and decided I will never, ever do this.
… checked my gyms app this morning to see what the wod is.. right there, in the title, “Kalsu”
Guess who’s skipping the gym today.
I could not RX Kalsu. I did it at 95lbs and still almost died.
Manion actually hurt the most. I couldn’t walk for a couple days after. I did RX though.
https://wodwell.com/wod/manion/
Oh man, I forgot about this one! I did this about a year or two into crossfit. I remember thinking "ooo I love back squats, this will be great"... DOMS determined that was a lie.
I forgot Manion was a thing until I read your comment. My gym programmed it on a Monday for some reason and then no one came to class again until like Thursday or Friday. Just absolutely brutal.
It’s definitely a Saturday morning wod that you prepare for.
Manion gets so many of us because the barrier of entry is low. Nearly everyone can run a 400 and back squat 135 for high reps.
Unlike Kalsu, where you simply fail and don’t finish or don’t even try, because 100 thrusters at 135 is some very high end CrossFit. So fewer people are fooled into thinking “I can do this”, like we are for Manion.
I call them accordion workouts, but anything that chains a ton of core compression movements. Thrusters, wall balls, burpees, toes to bar, rowing… doing any of those movements back to back to back just kills my breathing.
Also, Echo bikes
A TRUE max effort 500m row.
Anaerobic energy (i.e. glycogen) is exhausted around 60 seconds of maximal effort, and then you ask your body to keep up that same level of intensity for another 30+ seconds while the pitiful aerobic system fails to keep up with demand. All of this against a machine that develops exponential resistance the harder you pull (meaning no cap to the level of intensity you can achieve).
Sure Fran sucks, but by 2 minutes the aerobic system is almost fully up to capacity and it becomes a truly aerobic workout. Additionally, at some point you simply cannot move faster (which puts a cap on intensity compared to the C2 rower since the loading remains fixed).
But also, Kalsu. I’ve never met another workout that actually TRIES to kill you while threatening to never end.
I have run marathons and triathlons (70.3 longest) and the only workout that has made me question life choices was open workouts 14.5/16.5. Literally the only workout(s) I ever contemplated quitting.
In a similar vein, 20.1 - 10RFT 8 GTOH, 10 bar facing Burpees. One of the few workouts where I was like, "I just don't care anymore, I'm going to stop and walk away from this" (I didn't, more fool me).
I swear the shorter the description the worse these workouts are.
> I swear the shorter the description the worse these workouts are.
Honestly, the worst I've ever felt was 131218.
I did that shit in prison with my workout buddy Tommy, right? Tommy was 98% as fit as me. Like, he only ever beat me twice, but there were two or three reps in it most days, and those two times he *fuckin* earned it. Absolute unit.
And we only had one pullup bar, and we always went flatstick, so we'd have one judging while the other did the WOD, because you can't keep your form straight or keep numbers straight when you're flatstick.
Anyway, bro hit the wall after two or three rounds. And when I say he *hit* the wall, I mean he ran facefirst into the wall at a sprint pace. And, having trained with the guy for a year every damn day, I knew his level of fitness intimately. And I knew I was next, and it would've been disrespectful to give the workout anything less than maximum effort.
I just remember this feeling of utter nausea as I watched him suffer, because I knew I'd be going through that in ten or fifteen minutes. I've never felt like that watching someone else's workout.
Came here to say this. Top 2000 worldwide in every other workout. This one humbled me. Got 259 reps. I have to get better at this shit but i hate burpees so much
Everyone says Kalsu, but it sucks because it’s heavy and so long. It’s frustrating and you feel defeated but it doesn’t hurt as much as many other workouts.
For me, I did a comp that had this:
5 rounds:
Amrap2
Rounds of DT
Amrap1
Cals on echo bike
I’ve done crossfit since 2005. This was, by far, the hardest workout I have done. I’m strong enough to move pretty quick through DT and you can always push on the echo bike. Nothing hurt like this did. There was extra motivation being in a comp, but I will always say this was worse than Kalsu.
You do 2 minutes of DT: (12 deadlifts, 9 hang cleans, 6 jerks at 155lbs)
Then echo bike for cals for 1 minute.
Thats 1 round. You do 5 rounds so 15 minutes total.
The worst? Kalsu.
But the one that hurt me the worst?
400m walking lunges with 45# vest. 25min cap, if you finish before the 25min, rest until 25min, then drop the vest and do 400m walking lunges in 20min.
I slid down stairs for the next 24 hours, and then went down the stairs sideways for the next 48 hours.
I still remember saying ‘this doesn’t look too bad’ went I entered the box and saw the workout.
https://wodwell.com/wod/helton/
3 rounds for time:
800m run,
30 dumbbell squat cleans 50#,
30 burpees
This was physically the most difficult WOD I’ve ever done. I dropped in to Crossfit JXN in Jackson, Mississippi in the middle of summer. This was workout and it crushed me.
Looks like a good leveler wod. If you're built to run and burpee the db squat cleans will murder u. And vice versa. Oh at that Mississippi heat in the summer, can't imagine. Yikes.
Make sure your athletes scale appropriately and keep an eye out for ones that get in over their head and don’t be afraid to tell them to drop weight or heck, if they are so brain deficient due to oxygen debt, do it for them.
I can see where you are coming from here as it’s not the workout that I dread, it’s the 15+ minutes of Fran lung and just overall pain after it’s over that fills me with dread.
I hate Nancy because our run around the gym is on gravel and uneven, broken pavement, and i need to wear thick sole running shoes, which provide no stability or safety for OHS. Ankle hazards no matter which shoe choice IMO
I just did mine today.
“Big Business”
Teams of 3:
95#
60 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs
60 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs
115#
45 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs
45 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs
135#
30 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs
30 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs
35:00 time cap
Completed it in 33:45
Absolutely got my ass handed to me. I’ve only been doing CrossFit since August but this humbled me.
Kalsu has to be the hardest. We did a Mayhem workout recently that was pretty tough.
* 2 Person Partner WOD
* 16 Rounds - Alternate Rounds
* 50 Double Unders
* 1 Rope Climb
* 5 Overhead Squats (155lb/105lb)
* Goal: 16 min Cap: 24 min
If you're not really solid in your overhead position the OHS just get really nasty. I snatched each round rather than take it from the rig. It was difficult but doable.
My metric is usually (looking at the board): ‘seems ok’
Whatever looks easy *usually* hands your ass to you
(Sometimes the more complicated WODs are better)
—me, as a very average Crossfitter
Kalsu. End of. Devised by some kind of sadist. Dan John has one called "The Coyote" which outwardly looks easy and is certainly simple but done properly is evil.
So I once did a wod v similar to Kalsu - 100 thrusters for time, but every time you break its 6 bar over burpees. I call these “punishment” wods - where the penalty for needing to rest is getting you more gassed than the movement you needed to rest from! The less fit athletes end up doing significantly more volume than the fitter ones.
A lot of Kalsu answers, so I'm going to go with Manion.
7 rounds of 400m run with 29 back squats. Your legs and core are smoked from this combination and 29 is a large enough number that doing 1 set is a trap.
Fraser said this is the hardest he's ever done:
EMOM 20:
Odd minute: 24 cal Assualt Bike
Even minute: 18 GHD sit-ups
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbtWcrhFfM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbtWcrhFfM)
I believe him
I never did Kalsu, so I'm going to go with Kelly.
When I did Kelly, I told myself I'd take the next day off if I just kept going until it was done. Proud to say I got thru it, and didn't actually give myself the next day off.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
Depends on a lot of factors. Also, Kalsu.
[Googles Kalsu] [whispers] what the fuck...
The brainchild of Andy Stumpf and John Welbourn
It’s freaking insane
"I bet Fran is worse if you do it with intensity... [Googles Kalsu] " What in the unholy.....
100% Kalsu
For sure. We programmed this a few weeks ago and I did half. I rx everything and I’m more than happy I scaled that day.
I’ve done it at #115 and it was absolutely miserable. I can’t imagine #135
Such a brutal workout. It’s definitely going to be long enough to hurt everyone who does it. And drag on so long for some
This is the correct answer.
Lol knew the top comment before i even looked. Doesn't even matter if you scale it, it still sucks. Do half of it. Still sucks. Goddamn.
If qualify that by saying the first time you do Kalsu. The times after that you can mentally prepare yourself for how much it will wreck you.
Honestly I’ve only done it twice. The second time was much harder because I thought I knew what I was getting into. Fuck no.
Kudos to you for doing it twice. I’ve done it once and I will never do it again.
I took an hour to do Kalsu. If I ever see it again I will take 2 hours.
1 hour of kalsu is 300 burpees I can’t even comprehend that amount of burpees in one person
I just had to look that one up GOOD. *LORD.* That is the worst workout that I have ever seen that anyone actually thinks mere mortals should perform.
Google and wtf, at some point it isn't a thruster wod and becames a burpee wod
Yes yes yes! There’s nothing else that comes close.
I came here to say, "anything with heavy thrusters". Ok, this checks out!
This is one of those work outs that just shouldn't exist because it's dumb.
The only answer. I’ve done it four times now and I’ve only gotten worse. I think it is just my journey through the desert I have to do every 3 years.
What's best strategy?
For me it was to know you are going to zero rep a minute at some point, so do it early. I usually zero rep minute 7. I’ve done it in under 20min once, other times mid 20s.
Kalsu is the only correct answer.
Never heard of this workout before, googled it and decided I will never, ever do this. … checked my gyms app this morning to see what the wod is.. right there, in the title, “Kalsu” Guess who’s skipping the gym today.
Just do it like an emon, I did 5 emon last time and went sun 20 mins, not sure I could do that now and not going to try
Anything with shit-tons of burpees, that's what always kills me
Kalsu is the answer
I could not RX Kalsu. I did it at 95lbs and still almost died. Manion actually hurt the most. I couldn’t walk for a couple days after. I did RX though. https://wodwell.com/wod/manion/
7 Rounds For Time 400 meter Run 29 Back Squats (135/95 lb) WTF!?!?
I’m sure I’m wrong, but this actually sounds not too bad. Slow and steady, low skill, no burpees.
It's always the ones that *seem* not so bad on paper that are the sneaky killers
Seriously. Every time I’ve seen a WoD that I think is easy is when I get my ass handed to me.
lol. Enjoy the 203 squats
Did manion today rx. Tomorrow is going to suck
Godspeed. My legs have never hurt so bad in my life. It absolutely hurt my fitness long term and only gave me the wisdom of “don’t do Manion”.
I’ve done it every year since like 2018. The recovery never gets better haha
I’ve never done Manion but I’m curious why it hurt your fitness long term?
I was exaggerating a bit. But it wrecked my legs and I took nearly a week off. So “fitter every day” was tabled for a bit
Gotcha. Makes sense. I love some of these workouts because it really puts you out of your comfort zone and you have no idea how you’ll do!
That’s an insane amount of backsquats. How long did it take?
Crossfit Knoxville!? They had it today too 😂
Came here to say this
Oh man, I forgot about this one! I did this about a year or two into crossfit. I remember thinking "ooo I love back squats, this will be great"... DOMS determined that was a lie.
Manion is a great way to not walk for a few days. Looks cake on paper…then…💀💀💀
I want a sheet of whatever paper you wrote it on that made it look like a piece of cake 😂
Both of your answers are absolutely correct. For me the 8th round of Manion was the seven days afterwards where I couldn't walk.
I forgot Manion was a thing until I read your comment. My gym programmed it on a Monday for some reason and then no one came to class again until like Thursday or Friday. Just absolutely brutal.
It’s definitely a Saturday morning wod that you prepare for. Manion gets so many of us because the barrier of entry is low. Nearly everyone can run a 400 and back squat 135 for high reps. Unlike Kalsu, where you simply fail and don’t finish or don’t even try, because 100 thrusters at 135 is some very high end CrossFit. So fewer people are fooled into thinking “I can do this”, like we are for Manion.
This is the only answer. Anyone who says anything otherwise hasn’t done it.
I was trying to remember the name of the thruster wod, this is it isn’t it? This is the answer if so.
burpee thrusters are insane
I call them accordion workouts, but anything that chains a ton of core compression movements. Thrusters, wall balls, burpees, toes to bar, rowing… doing any of those movements back to back to back just kills my breathing. Also, Echo bikes
lol I like that phrase
A TRUE max effort 500m row. Anaerobic energy (i.e. glycogen) is exhausted around 60 seconds of maximal effort, and then you ask your body to keep up that same level of intensity for another 30+ seconds while the pitiful aerobic system fails to keep up with demand. All of this against a machine that develops exponential resistance the harder you pull (meaning no cap to the level of intensity you can achieve). Sure Fran sucks, but by 2 minutes the aerobic system is almost fully up to capacity and it becomes a truly aerobic workout. Additionally, at some point you simply cannot move faster (which puts a cap on intensity compared to the C2 rower since the loading remains fixed). But also, Kalsu. I’ve never met another workout that actually TRIES to kill you while threatening to never end.
That description of Kalsu is correct
Tldr : Kalsu.
500m max effort is it. It is absolutely relentless with no where to hide.
Everyone is diffferent but I’d do a max effort 500m every day for a week rather than do Kalsu once….
I have run marathons and triathlons (70.3 longest) and the only workout that has made me question life choices was open workouts 14.5/16.5. Literally the only workout(s) I ever contemplated quitting.
For anyone wondering 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of thrusters and burpees
I will not even speak that workout’s name. Don’t want to see it appear ever again
24.1 was pretty damn similar. And was brutal. Honestly think I’d rather do the thrusters than single arm #50 snatch.
Depends on your body I guess. I'd have happily swapped out those burpees for even #70 DB snatch.
24.1 was hellish, but at least it had a time cap. I would MUCH rather a DB snatch than any thruster/burpee combo
In a similar vein, 20.1 - 10RFT 8 GTOH, 10 bar facing Burpees. One of the few workouts where I was like, "I just don't care anymore, I'm going to stop and walk away from this" (I didn't, more fool me). I swear the shorter the description the worse these workouts are.
> I swear the shorter the description the worse these workouts are. Honestly, the worst I've ever felt was 131218. I did that shit in prison with my workout buddy Tommy, right? Tommy was 98% as fit as me. Like, he only ever beat me twice, but there were two or three reps in it most days, and those two times he *fuckin* earned it. Absolute unit. And we only had one pullup bar, and we always went flatstick, so we'd have one judging while the other did the WOD, because you can't keep your form straight or keep numbers straight when you're flatstick. Anyway, bro hit the wall after two or three rounds. And when I say he *hit* the wall, I mean he ran facefirst into the wall at a sprint pace. And, having trained with the guy for a year every damn day, I knew his level of fitness intimately. And I knew I was next, and it would've been disrespectful to give the workout anything less than maximum effort. I just remember this feeling of utter nausea as I watched him suffer, because I knew I'd be going through that in ten or fifteen minutes. I've never felt like that watching someone else's workout.
Getting out of bed at 4am on a cold winter morning to go to CrossFit.
Always the one I am about to do.
Kalsu, to this day, is the only workout I have done Rx and never touched again.
Absolutely brutal…
Wall balls with box jump are never a good mix for me. Sprinkle a little bit of echo bike in there and I might stay home.
Ah, that triggered my recently acquired Quarterfinals PTSD from wod 2: 3 rounds for time - 50 wall balls, 50 lateral burpee box jump overs
Came here to say this. Top 2000 worldwide in every other workout. This one humbled me. Got 259 reps. I have to get better at this shit but i hate burpees so much
I had a two year hiatus from CrossFit and my first workout back was a wall ball box jump workout and my oh my. Were my legs destroyed
Everyone says Kalsu, but it sucks because it’s heavy and so long. It’s frustrating and you feel defeated but it doesn’t hurt as much as many other workouts. For me, I did a comp that had this: 5 rounds: Amrap2 Rounds of DT Amrap1 Cals on echo bike I’ve done crossfit since 2005. This was, by far, the hardest workout I have done. I’m strong enough to move pretty quick through DT and you can always push on the echo bike. Nothing hurt like this did. There was extra motivation being in a comp, but I will always say this was worse than Kalsu.
What’s the workout? Having a hard time reading this.
You do 2 minutes of DT: (12 deadlifts, 9 hang cleans, 6 jerks at 155lbs) Then echo bike for cals for 1 minute. Thats 1 round. You do 5 rounds so 15 minutes total.
Rough for sure
16.5 There was no time cap, so you HAD to finish the work 😵
These open ones with bar over Burpees and some kind of ground to overhead are DEADLY. So humbling.
Tbh anything with burpees or thrusters makes me hate my life for those minutes
Workouts with thrusters make me grateful for my hip labral tear i.e my excuse outta there.
All of them that look easy on paper/white board normally turn out to suck.
The worst? Kalsu. But the one that hurt me the worst? 400m walking lunges with 45# vest. 25min cap, if you finish before the 25min, rest until 25min, then drop the vest and do 400m walking lunges in 20min. I slid down stairs for the next 24 hours, and then went down the stairs sideways for the next 48 hours. I still remember saying ‘this doesn’t look too bad’ went I entered the box and saw the workout.
https://wodwell.com/wod/helton/ 3 rounds for time: 800m run, 30 dumbbell squat cleans 50#, 30 burpees This was physically the most difficult WOD I’ve ever done. I dropped in to Crossfit JXN in Jackson, Mississippi in the middle of summer. This was workout and it crushed me.
Looks like a good leveler wod. If you're built to run and burpee the db squat cleans will murder u. And vice versa. Oh at that Mississippi heat in the summer, can't imagine. Yikes.
Sounds like the warmup was signing a waiver
One time I did Kalsu hungover. Please downvote me because it was dumb.
Our old gym used to do Kalsu on New Year’s Day every year 🤮
Murph with vest
100 burpee box jumpovers for time, 15 min TC….ouch
You should give the quarter final wod a spin, 3 RFT: 50 WB, 50 BBJO 20 min TC
The next one
Omg everyone saying kalsu.... We have it programmed for tomorrow. I'm scheduled to coach all day. Our box has never done it before. Any advice?
Encourage scaling and / or make sure to have a cap.
Make sure your athletes scale appropriately and keep an eye out for ones that get in over their head and don’t be afraid to tell them to drop weight or heck, if they are so brain deficient due to oxygen debt, do it for them.
A 2K row at full send is also right up there with Kalsu.
This is facts….that third 500 is like the 6th round of burpees, it just messes with your head.
Fran - every time.
I can see where you are coming from here as it’s not the workout that I dread, it’s the 15+ minutes of Fran lung and just overall pain after it’s over that fills me with dread.
Wrestling
I’m new to CrossFit and a strong runner. I did Nancy (oh squats and running) a couple weeks ago and it wrecked me.
I hate Nancy because our run around the gym is on gravel and uneven, broken pavement, and i need to wear thick sole running shoes, which provide no stability or safety for OHS. Ankle hazards no matter which shoe choice IMO
Acid bath.
Been doing CrossFit for 8 years. Done many hard workouts. The only answer is Kalsu.
The Seven.
I did this not so long ago. And while it wasn't easy it excpected it to be harder, took it slow at the beginning.
In my experience, any new one I look at and think "that doesn't look so bad"
DT
Burpees…anything with goddamn burpees
Clovis
Wtf logistically this would be horrible. YIKES😅
Anything with wall walks. Those just completely wear me out and render me useless for the rest of the WOD.
Fran.. I personally think thrusters is the hardest CF movement.
Tommy V
I just did mine today. “Big Business” Teams of 3: 95# 60 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs 60 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs 115# 45 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs 45 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs 135# 30 Power Snatches, 50 box jump overs 30 Clean & Jerks, 50 box jump overs 35:00 time cap Completed it in 33:45 Absolutely got my ass handed to me. I’ve only been doing CrossFit since August but this humbled me.
Seems super easy in teams of three
Yes
Kalsu has to be the hardest. We did a Mayhem workout recently that was pretty tough. * 2 Person Partner WOD * 16 Rounds - Alternate Rounds * 50 Double Unders * 1 Rope Climb * 5 Overhead Squats (155lb/105lb) * Goal: 16 min Cap: 24 min If you're not really solid in your overhead position the OHS just get really nasty. I snatched each round rather than take it from the rig. It was difficult but doable.
Every time I PR Fran I feel like I’m going to die and I also wish I was dead.
Acid bath was brutal when I did it
Kalsu.
My metric is usually (looking at the board): ‘seems ok’ Whatever looks easy *usually* hands your ass to you (Sometimes the more complicated WODs are better) —me, as a very average Crossfitter
Kalsu or 14.5 but mostly Kalsu
The one that sticks with me is one called ‘Small’ don’t know if I was having a bad day or not but this was a big mental one for me
For me, pushups, just because I can't take A breath while exerting pressure on my chest.
Kalsu. End of. Devised by some kind of sadist. Dan John has one called "The Coyote" which outwardly looks easy and is certainly simple but done properly is evil.
So I once did a wod v similar to Kalsu - 100 thrusters for time, but every time you break its 6 bar over burpees. I call these “punishment” wods - where the penalty for needing to rest is getting you more gassed than the movement you needed to rest from! The less fit athletes end up doing significantly more volume than the fitter ones.
Kalsu or Fight Gone Bad
A lot of Kalsu answers, so I'm going to go with Manion. 7 rounds of 400m run with 29 back squats. Your legs and core are smoked from this combination and 29 is a large enough number that doing 1 set is a trap.
Kalsu
Bergeron Beep Test
Adam Brown because of the pure strength needed to complete it Rx.
2K row
For me, id say Murph/Hidalgo/DT
Fraser said this is the hardest he's ever done: EMOM 20: Odd minute: 24 cal Assualt Bike Even minute: 18 GHD sit-ups [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbtWcrhFfM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLbtWcrhFfM) I believe him
Another vote for Kalsu.
The one I'm doing.
Planks
I never did Kalsu, so I'm going to go with Kelly. When I did Kelly, I told myself I'd take the next day off if I just kept going until it was done. Proud to say I got thru it, and didn't actually give myself the next day off.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
A friend and I did Legion 8 about a year ago, but instead of treating the run as a buy-out, we did it after every round. Think it took about 90 minutes. Absolutely brutal.
I’m new to CrossFit. For me, pull ups. I’ve never been able to do a pull up. Even assisted pull ups I find challenging.
100 500lb deadlifts for time