21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
♀ 125-lb barbell
♂ 185-lb barbell
Compare to 250513.
Post times to comments.
Stimulus and Strategy:
Today’s workout is a weightlifting and monostructural couplet. Use caution when pushing the pace on the bike. That strategy may make the bench presses more difficult than necessary. Instead, adjust your pace so you can maintain bigger chunks of reps on the bench. The loading of the barbell should be moderate to heavy and allow you to maintain consistent sets of 5-7 reps. Avoid pushing to failure on the bench presses unless you have a spotter. If you do not have a spotter, take extra time to rest between sets and only perform reps you know you can complete.
Scaling:
Reduce the loading and volume of the barbell. Reduce the calories on the bike.
To reduce the complexity of the bench presses, perform dumbbell bench presses or dumbbell floor presses.
In case of injury or limitation, perform the calories on any machine available. For the bench presses, perform single-arm dumbbell bench presses or push-ups.
Intermediate option:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
♀ 95-lb barbell
♂ 135-lb barbell
Beginner option:
15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Dumbbell bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
♀ 15-lb dumbbells
♂ 20-lb dumbbells
Coaching cues:
To set your upper back into position for the bench press, think about pulling your lats down into your back pockets and turning your arms so the bony part of your elbows are facing away from you.
Resources:
The Bench Press
Rogue Echo Bike
Dumbbell Bench Press
Find a gym near you:
View the CrossFit map
Comments on 251021
192 Comments
50kg barbell
20:08
Compared to 250513:
60kg barbell
27:07
52/M/5.6”/220lbs
Back at CrossFit after about 7 years off
16:13 Rx
compare to 250513 16:49 Rx
slight improvement, only changes were slight quicker bike pace and smaller sets earlier on bench.
39 / M / 5'9" / 140lbs
85lbs
WaterRower
39:19
Still too much weight for the intended "consistent sets of 5-7 reps."
16:50 - scaled
Used 55# DB
16:54, started at 135 and dropped to 115 at round of 12
24:04 - scaled to 135# rev grip BP; shaved exactly 2:00 off previous
M/59/5’9”/213
17:44 row
16:56Just a tad too heavy to push a good pace but went RX. https://youtu.be/0JMJJAOP58A?si=22GzUVRRIw7vRV38
18-15-12-9-6-3
Scaled
60# bench press
Echo bike
14:30
12:56 (intermediate)
135#
Echo Bike calories
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Bench Press (137 lb) + Row Calories
Result: 30:25 min | Rx’d
A workout that burns as much in the chest as in the mind.
Each round felt heavier, but every rep was a choice — to push, to breathe, to keep going.
💭 “The body gets tired. The mind decides.” ⚡️
https://youtube.com/shorts/4kMk3cGU5Yg?si=YNT8FV2E66kmGGAz
Body weight down. 😶
RX 10:16
#25 dumbbells
Cals on janky rower
19:22
16:16 intermediate.
I was surprised how much the Echo bike affected my bench press.
M/46/RX
16:13
held 5 reps min
41/m
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
155lb barbell
Time: 24:20
40 Kg BP
Evolve "assault" airbike
10:57
Subbed the Echo Bike for the rower. Bench press at 155, bumped up to 165 in later sets. Couldn’t hit unbroken sets until the 12s, then managed to go unbroken the rest of the way. Tough grind but solid push!
155lb Bench Press & Rx Echo bike.
Total time was 29:11.05
Changed weight 3x on bench press to maintain challenging 5-7 rep sets. Averaged the weight to 155lbs.
15 to 3 @ 135
28:05
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses 75lb
Calories on the bike
23:18
37 YOM
5’11”, 195#
reps for time of:
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Bench presses @ 70# DB’s
30-25-20-15-13-10-7
Calories on the Rower
15:56 on time.
M/41 RX
16:40. going unbroken the first 2 rounds really screwed me after that.
Redid it today RX. 16:30
15:09
Scaled to #110, elliptical for calories
33:00 min
85# bench press
20 kg bar (shoulder rehab)
M/37/190
26:20 Rx
M/37/220
neighborhood gym has limited options so I did
DB bench press (55)
calorie row
14:29
@Coastie, the ghosts in the machine just refused to let me comment on your post, despite many attempts, so:
Excellent! Heavier & faster! Win win!
Take that ghosts! Awesome job!
Thanks!
RX 20:33
21, 18, 15, 12, 9,6,3
135# bench press
Calories bike
21:54
Rx 23:59
Bench press was not moving well today.
Commented on: 250513
Rx 22:52
M28
18:38 switched to 165 after first set
M 5'8" 37 155lbs
due to hotel fitness center limitations subbed treadmill and 50-lb dumbells (heaviest they had)
little over 18 minutes
13:21 scaled to intermediate. 4:30mins improvement from last go. Better pacing as much as better capacity.
12:58 #140
29:54 intermediário
13:10 @57kg
Previous time: 26:00 @ 155 lbs
This time: 21:02 @ 165 lbs
Still subbed bike for rower
tiempos de ronda
R1 | 04:10 |
R2 | 05:42 | +92 s
R3 | 03:59 | -103 s
R4 | 03:31 | -28 s
R5 | 02:25 | -66 s
R6 | 01:26 | -59 s
R7 | 00:59 | -27 s
Ø 03:10
Tiempo restante: 00:01 =22:13
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Wall-ball shots
♂ 115-lb barbell
20-lb medicine ball
Rxd 33:07
Male 53 intermediate weight 16:42
Intermediate weight
Sub for bike, box jumps at same rep
16:30
75lb bench press
-15:13 with Elliptical; no echo bike
M 55/210/6’
Intermediate weight and row instead of bike.
17:50.
Intermediate scaling @20:34
CF classic warm up 2 rds
tired going in
77 lbs bench press
37.54
41/M/245 6’6”
16:36 Rx.
Nice!
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
55# for first two rds then #45
Assault bike
45lb bench press
calories on rower, no bike
12:32
Rx’d
#135
Time: 25:57
Modified
Don’t have a bar, plates or echo bike. Used two 35# KBs and ran. Changed up the reps to make up for missing weight.
33-30-27-24-22-20-18-16-12-10-6-4
bench press w/35#KBs
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 cal run
Time- 25:19.18
did the remaining five bench press rounds with a shuttle run in between. Finished with 126 calories on the run.
29M/102kg/5’10”
RX: 19:18
BP: broken into 1/3 of total reps for each set (except for 6 and 3)
new to CrossFit, definitely need to get conditioning up
M/49:6’4”/220#
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
pushups
rowing calories
10:53
19:55 RX
185# BP and Echo Bike Cals.
Had to take more breaks than planned going further into BP.
Rx 19:40
*3-5 reps on all Bench sets.
*Avg. around 65 RPM on Echo Bike.
**Previous time was 23:55, this time around I purposely did mostly smaller sets in the 3-4 range and Echo Biked slower to not affect the Bench. It payed off!
Great improvement! Good strategy!
21-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the rower
155-Ib barbell
28 minutes
M/65/176
Hockey 🏒 tonight
Rx 13:59
Excellent! So fast @ Rx!
55lb bar
sub row for bike
Nice job!
Intermediate loading.
Did the bench presses on the floor rather on the bench.
51yo, m, 25:00 with 115lbs
b.press 40kg
burpees push up (repleacing ecobike)
24:31 intermediate loading with rowing calories at 0 damper. 7’s through 21’s, 6’s through 18’s, 5’s through 15’s, 6’s through 12, 5/4, 3/2/1, 2/1 (starting missing reps on the 6’s and got PI$$ED, which didn’t seem to help any)
Dad: 11:31 for 18-15-12-9-6-3 with 30lb barbell and rowing cals (after a 4 min test he did a set of 21 unbroken and cooled down with 21 cals)
Rx
Outstanding!
39 M / 190lbs / 70”
17:07 RX
Came out too hot and should have stuck to the 5-7 reps per set on the bench presses and paid for it in the end. More sets of smaller reps than I was planning.
Still a great time!
23,39 RX'd
3x7 21cal
3x6 18 cal
3x5 15 cal
3x4 12 cal
3x3 9 cal
3x2 6 cal
2+1 3 cal
Speed @70 rpm
RX 34‘41
With 165lbs and rower cals: 17:24
(no bike)
250513: with 155lbs and rower cals: 18:08
Bumped up the weight this time to see what happens. Happy with the results.
last workout on May 13:
24:50
2 x 33lbs dumbbell (15kg) for bench press
today a 33% increase in weight and 1:20 taken off the clock!
today, scaled Intermediate - Barbell with no spotter
88lbs Barbell
23:30
Awesome!
Good to see! 👏🏼
Nice increases!
Scaled to
95# bp
row cal
14:12
m/55/180
Shoulder felt ok--appropriate scale for me
Did 5x3 bs w/170# after
Great work, Mike!
38:04 Rx/M
FnA cotton.
total time on bike: 5:00
total time pressing: 6:00
total time resting: 27:04 ; )
Haha! @Fkin A Cotton
Great work!
Bench @60kg
Bike (dont have an echo bike)
46:34 min.
Struggling with bench press after couple of months without training. I should take intermittent.
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike ( rowing machine concept 2)
♀ 125-lb barbell
♂ 185-lb barbell=84kg
M 53 76kg 175cm
105-lbs bar and calorie rows
13:54
Last time 95-lbs in 15:32. Today +10.5% more weight and -10.5% faster time = +21% improvement.
Bravo Michael! More weight and faster in a fairly short time between the workouts. You hit the bifecta!
52yo f
65# bar/row
18:12
Beginner option:
15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Dumbbell bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
25-lb dumbbells
Total time: 9 minuts 30 seconds
25kg bench
25:29
¡Gran mejora!
Rxd at the Y. Bench with no spotter.
31:00.
should have probably done less weight as pretty much every round was 3-4 sets with some healthy breaks. Had a failed rep in the round of 6 that I had to wiggle my way out from under and then finished that round with singles. The bike was quick for the most part, just a lot of slow benching.
Just saw my compare to, was at 23:58 but subbed in rower calories. No way I should’ve been this slow today with the bike. Just didn’t have the juice I suppose.
not looking back at my results yesterday was a benefit but today not so much!
Great job still hitting this Rx, that's heavy for that many reps! I think I had a bit of a juice problem today too:)
That’s a ton of reps at a high load. Good on ya for gutting thru it.
Great job going Rx though!
Intermediate 12:46
Awesome!
Intermediate: 12:46
BP scaled to 75# BB-no rack or spotter
Cals rowed-no bike
13:43
Compare to 250513-15:29 same set up
Dang! That's major improvement. Way to go, Favo!
That's a hellavu improvement, Favo, way to go!
Nice improvement Favo!
Thanks, all! I think my rowing cals got faster even though I didn't go up in weight on the BP.
Still-healing shoulder wasn't having BP today, but SP was fine, so Rx rep scheme for shoulder press (65#) and row (cals)
16:54
Starting about the round of 15 my delts felt numb. Tomorrow's gonna be interesting.
250513: 22:33, w/ 105# BP and row cals
Great job on the time and still getting in the work despite the shoulder being cranky! Hope it heals faster!
The Jim Express keeps rolling!
Well done!
Modified
95lb Push Press
Row Calories
16:38
24:03
Did round 21,18 and 9 of 15 Rx and then had to scale to 70kg as the sets were going to be too small for the remaining time.
Calories on bike
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses: 100kg
Calories on Airbike
14:12
Rx
15:27
Crushed it!
Fantastic!
Monster!
22:44
135 pounds
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike130-lbs barbell
Rogue Echo Bike
22:00
Nice time, at a good weight.
Great job, Charles!
21 bench press @155
21 bike cals
18 incline DB bench @75s
18 bike cals
15 push press @40s
15 bike cals
12 bench press @155
12 bike cals
9 incline DB bench @75s
9 bike cals
6 push press @40s
6 bike cals
3 bench press @175
3 bike cals
Interesting mod, hitting the chest and shoulders from multiple angles.
Yeah, 84 reps of just bench is too much volume for that position, so i switched it up nicely. Great workout.
Intermediate using an Echo/Assault style bike by Hammer Strength
Either 19:29 or 24:29 (couldn't accurately remember time on clock at start but it's probably the later of the two)
250513: 18:59, intermediate subbing row for bike
BP still the main crux in time. Intentionally broke a little more with short breaks but that bike was another level that crushed me, impacting my pressing. That HS bike was trash. I rarely blame equipment, but I have used plenty of Echo/Assault bikes over the years and today's HS bike was in no way measuring speed, power, cal, etc. accurately - and this was not the first time. I told the gym staff they need to replace all of them with Echo or Assault - tried and true in performance and reliability. Glad I still did it with the bike instead of subbing the rower again as the stimulus was different, but considering retesting with the rower or an actual Echo bike just to see.
Interesting...most Hammer Strength equipment is pretty solid, in my (very dated) experience. I'd like/hate to do this on an Echo or AB; with all the pushing on the bike's handles, the shoulders would be even more fried. The nautical version is as demanding metabolically, but is much more a classic 1 push, 1 pull workout vice a 1 push, 1 push/pull.
Never used a Hammer Strength bike, but the Y I went to had an Assault which I feel like is very similar to an Echo.
I tried to use my legs as much as possible during those parts of this workout to save my shoulders!
Jim, I would agree with you on Hammer Strength for lifting equipment, but I'm not impressed with my cardio equipment experience so far. I was digging out on that thing and topped out at roughly 165W power output, taking a little more than 2 minutes for that 21 cal - same effort on an Echo/Assault bike would hit 500+W peak and take a minute or less (similar time on a rower). You are spot on about there being an increase demand on the shoulders using one of those bikes, hence my BP struggles compared to last time.
James, I tried like hell to use my legs as much as possible to save the shoulders but that bike was just forcing me to use way more of my arms than intended to eke out those cals.
Great work, Link. Too bad you had trash equipment, you probably got the lower time, don’t be humble lol
Nice job despite the faulty equipment! I agree with CN about you most likely getting the faster time!
251021
Rx 20:07
Morning handicap...dropped the weight 4 times(again)
250513
Rx 18:56
...dropped the weight 4 times
Still a good time at Rx weight!
M52/5'11/225#
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Bench presses: 185#
Calories on the rower
21:39
45# 27:47. Last 2 rnds 55#
Nice going up in weight in last rounds!
135# bench all 84 reps + bike
Intermediate. 135 bench
23:54
DBs
Bench press (105 lbs)
Cals on assault bike
13:53
doubled the calories to use a regular, cycle type of bike with 6 out of 10, as well as 2*20kg dumbbells.
23:24
135#
17:37
140 lbs
Spin bike level 6 @ 80 rpm, 6 sec / cal
Compare to 250513: 17:17 @ 135 lbs
row 28-24-20-16-12-8-4 cal
22:50
Pushups
KB swings
13:25
95 pounds
Bench press
Renagade row
15:35
19:51 - Female - 85 lbs
Total time: 26 mins 20 seconds
Bench press : 75kg ( from round of 15 onwards)
Running economy started with 8.5 averaging 10 to 11 in the last 2 to 3 Rounds
Age 39
Intermediate 24.49 min
20.55 Rx Male 51 years 97kg
Scaled 25:55
105 lb bench press
26:09
Same with Lauri
M44 / 96 kg
Not able to do barbell bench so opted for dumbbell bench presses
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps in 13 min
Bench presses
Calories on the Echo bike
20 kg dumbbells