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How do you no-rep a rower?[/caption] Better than all of that is the rep scheme as applied to the movements. For many people, 19 unbroken wall-ball shots are doable—at least in the first round. But I also saw many people dig deep to go unbroken in later rounds, so 19 really is a great number—a reward dangled at the end of slightly more work than you want to do. Even for people who didn’t go unbroken, 19 isn’t a huge, spirit-crushing number, and it encourages you do use as few sets as possible simply to be rid of the irritation. For those who absolutely hate wall balls, they’re already more than halfway finished when they hit double digits.  Wall balls also have a maximum pace determined by gravity: No matter how fast you squat and throw, physics still provides a rest break as the ball rises, stops moving for an instant and is delivered back to you by Sir Isaac Newton. That’s why the fittest athletes can do wall balls forever: They recover while the ball is in the air. You might not think wall balls are “rest,” but consider the happy feeling as the ball leaves your hands to the weight of the bar on your shoulders as you rest between thrusters. Pair the ball work with the rower, a piece of equipment that allows you to generate huge amounts of power in short bursts. And it comes with a chair. That means you can choose your level of suffering as you work, but you can’t really rest. I don’t think I saw anyone sit on the rower and rest much before starting. Most people started pulling no matter how tired they were; those who were more fatigued just pulled slower—but they still pulled. Overall, here’s what I saw: I saw some people doing unbroken sets before rushing to the rower go pull the fastest pace that would still allow another unbroken set. That’s a formula for impressive levels of sustained intensity. I also saw other people doing sets that were slightly out of their comfort zone because “it’s only 19 reps.” They might do 10-9, 8-6-5, 5-5-5-4 or some other scheme,  but they were usually working hard to get the work done in as few sets as possible. Then they passed on rest to get on the rower and pull. In other words, they stayed moving most of the time. That’s another great formula for intensity. So 19.1 found a way to keep people of all fitness levels pushing just out of their comfort zone for 15 minutes with two complementary movements. That definitely isn’t a good workout. It’s a great workout.

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