The Regionals have came and gone. The athletes have given their best in all regions and it was extremely motivating to see them perform live at the Meridian Regionals. (And why you should at least visit them once you can read here). 

Post Regionals, however, you get that itch: “I have to train more, harder, better, smarter.” For most crossfiters it’s back to training in their usual box, but what do you do if you are still on your after-Regionals holiday? You do a drop-in. And that’s exactly what Andrada did in Barcelona at Crossfit PobleNou. She was lucky to have a friend who already trains there, so she just went on his recommendation. No need for research upfront!

crossfit poblenou

The box is easy to reach by foot and it is within 20 minutes walking from Sagrada Familia. Their equipment: amazing (!) rowers, assault bikes, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells and the list goes on. Moreover, they have also a basement with lockers and a gym area, where you can work on your technique and skills. With the Spanish heat, that basement is absolute h-e-a-v-e-n for training.

the wod

I was there for the 18:00 class, which in most boxes is rather crowded. Here there were about 15 people in the class and two trainers. They took about 10 minutes at the beginning of the class to explain all the movements, all the scaled versions and how the class was going to go. The focus of the WOD was to work on skills and try not to go for time, but for quality.

Given that my drop-in was 2 days after the Regionals, the coaches were also inspired and we had a the pleasure of doing one of those workouts. More specific: we were about to do event 5,  which includes:

21-15-9 reps for time of:
Muscle-ups
Single-arm overhead squats

Men use an 80-lb. dumbbell
Women use a 55-lb. dumbbell
Time cap: 11 minutes

Because I cannot yet do a pull-up, I was initially frustrated with the wod when I saw all the pull-ups / muscle ups. However, I decided to have fun and once again work towards getting that first pull up.

Starting the first part of the wod with skills, this was an absolute shoulder killer with plenty of banded pull-ups and chin-up holds. Then came the WOD: a scaled version of it may look not so demanding, but trust me: if you push yourself for the heavy scaled version, you will fill that shoulder burn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end we all wrote our names and time on the board and dragged our sweaty selves to the stretching area. Nice touch for the after wod: the vending machine at Crossfit Poblenou has tape (for only 3 euros) for those unlucky fellows who forget their grips at home when there is a hand-killer WOD…

spanish heat

Since I was staying Barcelona for 5 days, I decided to do another drop in at Crossfit Poblenou, but this time during the Open Gym. Which got me to this note to self: don’t ever, EVER train in Spain in summer at 12:00 p.m.! Only do that if you have a basement gym; oh wait, Crossfit Poblenou has one! 🙂

This being said: I highly recommend Crossfit Poblenou if you are ever looking or a crossfit box in Barcelona. They have all the crossfit toys you need for a good workout; good trainers and most importantly a cool and cold gym for your open gym session. And afterwards you can have an amazing vegan meal at All you eat is love on just a 7 min walk from the box!

nice to know

• A drop-in at Crossfit Poblenou costs 15 euro’s.
• They host an open gym on Sundays from 10-12h.
• They offer different crossfit classes for kids in the ranges 5-11 and 12-18 years.
• You can find Crossfit Poblenou at Juan de Austria, 95 Local 2, Barcelona

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