Lateral burpees over the dumbbell, dumbbell hang cleans to overhead, and bodyweight walking lunges – CrossFit Open workout 25.1 was a movement triplet, programmed as an AMRAP in 15 minutes.
More than 200,000 people worldwide participated in the workout, with a handful of athletes tackling it together at Riginal CrossFit Nürnberg in Nürnberg, Germany.
The group workout was organized by Adidas, which has its world headquarters located just 20 minutes down the road. And we were behind the scenes for all the action.
- Sydney Wells, Bethany Flores, Jennifer Muir, Ella Wilkinson, Ty Jenkins, Jorge Fernandez, Kaique Cerveny, and Bill Leahy took to the floor under the literal Friday night lights to kick off the 2025 CrossFit season.
The details: While every affiliate has a unique flair, there was no mistaking the fact that we were all celebrating at a German gym.
To mark the event, there were bratwursts, sauerkraut, and rolls for hungry athletes and spectators, as well as German beer and coffee.
Stands were moved in, as the owners knew that affiliate members would want to stick around and watch the main event: eight of the Adidas athletes taking on the workout side by side.
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The Workout
Once tripods and cameras were set to ensure valid scores, the timer began for 15 minutes, and the athletes took off hot. Slowly, they began to leapfrog one another, and we could watch subtly different techniques among the seven.
- Fernandez alternated his dumbbell hang clean and overheads every rep and opted for a strict press as opposed to a push press or a jerk. Some stepped their burpees, some jumped.
- Training partners and friends Muir and Wilkinson seemed to be racing one another, matching paces and hitting their burpees inches apart from one another.
- Flores maintained a steady pace the entire time and never looked less than completely composed.
When the clock stopped, all the athletes collapsed to the floor, completely spent.
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After the dust settled, there were mixed feelings about which component of the workout was the most challenging.
- Sydney Wells felt the dumbbell getting heavy in later rounds.
- A few of them noted that the lunges caught up to them at the very end.
- The men agreed that the round of 24 was when the pain set in.
Afterward, Cerveny and Leahy contemplated doing the workout again. Leahy was anxious to re-run it, even if just as a training piece after the score window closed.
The Community
The elite athletes were meant to be the final heat, but Rich Bos, a senior manager with Adidas, hadn’t been able to grab a spot in the earlier heat alongside fellow staff, content creators, and athlete managers wanting to test the workout.
He was left to take on 25.1 in a final heat of his own — but he wasn’t alone.
Leahy, Fernandez, Jenkins, and the Butter Bros. (Marston Sawyers, Heber Cannon, and Julian Marquez) came to his side to count his reps and hype the crowd. It was a demonstration of community at its strongest and a moment that we’ll all be taking home with us.
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Featured Image: Scott Freymond
