High-skill gymnastics (HSPU), heavy barbell loading for thrusters and deadlifts, and significant grip demands stack up over 7 rounds and 49 total reps per movement. Most athletes face 35–60 minutes of work with minimal rest. The combination of volume, loading, and skill places this firmly in the “extremely hard” category, demanding robust stamina and pacing.
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This is Kalsu, a notoriously brutal workout. The combination of heavy thrusters (135/95) with forced-pace burpees creates a devastating fatigue cycle. The EMOM format prevents adequate recovery between burpee sets while thrusters must be completed in diminishing windows. Most athletes hit a severe wall around 60-70 reps, turning this into a 30-40 minute grind that tests both strength and mental fortitude.
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Massive volume (600 total reps) with 300 burpees intertwined with 300 dumbbell reps at 50/35 lb drives long duration and cumulative fatigue. Movement variety taxes shoulders, hips, and midline, while man makers and strict presses significantly slow pace. Expect 50–90 minutes for most, demanding relentless pacing, grip/shoulder stamina, and high mental resilience.
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A long chipper with eight 400m runs (2 miles total) and seven demanding sets of 20, including heavy deadlifts, technical overhead squats, and chest-to-bar pull-ups. The combination of volume, heavy loading, grip fatigue, and sustained pacing pushes most athletes beyond 35 minutes, often past 45 minutes, making it an extremely challenging test of endurance and stamina.
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Huge mixed-modal volume across seven stations for three rounds, with two high-rep barbell pieces and a bodyweight back squat each round. Total work includes 90 wall-balls, 90 SDHP, 90 push presses, 90 box jumps, 90 push-ups, 90 calories of rowing, and 30 reps of bodyweight back squat—pushing past 40 minutes for many.
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Six long rounds combine high-rep barbell cycling, strict pulling, and repeated 400 m runs. Total volume is massive: 180 air squats, 114 power cleans, 42 strict pull-ups, and 2.4 km of running. Grip and midline fatigue compound across 45–60+ minutes, demanding advanced stamina, pacing, and mechanics to finish within a typical one-hour cap.
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Huge total volume across five dumbbell movements for seven rounds creates a long, grinding effort with significant cumulative fatigue. Movement complexity is moderate but includes unilateral overhead work, which taxes stability. Expect 60–90 minutes for most, with intense grip, midline, and shoulder endurance demands. Load is self-selected, but volume alone makes this extremely hard.
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The Don is a high-volume, long-duration chipper: 10 movements with 66 reps each (660 total). While loads are moderate to light, cumulative fatigue, grip demand, and repeated hip hinge/pulling make it punishing. Expect 45–90 minutes for most, with significant pacing and strategy required to avoid early redline and excessive rest later.
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Whitten combines five movements for high total volume across five long rounds, plus 2,000 meters of running. The workout includes 440 weighted/bodyweight reps with significant posterior chain and shoulder cycling. Most athletes will work 40–60 minutes, demanding aerobic endurance, muscular stamina, and mental grit with minimal opportunities for rest. Movement complexity is moderate but sustained output is brutally high.
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Heavy dumbbells with a weight vest across 10 rounds creates high total volume and sustained lower-body fatigue. The triplet has no true rest: devil presses spike heart rate, lunges tax midline and legs, and vested squats accumulate quickly. Expect 40–70+ minutes for many athletes. Movement complexity is moderate, but the loading, vest, and duration make it a brutal grinder.
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Enormous bodyweight volume (100 burpees, 200 push-ups, 300 lunges, 200 air squats) paired with 1.6 km of running creates a prolonged, high-fatigue grind. The limiting factors are upper-body and leg stamina, not skill or loading. Most athletes will work 45–75+ minutes, demanding tight pacing, smart partitioning, and excellent aerobic capacity to avoid severe muscular failure and cramping.
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Enormous volume (450 barbell reps plus 1.6 km running) with varied barbell patterns challenges stamina, shoulder endurance, and mobility. The strict press and overhead squat sections slow athletes dramatically despite light loading. Movement complexity is moderate-high, transitions accumulate fatigue, and total duration often exceeds one hour for average athletes. This combination puts it firmly in the “Extremely Hard” category.
Scaling suggestions available
