Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

This workout stacks four consecutive upper-body pressing/skill movements per round, creating severe shoulder fatigue accumulation. Overhead squats demand shoulder stability, then HSPU, bench press, and ring dips all hammer the same muscles with no recovery. The 135/95 OHS requires significant skill under fatigue. By round 3, most athletes will be grinding through HSPU and ring dips with heavily fatigued shoulders, making scaling nearly inevitable.

Benchmark Times for Andrew Brunn

• Elite: <6:30
• Advanced: 7:30-8:45
• Intermediate: 10:15-12:30
• Beginner: >29:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (7/10): Thirty total reps per round across four movements, repeated five times, creates significant muscular endurance demands, especially for the shoulders and triceps across all four movements in sequence.
• Strength (7/10): Overhead squats and bench presses at 135/95 lb require meaningful strength, and handstand push-ups add bodyweight pressing load. Not maximal effort, but strength is a primary limiting factor throughout.
• Flexibility (7/10): Overhead squats demand significant shoulder mobility, thoracic extension, and ankle flexibility. Handstand push-ups require shoulder and wrist mobility. This workout has above-average flexibility requirements compared to most WODs.
• Endurance (4/10): Five rounds of moderate-rep upper body and squat work creates some cardiovascular demand, but the relatively low rep counts and heavy loads limit sustained aerobic output compared to longer conditioning pieces.
• Speed (4/10): For-time format incentivizes moving efficiently through transitions, but heavy loads and technical movements like overhead squats and handstand push-ups naturally limit cycling speed and force deliberate pacing across rounds.
• Power (3/10): Movements are primarily strength-based grinds rather than explosive efforts. Overhead squats and bench presses reward controlled technique over speed, with minimal ballistic or power-dominant movement patterns present.

Movements

• Overhead Squat
• Ring Dip
• Bench Press
• Handstand Push-Up

Scaling Options

Weight reductions: Scale OHS to 95/65 lb or use a PVC/empty barbell if overhead squat mechanics are compromised. Scale bench press to 95/65 lb or 75/55 lb. Movement substitutions: Replace handstand push-ups with pike push-ups (feet elevated on box), seated dumbbell press, or strict dumbbell press at moderate load. Replace ring dips with bar dips, banded ring dips, or box dips. Replace overhead squats with front squats or goblet squats if shoulder mobility is limiting. Volume modifications: Reduce to 3-4 rounds, or reduce ring dips to 8 reps and HSPUs to 4 reps to keep the workout moving. Athletes newer to these movements can run 3 rounds with scaled substitutions to hit the intended stimulus without excessive fatigue accumulation.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot perform at least 5 unbroken overhead squats at Rx weight with solid mechanics, or if you have fewer than 3-5 strict handstand push-ups. If ring dips are not yet in your toolkit, sub bar dips or banded ring dips immediately — kipping through broken ring dips under fatigue is a shoulder injury risk. Prioritize technique over load on every movement here, especially the OHS and HSPUs. The goal is to finish in 12-20 minutes while keeping movement quality intact through all 5 rounds. If you're grinding past 22 minutes or breaking HSPUs into singles by round 2, the stimulus is lost — scale the movement or volume. Intensity is the goal, but not at the expense of shoulder joint safety.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate time domain effort targeting 12-20 minutes. This is a hard sustained effort that challenges upper body pushing strength and skill across four distinct movements. The primary challenge is muscular endurance and skill under fatigue — your shoulders and triceps will be screaming by round 3. Expect the overhead squats to test positional strength and the handstand push-ups to become the limiting factor as fatigue accumulates. This workout builds upper body pushing capacity and the ability to cycle through technical movements when tired.

Coach Insight

The key strategic insight here is that all four movements are shoulder-dominant, so managing shoulder fatigue is everything. Start conservatively — rounds 1 and 2 should feel almost too easy. The overhead squats are low volume (3 reps) so treat them as a technical reset and breath before the push-dominant work. On handstand push-ups, break early — sets of 3-3 or even 2-2-2 from the start is smarter than going unbroken in round 1 and hitting a wall in round 3. Bench press at 135/95 is moderate load but your triceps will already be pre-fatigued, so consider 5-4 or 6-3 splits rather than chasing unbroken sets. Ring dips are last and will feel brutal — use a controlled kip if needed and break into 6-6 or 4-4-4. Transitions between movements should be deliberate but not slow — keep rest between movements to 15-20 seconds max. Common mistakes: going unbroken on HSPUs early and dying by round 3, rushing the OHS setup and losing position, and underestimating how much the ring dips compound shoulder fatigue. Keep your elbows tight on bench press and lock out fully on ring dips.

Benchmark Notes

Five rounds of 3 overhead squats and 9 bench presses at 135/95 lb, 6 handstand push-ups and 12 ring dips: an all-pressing workout. Handstand push-ups and ring dips set the pace, and moving between the bar, bench and rings costs time. L5 (12:30-15 min) is about 3 minutes a round with the dips in sets of 4. L10 (under 6:30) keeps everything unbroken.

Modality Profile

4 movements total: Handstand Push-Up and Ring Dip are Gymnastics (bodyweight), Overhead Squat and Bench Press are Weightlifting (external load). 2G/2W = 50/50 split.

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