Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

This 40-minute workout combines four demanding AMRAPs with minimal rest. The opening 12-minute AMRAP alone is brutal: heavy deadlifts (140/95kg) paired with bar-over burpees and handstand push-ups creates immediate grip, shoulder, and cardiovascular fatigue. Subsequent AMRAPs compound cumulative exhaustion — front squats, power cleans, and a finishing thruster/pull-up couplet ensure no muscle group recovers. The 1-minute rest periods are insufficient for meaningful recovery, making this Very Hard for average athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): High cumulative rep counts across all four AMRAPs with compound movements like burpees, push-ups, wall balls, and thrusters create significant muscular endurance demands, especially in the shoulders, legs, and posterior chain.
• Endurance (8/10): Four consecutive AMRAPs totaling 37 minutes of work with minimal rest creates sustained cardiovascular demand. The varied movements and continuous AMRAP format keep heart rate elevated throughout the entire session.
• Speed (7/10): AMRAP format incentivizes fast transitions and efficient movement cycling. The final 6-minute thruster and pull-up AMRAP especially rewards quick cycling, while earlier AMRAPs require pacing strategy to sustain output.
• Strength (6/10): Heavy deadlifts at 140kg, front squats at 100kg, and moderate power cleans introduce genuine strength demands. However, the AMRAP format and rep ranges shift emphasis toward strength endurance rather than maximal force production.
• Flexibility (6/10): Handstand push-ups require shoulder mobility and thoracic extension, front squats demand ankle and hip flexibility, and wall balls need full squat depth. Above-average mobility is required across multiple movement patterns.
• Power (6/10): Power cleans, bar-over burpees, and shoulder-to-overheads require explosive hip extension and fast bar cycling. However, fatigue from sustained AMRAPs reduces peak power output, blending power with strength endurance.

Movements

• Wall Ball
• Thruster
• Push-Up
• Front Squat
• Air Squat
• Power Clean
• Shoulder-to-Overhead
• Deadlift
• Handstand Push-Up
• Pull-Up
• Burpee Over Bar

Scaling Options

AMRAP 1 — Reduce deadlift to 100/70 kg or 70% of 1RM. Sub HSPUs with pike push-ups, box pike push-ups, or a reduced range of motion using plates as targets. Bar over burpees can become step-over burpees. AMRAP 2 — Reduce front squat to 70/50 kg; sub goblet squats if barbell cycling is an issue. Push-ups can be done from knees. Wall ball load can drop to 14/10 lb or reduce reps to 6. AMRAP 3 — Reduce power clean to 40/30 kg; sub dumbbell power cleans if needed. Shoulder-to-overhead can become a push press or dumbbell press. AMRAP 4 — Reduce thruster weight to 30/20 kg. Sub banded pull-ups, ring rows, or jumping pull-ups. Consider reducing reps to 10-10 for newer athletes. Volume modification: newer athletes can reduce all rep schemes by 25% across the board.

Scaling Explanation

Scale AMRAP 1 if you cannot perform at least 3 unbroken deadlifts at Rx weight with solid mechanics, or if you cannot do 4+ strict HSPUs or 6+ kipping HSPUs. The goal is to complete at least 3 full rounds in 12 minutes — if that's not realistic, reduce load and sub the gymnastics. Scale AMRAP 2 if front squats at Rx weight require more than 2 sets per round — fatigue from AMRAP 1 will compound quickly. Scale AMRAP 4 if you cannot do at least 8 unbroken thrusters at Rx — the sprint stimulus is lost if you're grinding singles. Prioritize movement quality on the heavy barbell work in AMRAPs 1 and 2 above all else; intensity can be chased in AMRAPs 3 and 4 where loads are lighter. The overall target effort is 85-90% sustained output — athletes should feel like they left everything on the floor after AMRAP 4, not after AMRAP 1.

Intended Stimulus

This is a descending AMRAP ladder designed to test your ability to sustain high output across multiple time domains — from a longer moderate effort down to a short sprint finish. The four segments target different energy systems: AMRAP 1 (12 min) demands strength-skill endurance with heavy barbell work and gymnastics; AMRAP 2 (10 min) is a moderate-paced grind mixing squatting, pushing, and conditioning; AMRAP 3 (8 min) rewards cycling efficiency on the barbell; and AMRAP 4 (6 min) is a lung-burning sprint to finish. The cumulative fatigue is the point — each AMRAP should feel progressively harder to sustain even as the time shortens. Primary challenges shift from strength and skill early on to pure conditioning and mental toughness at the end.

Coach Insight

AMRAP 1 — Treat the deadlifts as a strength piece; singles or doubles are smart at 140/95 kg. Bar over burpees set your pace — don't sprint them, find a sustainable rhythm. Break HSPUs early (sets of 4-4 or 5-3) before your shoulders fail you. AMRAP 2 — Front squats at 100/70 kg will feel heavier than expected after AMRAP 1; use the rack and take deliberate singles if needed. Push-ups should be unbroken — if they're not, scale the load or reps. Wall balls are your recovery movement here; breathe and move. AMRAP 3 — This is your barbell cycling AMRAP; the load drops so use touch-and-go on power cleans where possible. Shoulder-to-overhead at only 3 reps should be unbroken every round. Air squats are active rest — use them to breathe. AMRAP 4 — This is a sprint. Thrusters at 40/30 kg should be done in large sets (10-5 or unbroken if possible). Pull-ups will be the limiter — break them into 5-5-5 or 8-7 to avoid burning out. Transitions between movements must be fast. Common mistakes: going too hard on AMRAP 1 burpees and dying on HSPUs, failing to break HSPUs early enough, and underestimating cumulative fatigue heading into AMRAP 4.

Benchmark Notes

The primary limiters are the heavy deadlifts and handstand push-ups in AMRAP 1, which severely restrict rounds for most athletes, and the thrusters plus pull-ups in AMRAP 4 under accumulated fatigue. Total score is summed reps across all four AMRAPs; L5 (~21 total rounds) reflects a mid-pack CrossFitter completing roughly 4-5 rounds in AMRAP 1, 6-7 in AMRAP 2, 5-6 in AMRAP 3, and 4-5 in AMRAP 4 with significant breaks on HSPUs and heavy barbell movements.

Modality Profile

11 total movements: Gymnastics (4) = Burpee Over Bar, Handstand Push-Up, Push-Up, Air Squat, Pull-Up — wait, that's 5. Gymnastics: Burpee Over Bar, Handstand Push-Up, Push-Up, Air Squat, Pull-Up = 5 movements. Weightlifting: Deadlift, Front Squat, Wall Ball, Power Clean, Shoulder-to-Overhead, Thruster = 6 movements. No monostructural movements. 5/11 ≈ 45% G → rounded to 40%, 6/11 ≈ 55% W → rounded to 60%. G: 40, M: 0, W: 60.

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