Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Extremely Hard

This workout combines two elite-level movements at brutal volume. The 31 reps of power snatches at 80/55kg is already a significant barbell cycling challenge, but pairing it with 31 bar muscle-ups creates a devastating grip and shoulder demand. The descending rep scheme offers no real recovery — the opening round alone (31+31) would take most athletes 10+ minutes. Bar muscle-ups require high skill and strength that most average CrossFitters lack entirely, and the heavy snatch load compounds shoulder fatigue directly into the kipping demands of the muscle-up. Multiple limiting factors hit simultaneously with no built-in rest.

Benchmark Times for Corporal Ian Plank

• Elite: <7:00
• Advanced: 10:00-14:00
• Intermediate: 19:00-25:00
• Beginner: >62:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Power (8/10): Both movements are inherently explosive. Power snatches require maximal hip extension and bar speed, while bar muscle-ups demand explosive pulling power to clear the bar.
• Stamina (7/10): The opening set of 31 reps for both movements demands significant muscular endurance, particularly in the posterior chain, shoulders, and grip before transitioning to lower rep sets.
• Strength (6/10): Power snatches at 80/55 kg represent a moderately heavy load requiring real strength expression, especially as fatigue accumulates across the high-rep opening round.
• Flexibility (6/10): Power snatches demand overhead mobility, hip flexibility, and thoracic extension. Bar muscle-ups require shoulder mobility and lat flexibility for efficient kipping mechanics.
• Speed (6/10): For Time format incentivizes fast cycling, especially on the 10 and 3 rep sets. Efficient bar cycling on snatches and quick transitions between movements are critical for performance.
• Endurance (5/10): The descending rep scheme (31-10-3) limits sustained aerobic demand, but the high initial round of 31 reps creates meaningful cardiovascular stress before volume drops significantly.

Movements

• Power Snatch
• Bar Muscle-Up

Scaling Options

Weight: Reduce power snatch to 60/40 kg (75% Rx) for athletes who can cycle the barbell efficiently but need load management, or 50/35 kg for developing lifters. Movement substitutions: Replace bar muscle-ups with chest-to-bar pull-ups, then standard kipping pull-ups, then banded pull-ups or ring rows for athletes still building pulling strength. For power snatches, substitute power cleans at the same load if snatch mechanics are not yet reliable under fatigue. Volume: Reduce to 21-15-9 rep scheme to match the Fran-style stimulus and keep the workout in the intended time domain. Athletes newer to both movements can scale to 15-10-5.

Scaling Explanation

Scale the weight if you cannot perform at least 5-7 unbroken power snatches at Rx load when fresh — cycling 31 reps requires efficiency, not just strength. Scale bar muscle-ups if you cannot string together 3+ unbroken reps when fresh; substituting chest-to-bar or kipping pull-ups preserves the pulling volume and intensity without the technical barrier. Prioritize movement quality over Rx status — a sloppy snatch at heavy load under fatigue is a high injury risk, particularly to the lower back and shoulders. The goal is to finish in 8-15 minutes with consistent effort across all three rounds. If you anticipate going beyond 20 minutes at Rx, scale the rep scheme to 21-15-9 or reduce load to keep the sprint stimulus intact. Intensity is the priority — a scaled version done fast and hard delivers far more training value than an Rx version done slowly with degraded mechanics.

Intended Stimulus

This is a descending rep scheme sprint workout designed to be completed in 8-15 minutes. The large opening set of 31 reps demands sustained power output and mental grit, while the decreasing rep counts reward athletes who pace intelligently early. The primary challenge is a combination of heavy barbell cycling skill and high-skill gymnastics — both movements demand technical precision under fatigue. Energy demand is short burst power transitioning into a hard sustained effort, taxing the phosphocreatine and glycolytic systems heavily. Expect significant shoulder and lat fatigue accumulating across both movements.

Coach Insight

The round of 31 is where this workout is won or lost — resist the urge to go unbroken early. For power snatches at 80/55 kg, plan strategic breaks from the start: consider sets of 10-10-11 or 8-8-8-7 in the first round, cycling the bar with a consistent rhythm rather than grinding slow singles. Keep your hips aggressive and avoid muscling the bar — a strong hip extension and fast turnover will preserve your shoulders for the bar muscle-ups. On bar muscle-ups, the kip timing is everything under fatigue: drive your heels back aggressively, stay hollow, and think 'hips to bar' before the turnover. In the round of 31, break muscle-ups into sets of 5-6 with short rests rather than going to failure. The round of 10 should feel like you're picking up speed, and the round of 3 is an all-out sprint — leave nothing in the tank. Common mistakes: going too fast on the snatches in round 1 and hitting a wall mid-set, losing bar path on the snatch when fatigued (bar drifts forward), and missing the kip timing on muscle-ups causing failed reps that drain energy. Transition quickly between movements — every second on the floor counts.

Benchmark Notes

31-10-3 power snatches at 80/55 kg and bar muscle-ups: 44 of each. 80 kg is near an average athlete's power-snatch max, so the snatches go as singles with misses. L5 (25-32 min) grinds singles and breaks the muscle-ups into ones and twos. L10 (under 7 min) touch-and-goes the snatches and keeps the muscle-ups in sets of 5+.

Modality Profile

Two movements: Bar Muscle-Up (Gymnastics - bodyweight pulling movement) and Power Snatch (Weightlifting - barbell movement with external load). 1 Gymnastics + 1 Weightlifting = 50/50 split.

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