Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Extremely Hard

Even split across 3 athletes, each person faces muscle-ups AND unbroken strict HSPU in the same round — two high-skill gymnastics movements that destroy shoulders. The 90/70kg power cleans and thrusters are near-maximal for average athletes. GHD sit-ups and bar-over burpees add volume and hip flexor fatigue that compounds the gymnastics demands. The 'unbroken' strict HSPU requirement after all preceding work makes this nearly impossible as prescribed for average athletes.

Benchmark Times for Dale Gostick

• Elite: <13:00
• Advanced: 17:30-22:00
• Intermediate: 27:30-34:30
• Beginner: >82:30

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Muscle-ups, GHD sit-ups, bar-over burpees, and strict HSPU accumulate significant muscular endurance demands across upper body pushing, pulling, and core. Heavy barbell work compounds fatigue across all three rounds.
• Strength (8/10): Power cleans and thrusters at 90/70 kg are genuinely heavy loads. Unbroken strict HSPU and muscle-ups require substantial relative strength. This workout sits well above moderate strength demands.
• Power (8/10): Power cleans are explicitly explosive, thrusters require powerful hip drive, and muscle-ups demand rapid hip and pulling power. The majority of movements reward explosive output over slow grinding.
• Endurance (6/10): Three rounds of high-skill, high-intensity movements in a team setting creates sustained cardiovascular demand. The volume and variety keep heart rate elevated throughout, though team rotation provides brief recovery windows.
• Flexibility (6/10): Muscle-ups require shoulder mobility, thrusters demand thoracic extension and overhead stability, GHD sit-ups require hip flexor length, and strict HSPU need solid shoulder and wrist mobility throughout.
• Speed (5/10): Team format allows strategic pacing and rotation, reducing sprint-cycling pressure. However, for-time scoring incentivizes efficient transitions and fast cycling on burpees and GHD sit-ups to minimize total time.

Movements

• Thruster
• Strict Handstand Push-Up
• Power Clean
• GHD Sit-Up
• Muscle-Up
• Burpee Over Bar

Scaling Options

Muscle-ups: Scale to 5 chest-to-bar pull-ups + 5 ring dips, or 8 banded muscle-up transitions, or 8 jumping muscle-ups on low rings. Power Cleans: Scale to 60-70 kg for strong athletes, 50-60 kg for intermediate, or 40 kg for newer athletes — prioritize a weight that allows touch-and-go or fast singles. GHD Sit-Ups: Scale to 15 GHD sit-ups (not full extension) or substitute 25 AbMat sit-ups to avoid excessive DOMS risk for athletes not regularly using GHDs. Bar Over Burpees: Keep as prescribed for most athletes — reduce to 15 reps if the overall time domain is becoming excessive. Thrusters: Same weight scaling as cleans — 60/45 kg for intermediate, 40/30 kg for beginners. Strict HSPUs: Scale to 5 unbroken strict HSPUs, or substitute 8 pike push-ups, 8 box HSPUs (feet elevated), or 8 dumbbell strict press at a challenging load. Volume: Consider 2 rounds for newer athletes or those with limited gymnastics capacity.

Scaling Explanation

Athletes should scale if they cannot perform at least 4 unbroken muscle-ups when fresh, cannot clean 90/70 kg for 3+ reps with solid mechanics, or cannot hold 5 unbroken strict HSPUs. The strict HSPU standard is non-negotiable — if an athlete cannot do them unbroken, scale the reps or movement immediately, as the 'unbroken' requirement means a failed rep costs significant time and energy. GHD sit-ups should be scaled for any athlete who hasn't been doing them regularly in training — 25 reps per round (75 total) is a recipe for severe DOMS that can sideline an athlete for days. Prioritize technique over load on the barbell — a power clean that turns into a muscle clean under fatigue is a back injury waiting to happen. The target time for a competitive team is 28-38 minutes. If a team is projected to exceed 45 minutes, reduce to 2 rounds or scale movements aggressively. The goal is to keep intensity high and rest periods between efforts meaningful but not excessive.

Intended Stimulus

This is a moderate-to-long time domain team workout targeting 25-40 minutes of sustained, high-skill effort. The energy demand is a hard sustained effort with repeated bursts of power — athletes will cycle through gymnastics, heavy barbell cycling, and metabolic conditioning in a way that taxes every system. The primary challenge is skill and strength: muscle-ups, strict HSPUs, and heavy barbell work (90/70 kg cleans and thrusters) demand technical precision even under fatigue. The team format provides built-in rest, but the movements are demanding enough that each athlete's turn will feel like a sprint. Expect lungs burning on burpees and bar over transitions, and shoulders screaming by the time you hit those unbroken strict HSPUs.

Coach Insight

Team strategy is everything here. Divide the work so each athlete knows their order before the clock starts — rotating one athlete at a time through the full round is the cleanest approach, but teams can also split movements if agreed upon beforehand. For the muscle-ups, go unbroken if possible in round 1 but plan for 4-4 or 5-3 splits in later rounds — false grip and aggressive hip drive are key. Power cleans at 90/70 kg should be touch-and-go in round 1 if possible; by round 3, singles with fast turnaround is smart. GHD sit-ups are a sneaky fatigue trap — control the descent and avoid going to full hip extension if athletes aren't conditioned to GHDs, as DOMS can be debilitating. Bar over burpees should be paced steadily — a consistent 1-per-2-second rhythm beats sprinting and dying. Thrusters at this weight are brutal after cleans; take a breath at the top of each rep and drive hard from the bottom. The unbroken strict HSPUs are the workout's final boss — if you break them, you restart. Kick up fresh, lock your core, and use a controlled descent to protect the shoulder. Common mistakes: going out too hot on round 1 muscle-ups and failing reps, underestimating GHD volume, and breaking the strict HSPUs due to accumulated shoulder fatigue from earlier movements.

Benchmark Notes

Teams of three, three rounds of 8 muscle-ups, 5 power cleans and 5 thrusters at 90/70 kg, 25 GHD sit-ups, 25 bar-over burpees and 8 unbroken strict handstand push-ups. The 90-kg thrusters are near an average athlete's max and the unbroken handstand push-ups force retries. L5 (34:30-43 min) is about 11 minutes a round. An elite team needs about 3:30 a round, so L10 starts under 13 min.

Modality Profile

6 movements total: Gymnastics (3) = Muscle-Up, GHD Sit-Up, Strict Handstand Push-Up, Burpee Over Bar; Weightlifting (2) = Power Clean, Thruster. Wait - recounting: Muscle-Up (G), Power Clean (W), GHD Sit-Up (G), Burpee Over Bar (G), Thruster (W), Strict Handstand Push-Up (G). G=4 (Muscle-Up, GHD Sit-Up, Burpee Over Bar, Strict HSPU), W=2 (Power Clean, Thruster), M=0. G=4/6=67%, W=2/6=33%, rounded to G:70, W:30. Adjusted to nearest clean split: G:70, M:0, W:30.

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