Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

Burpee ring dips combine two demanding movements — the burpee's cardiovascular hit immediately feeds into a strict ring dip, requiring shoulder stability under fatigue. Then overhead squats from the ground demand a snatch or clean-and-press, adding technical skill and heavy loading. The combination of gymnastics skill, cardiovascular demand, and barbell cycling across 2 rounds creates multiple simultaneous limiting factors that will force most average athletes to scale significantly.

Benchmark Times for Daniel Suhr

• Elite: <5:30
• Advanced: 6:15-7:15
• Intermediate: 8:30-10:00
• Beginner: >22:30

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Flexibility (8/10): Overhead squats demand significant ankle, hip, thoracic, and shoulder mobility. The deep squat with locked-out overhead position is one of CrossFit's most flexibility-demanding movements.
• Stamina (7/10): Burpee ring dips combine two high-rep movements taxing pushing and hip hinge stamina. Overhead squats add leg and shoulder muscular endurance across 74 total reps.
• Endurance (5/10): Two rounds for time with moderate rep counts creates a sustained cardiovascular demand, but the short duration and rest inherent in transitions limits true aerobic endurance stimulus.
• Strength (5/10): Overhead squats at 115/75 lb from the ground require meaningful strength, especially in the overhead position. Ring dips add bodyweight pressing strength demand under fatigue.
• Speed (5/10): For-time format incentivizes fast transitions and cycling, but the technical demands of overhead squats and ring dips require controlled pacing rather than all-out sprinting.
• Power (4/10): Burpees require explosive hip extension to jump, and the snatch or clean-and-press to get the bar overhead adds a power element, but the workout is not primarily power-focused.

Movements

• Overhead Squat
• Ring Dip
• Burpee

Scaling Options

Weight: Reduce OHS to 75/55 lb or 65/45 lb for athletes still developing overhead squat mechanics. Movement substitutions: Replace burpee ring dips with burpee box dips (using a box or bench) or burpee push-ups if ring dips are not yet in your toolkit. Sub overhead squats with front squats or goblet squats at a manageable load if overhead stability is a limiting factor. Volume: Reduce to 15 burpee ring dips and 12 overhead squats per round, or scale to 1 round for newer athletes. Athletes with shoulder limitations can substitute the ring dip portion with a regular burpee and add a separate dip variation at reduced volume.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot perform at least 5 unbroken ring dips with good lockout, or if you cannot hold an overhead squat with the Rx load for 5+ reps with a stable, upright torso. Technique must be prioritized here — a compromised overhead squat under fatigue is a recipe for shoulder or lower back injury. The goal is to finish in 10-18 minutes while keeping movement quality intact. If you're grinding through singles on the ring dips in round one, scale the volume or substitute the movement. Intensity matters, but not at the cost of a broken overhead position. Choose a load and variation that lets you move with confidence and keep rest periods short.

Intended Stimulus

This is a moderate-intensity effort lasting roughly 10-18 minutes for most athletes. The combination of burpee ring dips and overhead squats creates a brutal upper-body fatigue cycle — your shoulders and triceps will be screaming by round two. Expect a hard sustained effort with significant skill and strength demands. The primary challenge is managing shoulder fatigue across both movements while maintaining overhead stability in the squat. This workout builds gymnastics strength, barbell cycling efficiency, and mental toughness under accumulated fatigue.

Coach Insight

The burpee ring dips are the wildcard here — the dip portion will fry your triceps and shoulders, which directly impacts your ability to stabilize the overhead squat. Pace the first set of 21 burpee ring dips conservatively; breaking them into sets of 7-7-7 or 10-6-5 early will save you in round two. Lock out fully at the top of each dip and control the descent. For the overhead squats, the weight comes from the ground, so factor in a clean or snatch to get the bar overhead — this adds fatigue and time. Use a snatch grip for efficiency. Keep your chest tall, elbows high, and drive your knees out at the bottom. Common mistakes: rushing the burpee ring dips and hitting failure early, losing the overhead position in the squat due to shoulder fatigue, and underestimating how much the dips tax the OHS. In round two, expect the ring dips to feel significantly harder — plan your breaks before you need them, not after.

Benchmark Notes

Two rounds of 21 burpee ring dips (a burpee, then a ring dip) and 16 overhead squats at 115/75 lb from the ground. Getting on and off the rings makes each burpee ring dip 5-8 seconds. L5 (10-12 min) breaks the dips as needed and the squats into two sets. L10 (under 5:30) moves through the burpee dips without stopping.

Modality Profile

Overhead Squat is a barbell movement with external load, classifying it entirely as Weightlifting. Single movement = 100% W.

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