Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

Five rounds combine heavy barbell work and high-volume gymnastics, creating serious grip fatigue and pacing demands. While the work density is modest due to longer completion times, overall complexity and volume are significant. Expect 25–40 minutes for most, with barbell singles on clean and jerks and multiple sets on pull-ups and knees-to-elbows. The cumulative interference elevates difficulty.

Benchmark Times for Desforges

• Elite: <20:00
• Advanced: 22:30-25:00
• Intermediate: 28:00-31:00
• Beginner: >45:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High total volume across five rounds taxes grip, pulling, and midline. Maintaining output through accumulating fatigue is the main limiter, especially on pull-ups and knees-to-elbows.
• Endurance (6/10): Longer effort without monostructural cardio. Heart rate stays elevated over 25–35 minutes, driven by constant transitions and steady barbell singles rather than sprint efforts.
• Strength (6/10): Deadlifts at 225/155 and clean and jerks at 135/95 require solid baseline strength to move consistently, though efforts are submaximal rather than near 1RM.
• Power (6/10): Clean and jerk demands repeated explosive hip extension. Power output diminishes under fatigue as athletes move to controlled singles rather than touch-and-go cycling.
• Speed (4/10): Limited sprinting due to heavy barbell and grip fatigue. Quick singles and short rests help, but rapid cycling is tempered by interference between movements.
• Flexibility (3/10): Standard ROM: full hip/knee extension, overhead lockout, and active shoulders. Some shoulder/lat and hip flexor mobility helps with kipping and barbell positions, but no extreme ranges required.

Movements

• Knee-to-Elbow
• Deadlift
• Clean and Jerk
• Pull-Up

Scaling Options

Scale to: 5 Rounds of 9 DL (185/125), 15 Pull-Ups, 9 C&J (95/65), 15 Hanging Knee Raises • 5 Rounds Rx reps with 185/125 DL and 115/75 C&J, banded or jumping pull-ups • 4 Rounds Rx loads with ring rows + hanging knee raises

Scaling Explanation

These options preserve the stimulus by reducing load, volume, or gymnastics difficulty so you can keep moving, manage grip fatigue, and finish near the intended 25–35 minute window.

Intended Stimulus

A grindy, shoulder-and-grip intensive effort. Aim for steady sets and quick transitions, not sprints. Clean and jerks trend toward controlled singles; deadlifts in small sets with quick rest. Maintain a repeatable pull-up and knees-to-elbows pattern to avoid blow-ups. The right scale keeps you moving continuously for roughly 25–35 minutes.

Coach Insight

Pace early. Break before you must, especially on pull-ups and clean and jerks, and keep rests 5–10 seconds. Quick chalk and pick the bar up. One tip: Treat the clean and jerks as efficient singles—breathe, drop, reset, go. Avoid death-gripping. Over-chalking, giant sets early, and sloppy kip timing will wreck your grip and slow later rounds.

Benchmark Notes

These nine time standards range from beginner (struggling to finish near the cap) to elite (around 20 minutes). Use them to set a target pace before starting. If your estimated time is far beyond L3, scale weight, volume, or gymnastics to stay near L4–L6 for solid training effect.

Modality Profile

The workout blends heavy gymnastics volume (pull-ups and knees-to-elbows: 200 reps, about 60%) with barbell lifting (deadlifts and clean and jerks: 120 reps, about 40%). There’s no monostructural element, so pacing and transitions come from managing grip, barbell singles, and kipping efficiency.

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