Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The combination of moderate-heavy barbell cycling (hang cleans into thrusters) with a cardio-intensive row and burpees creates significant fatigue accumulation. The 3-minute rest between rounds prevents this from being Very Hard, but the thrusters coming after cleans with the same barbell weight makes this particularly challenging. Average athletes will need to break up the barbell work significantly by round 2-3.

Benchmark Times for Grip and Rip

• Elite: <6:00
• Advanced: 6:30-7:00
• Intermediate: 8:00-9:00
• Beginner: >15:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High-rep hang cleans and thrusters with moderate load, plus burpees, challenge local muscular endurance in legs, shoulders, and core.
• Power (8/10): Explosive hip extension in rowing, hang cleans, thrusters, and burpee jumps makes this very power-intensive.
• Endurance (7/10): Three rounds of rowing combined with barbell cycling and burpees creates significant cardiovascular demand, though 3-minute rest periods allow partial recovery.
• Flexibility (7/10): Front rack position for thrusters plus full depth on cleans and burpees demands good mobility in hips, shoulders, and ankles.
• Strength (6/10): 135/95lb for hang cleans and thrusters represents moderate loads that require decent strength, especially when fatigued.
• Speed (6/10): Quick transitions between movements and fast cycling of moderate-weight barbell movements are key to performance.

Movements

• Row
• Hang Clean
• Thruster
• Burpee

Scaling Options

Weight reductions: 95/65 lbs for intermediate, 75/55 lbs for beginners. Row can be reduced to 250/200m. Movement substitutions: Power cleans from floor instead of hang cleans, front squats + push press instead of thrusters, regular burpees instead of bar-facing. Volume modifications: Reduce to 2 rounds for newer athletes or extend rest period to 4-5 minutes between rounds. Target 15-20 minutes total work time excluding rest.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if unable to perform 5+ unbroken hang cleans or thrusters at prescribed weight when fresh. Athletes should maintain ability to cycle barbell with proper form throughout all rounds - technique breakdown indicates need for scaling. Priority is maintaining intensity while preserving movement integrity. Each round should take 4-6 minutes with consistent round times (within 30-45 seconds of each other). Scale load or volume if projected finish time exceeds 20 minutes of work.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-length glycolytic workout (12-18 minutes) with mixed modal demands. Primary energy system focus is lactate threshold training with brief phosphagen system recovery during row transitions. The workout challenges both power endurance and strength-endurance capacity while maintaining technical proficiency under fatigue.

Coach Insight

Break up the hang cleans early (7-7 or 5-5-4) to preserve grip and back. Thrusters should be done in sets of 3-4 when fresh, singles when fatigued. Row should be at a sustainable 24-26 spm pace. Quick but controlled transitions between movements. Common mistakes include rushing the first round, poor hang clean setup position when tired, and losing barbell control on thrusters. Consider touch-and-go hang cleans early but transition to singles by round 3.

Benchmark Notes

This workout is most similar to DT (5 rounds of barbell cycling) but with fewer total reps and rowing instead of deadlifts. Breaking it down: Per Round: - 300m Row: 45-60s fresh, increasing with fatigue - 14 Hang Cleans: 2.5s/rep = 35s fresh - 7 Thrusters: 3s/rep = 21s fresh - 14 Bar Facing Burpees: 4s/rep = 56s fresh Base time per round: ~160s fresh Fatigue multipliers: - Round 1: 1.0x = 160s - Round 2: 1.1x = 176s - Round 3: 1.2x = 192s Transitions between movements: ~5s x 3 per round = 15s/round Total projected time: Round 1: 175s Round 2: 191s Round 3: 207s Total: 573s Comparing to DT anchor (360-420s elite male), this should be slightly slower due to: - Similar barbell cycling volume - Addition of rowing and burpees - But 3 min rest between rounds helps recovery Projecting L10 (elite) at 360s, L5 (intermediate) at 540s, and L1 (beginner) at 900s Female times adjusted 20% slower due to: - Lower barbell loads requiring similar technique time - Rowing typically showing 15-20% gender gap - Burpees being relatively consistent across genders Recap: Male - L10: 6:00, L5: 9:00, L1: 15:00 Female - L10: 7:30, L5: 11:00, L1: 17:00

Modality Profile

Row (M), Hang Clean (W), Thruster (W), Burpee (G) - 4 total movements: 1 gymnastics, 1 monostructural, 2 weightlifting. Percentages rounded to nearest multiple of 5.