Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 21-15-9 rep scheme creates sustained work periods with the OHS requiring both stability and shoulder endurance at a moderate load. Burpees immediately after OHS compounds shoulder fatigue while driving up heart rate. The continuous nature without built-in rest periods means athletes must self-pace carefully. Most will need to break up both movements, especially in the round of 21, making this a challenging 8-12 minute workout.

Benchmark Times for Jeremy

• Elite: <4:00
• Advanced: 4:30-5:00
• Intermediate: 5:45-6:30
• Beginner: >11:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): 45 total reps each of overhead squats and burpees challenges muscular endurance, particularly in shoulders, core, and legs through combined fatigue.
• Endurance (7/10): High-intensity couplet combining technical barbell work with full-body burpees creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with descending rep scheme driving pace.
• Flexibility (7/10): Overhead squats demand significant shoulder mobility and ankle/hip flexibility. Proper positioning is crucial throughout fatigue.
• Speed (6/10): Descending rep scheme (21-15-9) encourages faster cycling of movements, especially as reps decrease and fatigue builds.
• Strength (4/10): Moderate barbell load in overhead squats requires shoulder and core strength, but weight is submaximal to allow for higher rep counts.
• Power (3/10): While burpees have explosive elements, the workout emphasis is more on sustained output than maximum power production.

Movements

• Overhead Squat
• Burpee

Scaling Options

Weight reductions: 65/45 lbs or 45/35 lbs based on overhead squat capacity. Movement subs: Front squats or thrusters for those lacking overhead mobility. Behind-neck press + air squat for technique work. Step-back burpees instead of jumping. Volume options: 15-12-9 or 12-9-6 rep scheme. Can partition into smaller sets (4-5 reps) for beginners.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if unable to perform 8+ unbroken overhead squats at prescribed weight with solid technique. Also scale if shoulder mobility limits proper overhead position. Priority is maintaining safe overhead position throughout - technique over speed. Target time is 7-12 minutes. Should feel challenging but manageable, not overwhelming. Athletes should be able to keep moving with minimal long breaks.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-length glycolytic workout targeting the 7-12 minute time domain. Combines heavy overhead stability with full-body explosive movements. Primary challenge is maintaining overhead position while managing systemic fatigue. Tests both strength-endurance and cardiorespiratory capacity.

Coach Insight

Break overhead squats early to maintain quality - consider sets of 7-7-7 for round of 21, 5-5-5 for 15, and 5-4 for 9. Keep burpees at a sustainable 80% effort pace. Focus on tight core and active shoulders in OHS. Common failure point is losing overhead position in round of 15. Rest briefly between movements rather than failing mid-set. Quick but controlled transitions between exercises.

Benchmark Notes

This workout follows the 21-15-9 rep scheme like Fran, but with overhead squats and burpees. Using Fran as our anchor: 1. Movement Analysis: - Overhead Squats (95/65): ~3 sec/rep fresh, increasing with fatigue - Burpees: ~3.5 sec/rep fresh, heavily impacted by fatigue 2. Round Breakdown (Male Elite/L10): Round 1 (21 reps each) - OHS: 21 × 3.0s = 63s (likely broken into 12-9 or 11-10) - Burpees: 21 × 3.5s = 74s - Transition: 3s Round 2 (15 reps each) - OHS: 15 × 3.3s = 50s (likely 8-7 sets) - Burpees: 15 × 4.0s = 60s - Transition: 3s Round 3 (9 reps each) - OHS: 9 × 3.5s = 32s - Burpees: 9 × 4.5s = 41s Total theoretical: ~326s Adjusted for real-world conditions: 240-270s for elite (L10) 3. Comparison to Fran anchor: - Similar rep scheme but movements are slightly slower - OHS more technical than thrusters - Burpees more taxing than pull-ups - Expect ~20% slower than Fran times Final Targets (M/F): L10: 4:00-4:30 / 4:30-5:00 L5: 6:30-7:00 / 7:30-8:00 L1: 11:00-12:00 / 13:00-14:00

Modality Profile

Burpee is a gymnastics (bodyweight) movement, while Overhead Squat is a weightlifting movement with external load (barbell). With two movements split across two modalities, this results in a 50/50 split between G and W.