Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This 24-minute AMRAP combines a heavy bench press (225/155 lb) that will fatigue the upper body, immediately followed by pull-ups demanding the same muscles, then 16 calories on the Assault Bike taxing the lungs and legs, plus burpees. The continuous nature with no built-in rest, upper-body interference between bench and pull-ups, and the demanding bike calories create significant cumulative fatigue. Many average athletes will need to scale the bench press weight.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Repeated cycles of bench press, pull-ups, burpees, and bike accumulate significant muscular fatigue across upper body pushing, pulling, and full-body systems over the full 24 minutes.
• Endurance (7/10): The 24-minute AMRAP with 16-calorie Assault Bike each round creates sustained cardiovascular demand. The bike and burpees repeatedly elevate heart rate, making aerobic capacity a primary limiter throughout.
• Strength (6/10): 225/155 lb bench press is a moderately heavy load that challenges upper body strength, especially as fatigue accumulates. Not maximal effort, but heavy enough to limit cycling speed significantly.
• Speed (6/10): Efficient transitions between four distinct movements and fast cycling on the bike are critical for maximizing rounds. Pacing the bench press and pull-ups to avoid failure directly impacts overall output speed.
• Power (4/10): Burpees and Assault Bike require some explosive output, and bench press benefits from bar speed. However, the sustained AMRAP format shifts emphasis away from pure power expression.
• Flexibility (2/10): Basic range of motion is required for bench press setup, pull-up hang, and burpee positions. No extreme mobility demands are present in this workout.

Movements

• Air Bike
• Burpee
• Bench Press
• Pull-Up

Scaling Options

Bench Press: Scale to 185/125 lb for strong athletes, 135/95 lb for intermediate, or 95/65 lb for newer athletes. Substitute dumbbell bench press (2x35/2x25 lb) if barbell setup is unavailable. Pull-Ups: Scale to 8 banded pull-ups, 10 ring rows, or 8 jumping pull-ups with slow negatives. Assault Bike: Reduce to 12 calories for athletes who struggle with pacing, or substitute 200m row or 14 calorie Echo Bike. Burpees: Keep at 5 for most athletes — this is a manageable number. Reduce to 3 for athletes managing injury or significant deconditioning. Volume: Consider a 20-minute AMRAP instead of 24 minutes for newer athletes to maintain intensity throughout.

Scaling Explanation

Scale the bench press if you cannot complete 4 reps unbroken at Rx weight with solid technique — a grinder rep on rep 4 in round 1 means you'll be failing reps by round 5. Scale pull-ups if you cannot do at least 6 unbroken strict or kipping pull-ups; banded or ring rows will keep you moving and preserve the intended upper body pulling stimulus. The goal is to keep each round under 3:30-4:00 minutes and maintain consistent splits throughout. If an athlete is stopping to rest more than 15-20 seconds between movements by round 3, the load or volume is too high. Prioritize intensity and movement quality over Rx — a well-paced scaled version delivers far more training stimulus than a stalled-out Rx attempt.

Intended Stimulus

This is a long-duration aerobic grind lasting the full 24 minutes, targeting your sustained engine and muscular endurance. The time domain demands a steady, repeatable pace — not a sprint, not a casual stroll. The bench press and pull-ups create a push-pull upper body fatigue that compounds over rounds, while the Assault Bike serves as the cardiovascular tax and the burpees add a metabolic punch at the end of each round. The primary challenge is pacing discipline and managing upper body fatigue across a long window. Expect your lungs and shoulders to be the limiting factors by the midpoint.

Coach Insight

The biggest mistake athletes make here is going out too hot on the bench press and pull-ups in rounds 1-3, then watching their pace collapse. Treat the first 8 minutes like a warm-up — you should feel like you could go faster but choose not to. On the bench press, use a controlled descent and a strong leg drive; don't grind reps that slow your rhythm. Break pull-ups early — sets of 6-6 or 4-4-4 are smarter than going unbroken and hanging on the bar. On the Assault Bike, find a sustainable cadence around 70-80 RPM and resist the urge to sprint — you have burpees waiting. Burpees should be methodical, not sloppy: step up if needed, keep a consistent pace. Transitions between movements should be brisk but not frantic. A strong athlete should aim for 6-8+ rounds. Track your round splits after round 2 and try to hold that pace through round 6 before pushing in the final 6 minutes.

Benchmark Notes

Each round is 4 bench presses at 225/155 lb, 12 pull-ups, a 16-calorie assault bike and 5 burpees. 225 lb is about 90% of an average athlete's bench, so the presses slow to singles. L5 (5.25-6.25 rounds) takes about 4 minutes a round. Elite athletes bench 315+ and hold about 1:30 a round (14.5+ in 24 minutes).

Modality Profile

4 movements total: Pull-Up (G) and Burpee (G) = 2 Gymnastics, Air Bike (M) = 1 Monostructural, Bench Press (W) = 1 Weightlifting. That's 2/4 G, 1/4 M, 1/4 W = 50% / 25% / 25%.

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