Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

A fast 7-minute ladder couples moderate-weight thrusters with chest-to-bar pull-ups, demanding high power, skill, and grip under mounting fatigue. The ascending reps push barbell cycling, kip efficiency, and breathing control. It’s short but brutally dense, where movement quality, pacing, and transitions determine large score differences across ability levels.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Speed (8/10): A short window rewards fast cycle rates and crisp transitions. Staying near the bar, minimizing chalk breaks, and managing small, quick sets sustain a high rep-per-minute pace throughout.
• Stamina (8/10): Repeated thrusters and chest-to-bar rapidly accumulate fatigue in legs, shoulders, and lats. The ascending ladder forces sustained output with short breaks, testing grip, kip mechanics, and barbell cycling efficiency under increasing muscular fatigue.
• Power (6/10): Explosive hip drive fuels thrusters out of the squat and aggressive pulls to chest contact. Athletes who generate force rapidly can hold unbroken sets longer and keep a faster bar and kip tempo.
• Endurance (5/10): Seven minutes keeps heart rate high without becoming long-duration cardio. Expect sustained breathing under load with minimal rest and constant movement across two modalities. It’s aerobic enough to punish poor pacing but too short to be a pure endurance test.
• Strength (4/10): Loads are moderate rather than maximal. Adequate front rack and overhead pressing strength are required, but performance hinges more on cycling efficiency and repeatability than on one-rep max strength.
• Flexibility (3/10): Functional mobility in the front rack, hips, thoracic spine, and shoulders supports efficient thrusters and safe overhead positions. Limited mobility increases energy cost and slows cycles, though extreme ranges are not required.

Scaling Options

Scale to: 7-min ladder Thrusters (75/55 lb) + Chest-to-Bar • 7-min ladder Thrusters (65/45 lb) + Pull-Ups • 7-min ladder DB Thrusters (35/20 lb) + Ring Rows

Scaling Explanation

These options preserve the couplet, ascending ladder, and intensity while adjusting load and gymnastics difficulty so athletes can keep sets small, transitions short, and movement quality high.

Intended Stimulus

Fast and intense. You should feel on the edge from the start, breathing hard while keeping movement quality tight. Manage small, quick sets to avoid redlining too early. Barbell cycles should be smooth and deliberate, and pull-ups should stay snappy with consistent chest contact. Minimal rest, maximal urgency.

Coach Insight

Pace the early rounds aggressively but not recklessly—unbroken through 12 is common, then plan quick breaks in 15/18. One tip: Keep transitions under five seconds. Stay at the bar and rig; rest with hands on equipment. Avoid huge opening sets, over-chalking, and sloppy kip timing. No-reps on depth or chest contact waste energy and time.

Benchmark Notes

Scores reflect total reps completed in 7 minutes. Finishing 9s = 36 reps; 12s = 60; 15s = 90; 18s = 126; 21s = 168; 24s = 216. Hitting into the 18s is solid; into the 21s is advanced; approaching 24s is elite.

Modality Profile

A classic two-movement blend: half gymnastics (chest-to-bar) and half weightlifting (thrusters). There’s no monostructural element; the clock is spent cycling the bar and pulling on the rig with brief transitions, keeping both modalities heavily represented.

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