Workout Description
For total reps in 21 minutes
From 0:00-15:00, 3 rounds of:
1:00 Max Deadlifts (60/40 kg)
1:00 Max Hang Power Cleans (60/40 kg)
1:00 Max Push Presses (60/40 kg)
1:00 Max Front Squats (60/40 kg)
1:00 Max Calorie Row
Rest 1:00 (15:00-16:00)
Then from 16:00-21:00:
AMRAP Muscle-Ups
Why This Workout Is Very Hard
Sustained barbell cycling at moderate load for 15 minutes taxes grip and shoulder stamina, followed by a five-minute high-skill gymnastics finisher. Total volume can exceed 400 reps for advanced athletes. The mix of monostructural, weightlifting, and high-skill gymnastics demands pacing, technical proficiency, and robust aerobic capacity over a long, continuous effort.
Training Focus
This workout develops the following fitness attributes:
- Stamina (8/10): High-rep minutes at a moderate load plus a five-minute gymnastics finisher demand muscular endurance in hips, shoulders, and grip with minimal breaks.
- Power (6/10): Hang power cleans, push presses, and muscle-ups require crisp, explosive hip drive to cycle efficiently without excessive fatigue.
- Speed (6/10): Each 1-minute station rewards quick cycling and tight transitions, but over-pacing leads to early grip and shoulder blow-up.
- Endurance (6/10): Twenty-one minutes on the clock with 20 minutes of work emphasizes aerobic support for sustained effort, especially across row intervals and continuous barbell cycling.
- Strength (4/10): Loads are moderate (60/40 kg) and not max-effort, but repeated lifting from hang and front rack challenges strength under fatigue.
- Flexibility (2/10): Front rack and overhead positions require sound mobility, but the ranges are standard and not extreme if positions are organized well.
Movements
- Deadlift
- Hang Power Clean
- Push Press
- Front Squat
- Row
- Muscle-Up
Scaling Options
Scale to: 40/30 kg barbell • 30/20 kg barbell + Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups AMRAP instead of Muscle-Ups • 30/20 kg barbell + 10 Pull-Ups + 10 Dips AMRAP or Burpee Pull-Ups in final 5:00
Scaling Explanation
These options keep the engine and cycling stimulus while matching skill demands, preserving upper-body pulling/pressing fatigue to finish the workout with a challenging but sustainable gymnastics piece.
Intended Stimulus
A sustained but aggressive pace on the barbell that you can hold for all three rounds without redlining, steady rowing to manage heart rate, and a composed five-minute muscle-up push. It should feel like controlled urgency with mounting grip and shoulder fatigue, finishing with focused, efficient reps under pressure.
Coach Insight
Pace each barbell minute at 70–80% of your best possible pace so round three looks like round one. Chalk, breathe, and move deliberately between stations.
Most important: protect your grip—break early on cleans and push presses to avoid failure in muscle-ups.
Avoid sprinting the first round, sloppy front rack positions, and muscling cleans—use your hips.
Benchmark Notes
First 15 minutes is three rounds of 5 x 1-minute max work (DL, HPC, PP, FS, row) with 1-minute rest at the end. That's a lot of reps at light weight. Then 5 minutes AMRAP muscle-ups. Score is total reps across everything. You can rack 200-400 reps before MU; MU adds another 10-50. L1-L3: ~150-240. L4-L6: ~280-360. L7-L8: ~420-460. L9-L10: ~460-500.
Modality Profile
Across 20 minutes of work: twelve minutes are barbell weightlifting (60%), three minutes are monostructural rowing (15%), and the final five minutes are gymnastics muscle-ups (25%). Time-based allocation better captures the stimulus than counting movements.
Similar Workouts to Painstorm XXXVIII
If you enjoy Painstorm XXXVIII, you might also like these similar CrossFit WODs:
- Toomey in Placid (90% similar) - For Time
Buy-In: 27 calorie Ski Erg
Then 3 Rounds of:
8 Ring Muscle-Ups
16 Alternating Dumbbell Sna...
- Mashed Potatoes (90% similar) - For time, 3 rounds:
15 Power Snatches (115/75 lb)
20 Toes-to-Bars
25 Power Cleans (115/75 lb)
100 Do...
- Painstorm V (90% similar) - For Time
15 Bear Complexes (45/35 kg)*
30 Pull-Ups
60 Push-Ups
400 meter Run
Every 45 seconds start...
- Jackpot 777 (90% similar) - AMRAP in 21 minutes
7 calorie Assault Air Bike
7 Bear Complexes (135/75 lb)
7 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups...
- Assault Breakdown (89% similar) - AMRAP in 21 minutes
3 Squat Cleans (135/95 lb)
6 Thrusters (135/95 lb)
9 Bent Over Rows (135/95 lb)
...
- Poke the Bear (89% similar) - AMRAP in 20 minutes
Cash In:
100 meter Farmers Carry (85/55 lb)
Then AMRAP of:
5 Bear Complexes (13...
- Oz (89% similar) - For Time
100 Squat Clean Thrusters (40/20 kg)...
- Tyler (89% similar) - 5 Rounds For Time
7 Muscle-Ups
21 Sumo-Deadlift High-Pulls (95/65 lb)...
These WODs similar to Painstorm XXXVIII share comparable training demands, time domains, and movement patterns.
