Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Extremely Hard

This is essentially Kalsu's brutal cousin. The athlete must complete 150 wall balls for time, but every 2 minutes must stop for 3 deadlifts at 315/225lb plus 3 bar-over burpees. The forced interruptions prevent rhythm on wall balls, the heavy deadlifts destroy leg drive needed for wall balls, and the burpees spike heart rate repeatedly. Cumulative leg fatigue from all three movements compounds catastrophically, making this elite-level difficulty.

Benchmark Times for Steven Olson

• Elite: <6:30
• Advanced: 7:45-9:15
• Intermediate: 11:00-13:15
• Beginner: >27:30

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): 150 wall ball shots is an enormous volume of repetitive muscular work targeting legs, core, and shoulders. Repeated deadlift sets and burpees compound fatigue, demanding exceptional muscular endurance throughout.
• Endurance (7/10): 150 wall balls combined with repeated deadlift and burpee intervals creates sustained cardiovascular demand. The EMOM structure forces continuous output over an extended time period, heavily taxing aerobic capacity.
• Strength (6/10): 315/225 lb deadlifts every 2 minutes represent a significant strength demand. While not maximal effort, these heavy loads under accumulated fatigue challenge absolute strength and force production meaningfully.
• Speed (6/10): The EMOM penalty structure incentivizes fast wall ball cycling to minimize deadlift and burpee interruptions. Efficient transitions and quick rep cycling are critical to managing the time constraint effectively.
• Power (5/10): Bar over burpees require explosive hip extension and jumping, while wall balls demand powerful hip drive to propel the ball. Deadlifts at this load also require forceful pulling mechanics under fatigue.
• Flexibility (4/10): Wall balls require hip mobility and thoracic extension; deadlifts demand hamstring flexibility and proper hip hinge mechanics. Burpees add shoulder and hip flexor demands, creating moderate overall mobility requirements.

Movements

• Wall Ball
• Deadlift
• Burpee Over Bar

Scaling Options

Wall Ball: Reduce to 14/10 lb or lower the target height to 9 feet. Reduce total reps to 100 or 120 if the athlete cannot sustain sets of 10+ for the full workout. Deadlift: Scale to 225/155 lb (roughly 70% of Rx) or 185/135 lb for newer athletes. The load should feel heavy but allow confident, technically sound reps with a spiked heart rate. Bar Over Burpees: Sub standard burpees (no jump over bar) or step-over burpees to reduce impact and speed the transition. Volume: Reduce to 100 wall balls with the same EMOM structure, or reduce deadlift reps to 2 and burpees to 2 per interruption for athletes still building capacity.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot complete sets of 10+ wall balls unbroken when fresh, if your deadlift 1RM is under 350/250 lb (making 315/225 a near-maximal effort), or if bar-over burpees significantly compromise your movement quality. The goal is to keep moving on the wall balls with manageable breaks — if the EMOM interruptions are taking more than 30-35 seconds, the deadlift load is too heavy. Prioritize technique on the deadlift above all else: a fatigued, rounded-back pull at heavy load is the primary injury risk in this workout. Target completion time is 18-25 minutes. If you're projected to go beyond 28 minutes, reduce wall ball volume or EMOM load to preserve the intended stimulus of sustained effort with strength interruptions.

Intended Stimulus

This is a moderate-to-long time domain grind lasting 15-25 minutes for most athletes. The wall balls are the primary engine — a sustained, rhythmic conditioning effort — while the every-2-minute deadlift and burpee interruption acts as a strength and power tax that disrupts your breathing and forces you to recover on the fly. The primary challenge is mental and metabolic: managing fatigue accumulation across 150 reps while absorbing heavy, full-body interruptions. Expect your legs and lungs to be the limiting factors. This workout builds aerobic capacity under load and mental toughness in the face of compounding fatigue.

Coach Insight

The wall ball is your race — protect it. Start conservatively with sets of 15-20 unbroken, resisting the urge to sprint early. The EMOM interruption will come whether you're ready or not, so build a rhythm you can sustain for 15+ minutes. When the clock hits 0:00 and 2:00 intervals, drop the ball immediately, hit your 3 deadlifts with a tight brace and controlled descent (no touch-and-go ego reps here — reset each pull if needed), then flow directly into 3 bar-over burpees with a lateral jump. Get back to the wall ball within 20-25 seconds of finishing the burpees. Key technique cues: on wall balls, keep your chest tall and use your hips — don't arm-press the ball. On deadlifts at 315/225, treat every rep as a heavy single — big breath, brace, drive the floor away. Common mistakes: going out too hot on wall balls and dying by rep 80, rushing the deadlift setup after burpees when your heart rate is spiked, and losing the squat depth on wall balls as fatigue sets in. Aim for consistent, predictable sets throughout — 15-20 reps per set is a solid target.

Benchmark Notes

150 wall balls, with 3 deadlifts at 315/225 lb and 3 bar-over burpees at the start of every 2 minutes. The interruptions take 20-35 seconds of each window. L5 (13:15-15:45) gets about 20 wall balls a window. L10 (under 6:30) gets about 50.

Modality Profile

3 movements: Wall Ball (W), Deadlift (W), Burpee Over Bar (G). 2 Weightlifting + 1 Gymnastics = W: 67%, G: 33%, M: 0%

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