Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This 20-minute AMRAP creates significant fatigue accumulation through continuous work with no built-in rest. The 60kg deadlifts become increasingly challenging as grip and posterior chain fatigue from the high volume. Bar-facing burpees elevate heart rate substantially, making the pull-ups much harder. The combination of moderate loading with extended time domain and movement interference (grip fatigue affecting pull-ups) pushes this into Hard territory for average athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): High volume deadlifts, burpees, and pull-ups will severely test muscular endurance across posterior chain, core, and upper body pulling muscles.
• Endurance (8/10): A 20-minute AMRAP with continuous movement creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic capacity throughout the workout duration.
• Speed (6/10): AMRAP format rewards quick transitions and efficient movement cycling, especially between the three different movement patterns for maximum rounds.
• Strength (4/10): 60kg deadlifts provide moderate strength demand, while bodyweight pull-ups test relative strength, but not maximal force production.
• Flexibility (3/10): Deadlifts require hip hinge mobility, burpees demand shoulder and hip flexibility, pull-ups need overhead range of motion.
• Power (3/10): Burpees contain explosive jump component and deadlifts can be performed with some speed, but not primarily power-focused movements.

Movements

• Deadlift
• Burpee
• Pull-Up

Scaling Options

Reduce deadlift weight to 40-50kg or use dumbbells/kettlebells. Substitute regular burpees for bar-facing. Scale pull-ups to banded pull-ups, ring rows, or jumping pull-ups. Consider reducing reps to 12-9-6 or 10-8-6 to maintain movement quality. Advanced athletes can increase weight to 70-80kg.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot maintain sets of 5+ deadlifts with proper form, cannot perform 3+ consecutive pull-ups, or if 60kg represents more than 60% of your 1RM deadlift. Priority is maintaining the aerobic stimulus and movement quality over 20 minutes. Target 3-5 complete rounds regardless of scaling - intensity should feel like 7/10 effort throughout.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-duration aerobic capacity workout targeting the oxidative energy system over 20 minutes. Primary challenge is maintaining consistent movement quality and pacing under accumulating fatigue. Tests muscular endurance, grip strength, and mental resilience through repetitive pulling patterns.

Coach Insight

Target 4-6 rounds total. Break deadlifts into 2-3 sets early (8-7 or 5-5-5) to preserve grip and posterior chain. Maintain neutral spine throughout - reset each rep if needed. Step back from bar on burpees for safety. Use efficient kipping rhythm on pull-ups, breaking into 3-3-3 or 5-4 sets. Rest 10-15 seconds between movements to maintain quality. Avoid going unbroken too early - consistency beats speed here.

Benchmark Notes

This workout is similar to Cindy (AMRAP 20: 5 pull-up + 10 push-up + 15 air squat) but with heavier deadlifts and burpees replacing push-ups/squats. Using Cindy as anchor (L10: 25-30 rounds, L5: 15-18 rounds, L1: 6-8 rounds), I adjusted downward due to the 60kg deadlifts being significantly more taxing than air squats, and bar-facing burpees being slower than push-ups. Each round takes approximately 60-90 seconds for elite athletes (15 deadlifts at 2-3 sec each, 12 burpees at 4-5 sec each, 9 pull-ups at 1-2 sec each, plus transitions). The deadlift-burpee-pull-up combination creates significant grip and posterior chain fatigue that compounds across rounds, making this substantially harder than Cindy's bodyweight movements.

Modality Profile

Three movements total: Deadlift (W), Burpee (G), Pull-Up (G). Two gymnastics movements (67%) and one weightlifting movement (33%), rounded to clean percentages.