Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Extremely Hard

This workout combines two 1-mile runs bookending 13 dumbbell movements totaling 338 reps at 50/35 lb each. Man Makers alone (26 reps) are brutally compound. Cumulative fatigue is massive — grip, shoulders, legs, and lungs are all simultaneously taxed with zero built-in rest. The average athlete will take 60-90+ minutes. Volume, load, and movement complexity compound relentlessly, making this elite-level territory.

Benchmark Times for Valiant 13

• Elite: <28:00
• Advanced: 32:30-38:30
• Intermediate: 46:00-55:00
• Beginner: >110:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (10/10): 338 total dumbbell reps across 13 movements plus two miles of running creates extreme muscular endurance demands. Every major muscle group is repeatedly taxed, making this an exceptional test of sustained muscular output.
• Endurance (9/10): Two miles of running bookend an enormous volume of dumbbell work, creating sustained cardiovascular demand throughout. The sheer duration of this workout heavily taxes aerobic capacity from start to finish.
• Flexibility (6/10): Hang squat cleans, thrusters, and snatches require solid hip, shoulder, and thoracic mobility. Man makers compound the demand further, requiring adequate flexibility through multiple planes of movement simultaneously.
• Power (6/10): Power cleans, hang squat cleans, snatches, and push presses demand explosive hip and shoulder drive. However, extreme fatigue from high volume progressively degrades power expression as the workout advances.
• Speed (5/10): For-time format incentivizes efficient transitions and steady cycling, but the sheer volume and fatigue accumulation make sprint-pacing unsustainable. Controlled, consistent pacing across movements is more critical than raw speed.
• Strength (4/10): Moderate dumbbell loads (50/35 lb) across high-rep sets shift the stimulus away from maximal strength toward endurance. Deadlifts and rows provide the most strength stimulus, but volume negates true max-effort expression.

Movements

• Dumbbell Front Squat
• Dumbbell Hammer Curl
• Dumbbell Power Clean
• Dumbbell Thruster
• Dumbbell Lunge
• Dumbbell Hang Squat Clean
• Dumbbell Push Press
• Dumbbell Deadlift
• Run
• Man Maker
• Dumbbell Bent-Over Row
• Dumbbell High-Pull
• Double Dumbbell Snatch

Scaling Options

Weight: Scale to 35/20 lb dumbbells for intermediate athletes or 25/15 lb for newer athletes. The movement complexity and volume are the primary stimulus, not the load. Reps: Scale to 20 reps per movement to reduce total volume while preserving the full movement sequence. Run: Substitute 800m runs for the buy-in and cash-out, or replace with a 3-minute row or bike if running is not accessible. Movement substitutions: Replace Dumbbell Hang Squat Cleans with Dumbbell Power Cleans if squat mobility is limited. Replace Man Makers with a Dumbbell Burpee (no row) or simply a push-up + clean + thruster if coordination is a barrier. Replace Dumbbell Snatches with alternating dumbbell power cleans if overhead stability is a concern. Reduce Farmer's Lunges to bodyweight lunges if knee health is an issue.

Scaling Explanation

Scale this workout if you cannot complete at least 10 unbroken dumbbell thrusters at Rx weight when fresh, if your Man Maker technique breaks down under fatigue, or if the projected time exceeds 90 minutes. The goal is to keep moving — this workout loses its stimulus if athletes are standing around for extended rest periods or grinding through poor mechanics on complex movements like the squat clean or snatch. Prioritize technique over load, especially on the snatch and Man Makers where injury risk rises with fatigue. Newer athletes should scale both weight and reps (20 reps at lighter load) to finish in 60-75 minutes. Experienced athletes should target 50-75 minutes. If you are completing this as a tribute or memorial workout, honor the intent by choosing a scale that allows you to move with purpose and finish strong — not one that leaves you broken on the floor before the cash-out mile.

Intended Stimulus

This is a long-duration, full-body grind designed to test your mental fortitude, muscular endurance, and aerobic capacity simultaneously. Expect a 45-90+ minute effort depending on fitness level. The workout honors a theme of 26 reps across 13 movements — likely a memorial or tribute workout — and demands respect from the first mile. The energy demand is a long, steady engine with sustained muscular output. The primary challenge is mental: staying composed through fatigue, managing grip and shoulder endurance across progressively demanding dumbbell movements, and finding the will to run that final mile when your legs and lungs are already taxed. This is not a sprint — it is a test of character and capacity.

Coach Insight

Run the buy-in at a conversational pace — this is not a PR mile. You have a mountain of work ahead. For the dumbbell complex, think of the movements as a progression from hinge-dominant (deadlifts, high-pulls) to full-body (cleans, squats, thrusters) to upper-body (rows, curls) to the brutal finisher of Man Makers. Use this natural progression to your advantage: attack the early hinge movements with confidence, but start breaking sets by the time you hit Power Cleans. Suggested rep schemes: break 26s into 13-13 or 10-9-7 early, and 7-7-6-6 or smaller sets on thrusters and Man Makers. Man Makers are the most complex and taxing movement — treat each rep as its own event: push-up, row left, row right, clean, thruster. Do not rush them. Grip will be your limiting factor — shake out your hands between sets, use chalk if available, and never go to failure on grip. The cash-out mile is where this workout is won or lost mentally. Commit to running the whole thing, even if it's a shuffle. Transitions between movements should be deliberate but not slow — keep rest periods under 30 seconds early and under 60 seconds in the back half.

Benchmark Notes

This is an extremely long grind — 13 dumbbell movements (26 reps each at 2x50 lb) sandwiched between two 1-mile runs. The primary limiters are grip endurance, shoulder fatigue accumulating across high-pull/clean/press/snatch/man-maker sequences, and the brutal man makers (26 reps = push-up + row + clean + thruster each). L5 (~60 min) assumes ~9-10 min mile pace on both runs and ~40 min of dumbbell work with frequent set breaks.

Modality Profile

12 total movements: 1 monostructural (Run) and 11 weightlifting movements (Dumbbell Deadlift, Dumbbell Power Clean, Dumbbell Hang Squat Clean, Dumbbell Push Press, Dumbbell Front Squat, Dumbbell Thruster, Dumbbell Snatch, Dumbbell Lunge, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, Dumbbell Hammer Curl, Man Maker). Note: Dumbbell Lunge is counted as weightlifting since it uses an external load. M = 1/12 ≈ 8% rounded to 10%, W = 11/12 ≈ 92% rounded to 90%.

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