Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout creates significant shoulder fatigue through continuous pressing under time pressure. 50/35lb dumbbells require substantial strength for max reps, and the 7-minute cap forces athletes to push through accumulating fatigue without adequate recovery between rounds. The combination of moderate-heavy load, high volume potential, and time constraint will challenge most average CrossFitters, likely requiring weight scaling to maintain movement quality throughout all five rounds.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Max rep shoulder presses over 5 rounds will heavily tax deltoid and tricep muscular endurance, especially with moderate loading.
• Strength (6/10): 50/35lb dumbbells require significant overhead pressing strength, though not maximal loads. Strength endurance becomes the limiting factor.
• Speed (6/10): Max rep format incentivizes fast cycling and minimal rest between rounds to maximize total volume within the time cap.
• Endurance (4/10): Seven minutes of continuous work with minimal rest creates moderate cardiovascular demand, though the single movement pattern limits overall aerobic stress.
• Flexibility (3/10): Overhead pressing demands adequate shoulder mobility and thoracic extension, but nothing extreme or complex movement-wise.
• Power (2/10): Shoulder press is primarily a strength-grind movement with minimal explosive component, especially under fatigue.

Movements

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Benchmark Notes

This is a 7-minute time cap workout with 5 rounds of max rep dumbbell shoulder press at 50/35 lbs. Since it's scored as 'Reps', we're calculating total repetitions completed across all 5 rounds. Movement analysis: DB shoulder press at 50 lbs is a moderate load that allows for continuous reps but will fatigue the shoulders significantly. Fresh state estimate is 2-2.5 seconds per rep. Round-by-round breakdown: Round 1 (0-1:24): Fresh shoulders, elite athletes can maintain 25-30 reps at ~2 sec/rep pace. Round 2 (1:24-2:48): 10% fatigue increase, 22-27 reps. Round 3 (2:48-4:12): 20% fatigue, shoulders burning, 20-24 reps. Round 4 (4:12-5:36): 30% fatigue, significant slowdown, 18-22 reps. Round 5 (5:36-7:00): 50% fatigue, grinding out final reps, 15-20 reps. Elite total: ~100-123 reps, Advanced: ~80-100 reps, Intermediate: ~60-80 reps, Novice: ~40-60 reps. No direct anchor match, but this follows similar patterns to high-rep single movement workouts like Karen. The shoulder press is less metabolically demanding than wall balls but more strength-limiting. Final targets: L10: 240+ reps, L5: 155 reps, L1: 75 reps.

Modality Profile

Dumbbell Shoulder Press is a single weightlifting movement using external load (dumbbells), making it 100% Weightlifting modality.