Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

This workout combines heavy squat cleans (up to 155/105) with immediate front squats at the same weight under severe time pressure. The 1-minute cap forces athletes to rush through technically demanding movements, creating dangerous fatigue accumulation. Most athletes will struggle with the heavier cleans and have little time for front squats. The combination of maximal loading, technical complexity, and extreme time constraint makes this accessible only to experienced athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Power (9/10): Squat cleans are explosive triple extension movements requiring maximum power output, especially as loads increase through the ladder.
• Strength (8/10): Heavy squat cleans up to 155/105 and max front squats at same weight demand significant absolute strength and power.
• Flexibility (7/10): Squat cleans require excellent ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility for receiving position and front rack flexibility for front squats.
• Stamina (6/10): Front squat max reps at heavy load tests muscular endurance, while squat clean ladder creates cumulative fatigue over 8 rounds.
• Speed (4/10): One-minute time cap creates urgency for completing the ladder and maximizing front squats, but rest periods reduce overall speed demands.
• Endurance (3/10): Limited cardiovascular demand due to 1-minute work windows with 3-minute rest periods allowing near-complete recovery between rounds.

Movements

• Squat Clean
• Front Squat

Benchmark Notes

This workout is scored by total reps across 8 rounds, with each round having a 1-minute cap and 3-minute rest. Each round consists of 4 squat cleans at increasing weights (95/65, 115/75, 135/95, 155/105) followed by max front squats at 155/105. The squat clean ladder takes approximately 8-12 seconds for elite athletes (2-3 sec per clean), leaving 48-52 seconds for front squats. For intermediate athletes, the ladder takes 12-16 seconds, leaving 44-48 seconds. For beginners, the ladder may take 16-20 seconds or more, leaving 40-44 seconds. Front squats at 155/105 can be performed at roughly 2-3 seconds per rep when fresh. However, the heavy squat cleans create significant leg fatigue that impacts front squat performance. Elite athletes might achieve 12-15 front squats per round early on, degrading to 8-12 in later rounds due to cumulative fatigue. Intermediate athletes might manage 8-12 early, dropping to 5-8 later. Beginners might achieve 5-8 early, dropping to 2-5 later. The 3-minute rest allows partial recovery but not complete restoration. Over 8 rounds, elite athletes could accumulate 320-400+ total reps, intermediate athletes 200-280 reps, and beginners 80-160 reps. This workout is similar to strength-endurance chippers but with the unique constraint of the 1-minute cap per round, which limits the ceiling for each round while the rest periods prevent complete breakdown. The progressive loading in the squat clean ladder also creates a skill and strength filter before the max effort front squats. Final targets: L10: 360+ reps, L5: 200 reps, L1: 40 reps.

Modality Profile

Both Squat Clean and Front Squat are barbell weightlifting movements requiring external load, making this 100% weightlifting with no gymnastics or monostructural elements.