Workout Description
Warm Up SOP plus: 20 Step PVC Death March 20 4-count Mountain Climbers 20 Wide Hand Pushup x2Strength /Skill:Work to metcon Deadlift Weight *complete at least 20 reps above athlete 50% Metabolic Conditioning :AMRAP20 1 Deadlift @ 405/275 ( scale option 80-90% 1rm) 10 T2B 15 Bar Facing BurpeesSpecial Warfare Operator 1st Class William Blake Marston, 31, of Concord, New Hampshire, died Jan. 10, 2015, in DeLand, Florida, during military parachute training. Marston was assigned to an East Coast-based SEAL Team and served in the Navy for six years.
Why This Workout Is Very Hard
The 405/275 deadlift (scaled to 80-90% 1RM) is the critical factor — near-maximal singles over 20 minutes create cumulative CNS and grip fatigue that compounds with each round. T2B follows deadlifts, destroying grip recovery. Fifteen bar-facing burpees per round then pre-exhaust the athlete before the next near-max pull. The strength work beforehand adds pre-fatigue. Though only 1 deadlift rep per round, loading this heavy under sustained AMRAP pressure makes most average athletes scale significantly.
Training Focus
This workout develops the following fitness attributes:
- Strength (9/10): Prescribing 405/275 at 80-90% of 1RM makes every deadlift a near-maximal strength effort. This is one of the highest strength demands possible in a metcon format, requiring true force production each rep.
- Endurance (7/10): A 20-minute AMRAP with 15 burpees per round keeps heart rate continuously elevated. However, near-maximal deadlifts force periodic recovery, tempering pure cardiovascular demand compared to traditional cardio-focused WODs.
- Stamina (7/10): Ten T2B and fifteen bar-facing burpees each round accumulate significant muscular endurance stress across grip, core, hip flexors, and full body over 20 minutes. Volume compounds considerably across rounds despite the heavy deadlift limiting total rounds.
- Flexibility (5/10): Toes-to-bar requires meaningful hip flexor and hamstring mobility, and the deadlift demands solid hip hinge mechanics. PVC death march warm-up addresses posterior chain flexibility directly, suggesting this is a real demand of the workout.
- Power (5/10): The near-maximal deadlift requires explosive hip extension and significant power output. Bar-facing burpees add a secondary explosive jumping element. The blend creates moderate power demands rather than pure strength grind or pure explosiveness.
- Speed (5/10): AMRAP format rewards efficient transitions and pacing, but near-maximal deadlifts must be approached methodically as singles. Burpees can cycle with urgency, creating an uneven speed demand — fast on burpees, deliberate on the barbell.
Movements
- Mountain Climber
- Push-Up
- Death March
- Toes-to-Bar
- Deadlift
- Bar-Facing Burpee
Modality Profile
6 total movements: Gymnastics (4) = Mountain Climber, Push-Up, Toes-to-Bar, Bar-Facing Burpee (all bodyweight movements); Weightlifting (2) = Death March (weighted walking lunge with dumbbells/kettlebells) and Deadlift (barbell with external load). No monostructural movements. G: 4/6 = 67% → 70%, W: 2/6 = 33% → 30%.
