Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout creates significant fatigue accumulation through minimal rest (10 seconds) between demanding movements. The tempo front squats at 50% require controlled eccentric loading, immediately followed by overhead pressing under fatigue. Ten rounds with only brief recovery prevents adequate restoration, forcing athletes to work through accumulated leg and shoulder fatigue. The combination of structural loading and overhead work with insufficient rest elevates difficulty substantially.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume of tempo front squats and continuous shoulder pressing will heavily tax muscular endurance in legs and shoulders.
• Endurance (7/10): Ten rounds with minimal rest creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic capacity throughout the 8+ minute workout duration.
• Flexibility (7/10): Front rack position, full squat depth, and overhead pressing require good thoracic spine, ankle, and shoulder mobility throughout.
• Strength (6/10): Front squats at 50% 1RM with tempo control requires moderate strength, while overhead pressing adds upper body strength demand.
• Speed (4/10): Short rest periods demand efficient transitions, but tempo squats prevent rapid cycling and emphasize controlled movement quality.
• Power (2/10): Tempo squats eliminate explosive component, while shoulder press is more grinding strength endurance than explosive power output.

Movements

• Front Squat
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Benchmark Notes

This workout consists of 10 rounds alternating between tempo front squats and piked DB shoulder press AMRAPs. Each round has a 30-second cap for front squats, 10-second rest, 30-second AMRAP for shoulder press, and 10-second rest. Total workout time is 14 minutes (80 seconds per round × 10 rounds). For tempo front squats at 50% 1RM with 6-second eccentric, 2-second pause, athletes will complete 2-4 reps per 30-second window depending on skill level. The piked DB shoulder press AMRAP will start strong but degrade significantly due to shoulder fatigue accumulation. Round 1-2: 8-12 reps per AMRAP (fresh shoulders), Round 3-4: 6-10 reps (1.2x fatigue), Round 5-6: 5-8 reps (1.3x fatigue), Round 7-8: 4-6 reps (1.4x fatigue), Round 9-10: 3-5 reps (1.5x fatigue due to severe shoulder pump). Total rep calculation focuses on the AMRAP portion since front squats are tempo-controlled and consistent. Elite athletes (L9-L10): 240-260 total reps, Advanced (L6-L8): 160-220 reps, Intermediate (L4-L5): 120-160 reps, Novice (L1-L3): 80-120 reps. The shoulder-intensive nature and 10-round volume creates significant fatigue accumulation, making this primarily a muscular endurance test. No direct anchor comparison available, but the rep ranges align with similar high-volume shoulder-dominant workouts. Final targets: L10: 260+ reps, L5: 160 reps, L1: 80 reps.

Modality Profile

Both Front Squat and Dumbbell Shoulder Press are external load movements using barbells/dumbbells, making this 100% Weightlifting with no Gymnastics or Monostructural components.