Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout combines high-skill handstand push-ups with moderate volume wall balls in a continuous format. The 45 total HSPUs will challenge most athletes' shoulder endurance and pressing strength, while the 83 wall balls create significant metabolic demand. The descending HSPU ladder with increasing wall balls prevents recovery, forcing athletes to perform technical movements under accumulating fatigue. Most will need to scale HSPU volume or difficulty.

Benchmark Times for HOUDINI

• Elite: <6:00
• Advanced: 7:00-8:00
• Intermediate: 9:00-10:00
• Beginner: >18:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume handstand push-ups and wall balls will severely test upper body pressing stamina and shoulder endurance throughout.
• Flexibility (7/10): Handstand push-ups demand excellent shoulder mobility and thoracic extension, while wall balls require good overhead and squat mobility.
• Endurance (6/10): The for-time format with moderate volume creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially as fatigue accumulates through the descending ladder.
• Strength (6/10): Handstand push-ups require significant relative strength for pressing bodyweight overhead, while wall balls demand moderate strength endurance.
• Speed (5/10): For-time format encourages steady pacing with minimal rest, requiring efficient transitions between the two demanding upper body movements.
• Power (4/10): Wall balls have moderate power component in the explosive hip drive, while handstand push-ups are more strength-focused grinding movements.

Movements

• Handstand Push-Up
• Wall Ball

Benchmark Notes

This workout follows a 21-15-9 rep scheme with handstand push-ups and wall balls, similar to Fran but with different movements. I'll analyze each round with fatigue considerations. Movement Analysis: - Handstand Push-Ups: 3-4 sec per rep fresh, but in complex workouts with multiple movements, this increases to 8-12 sec per rep due to setup, positioning, and recovery - Wall Balls (20/14): 2-3 sec per rep fresh Round 1 (21 HSPU + 35 Wall Balls): - 21 HSPU: 21 × 8 sec = 168 sec (fresh state, complex workout timing) - Transition: 5 sec - 35 Wall Balls: 35 × 2.5 sec = 87.5 sec - Round 1 total: ~260 sec Round 2 (15 HSPU + 27 Wall Balls): - Fatigue multiplier: 1.15x - 15 HSPU: 15 × 9 sec × 1.15 = 155 sec - Transition: 5 sec - 27 Wall Balls: 27 × 2.8 sec × 1.15 = 87 sec - Round 2 total: ~247 sec Round 3 (9 HSPU + 21 Wall Balls): - Fatigue multiplier: 1.3x - 9 HSPU: 9 × 10 sec × 1.3 = 117 sec - Transition: 5 sec - 21 Wall Balls: 21 × 3 sec × 1.3 = 82 sec - Round 3 total: ~204 sec Total estimated time for L5 athlete: 260 + 247 + 204 = 711 sec (~12 minutes) However, this workout is significantly more challenging than Fran due to the handstand push-up complexity and higher wall ball volume (83 vs 45 total reps). The closest anchor is Fran, but this workout should take considerably longer due to: 1. HSPU requiring more setup/recovery time than pull-ups 2. Higher total volume (45 HSPU + 83 Wall Balls vs 45 Thrusters + 45 Pull-ups) 3. More demanding shoulder/core fatigue pattern Adjusting from Fran anchor (L5: 320-360 sec) with +80% time penalty for complexity and volume: - L10: 360 sec (6:00) - L5: 600 sec (10:00) - L1: 1080 sec (18:00) Final targets - L10: 360 sec, L5: 600 sec, L1: 1080 sec

Modality Profile

Handstand Push-Up is a bodyweight gymnastics movement, while Wall Ball uses external load (medicine ball) making it a weightlifting movement. With two modalities present, the breakdown is 50/50.