Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Medium

While individual elements are challenging (power snatches at 95/65, heavy sandbag carries), the partner relay format provides built-in recovery periods. Each athlete works roughly 2-3 minutes then rests while partner goes. The 16-minute cap prevents excessive volume accumulation. Movements don't significantly interfere with each other, and the sandbag work, though demanding, uses different muscle groups than snatching. Most average CrossFitters can complete as prescribed with the recovery structure.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Bear crawls, sandbag drags, and carries will heavily tax muscular endurance in shoulders, core, and legs throughout the extended time domain.
• Endurance (7/10): 16-minute relay with continuous movement patterns creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with heavy carries and crawling movements that elevate heart rate.
• Power (7/10): Power snatches are explosive Olympic lifting movements requiring rapid force development and coordination under fatigue from other movements.
• Strength (6/10): Power snatches at 95/65 and sandbag carries at 100/70 require moderate to heavy loading that challenges absolute strength capacity.
• Speed (6/10): Relay format with partner creates urgency for quick transitions and maintaining pace, though heavy loads limit pure speed expression.
• Flexibility (4/10): Power snatches demand good overhead mobility and hip flexibility, while bear crawls require adequate shoulder and hip range of motion.

Movements

• Sandbag Carry
• Power Snatch
• Bear Crawl

Benchmark Notes

This is a 16-minute AMRAP partner relay with 5 Power Snatch (95/65), 40ft Backwards Bear Crawl with Sandbag Drag (100/70), and 40ft Sandbag Bear Hug Carry (100/70). Each partner alternates complete rounds. Movement breakdown per round: - 5 Power Snatch (95/65): 12-15 sec for elite, 20-25 sec for intermediate, 30-40 sec for novice - 40ft Backwards Bear Crawl with Sandbag Drag: 25-30 sec for elite, 40-50 sec for intermediate, 60-80 sec for novice - 40ft Sandbag Bear Hug Carry: 15-20 sec for elite, 25-30 sec for intermediate, 35-45 sec for novice - Transitions between movements: 5-10 sec total Total round time: Elite 60-75 sec, Intermediate 90-115 sec, Novice 130-175 sec With partner relay format, each athlete gets rest while partner works, reducing fatigue accumulation. However, the backwards bear crawl with drag is extremely taxing and will cause significant slowdown after 3-4 rounds. Fatigue considerations: - Rounds 1-2: Base pace - Rounds 3-4: +15-20% due to posterior chain fatigue from bear crawls - Rounds 5+: +25-35% as grip and core strength deteriorate Partner rest allows partial recovery but doesn't eliminate cumulative fatigue from the demanding movements. Elite athletes (L9-L10): 6.5-7+ rounds with consistent sub-75 sec rounds early, degrading to 90+ sec later Intermediate (L5): ~5 rounds with 90-115 sec rounds becoming 130+ sec rounds Novice (L1-L2): 2.5-3 rounds with 130+ sec rounds throughout No direct anchor match, but this resembles a strength-endurance chipper with significant grip and posterior chain demands. The sandbag movements are more limiting than typical CrossFit movements. Final targets - L10: 7+ rounds, L5: 4.8 rounds, L1: 2.5 rounds

Modality Profile

Power Snatch is weightlifting (barbell movement), Bear Crawl is gymnastics (bodyweight movement), and Sandbag Carry is weightlifting (external load carry). Two weightlifting movements and one gymnastics movement gives a 67/33/0 breakdown.