Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout combines moderate-heavy power cleans (135/95) with handstand push-ups in a descending ladder format totaling 55 reps each. The continuous nature creates significant fatigue accumulation - shoulders get hammered by HSPUs then must immediately perform power cleans, while grip and posterior chain fatigue from cleans impacts HSPU performance. Most athletes will need multiple breaks and many will scale the HSPU movement or weight.

Benchmark Times for LOCK AND LOAD

• 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 of handstand push-ups (55 total reps) will severely test shoulder and tricep stamina, compounded by grip fatigue from power cleans.
• Power (8/10): Power cleans are inherently explosive, requiring rapid force production from floor to shoulders. The descending reps maintain power output demands throughout.
• Strength (7/10): Power cleans at 135/95 lbs require significant strength, while handstand push-ups demand high relative strength in vertical pressing pattern.
• Endurance (6/10): The descending ladder format with minimal rest between movements creates moderate cardiovascular demand, especially as fatigue accumulates through the rounds.
• Flexibility (6/10): Handstand push-ups require excellent shoulder mobility and thoracic extension, while power cleans demand ankle, hip, and shoulder flexibility for proper positioning.
• Speed (5/10): For-time format encourages quick transitions, but the technical nature of both movements limits pure speed in favor of controlled execution.

Movements

• Power Clean
• Handstand Push-Up

Benchmark Notes

This workout is a descending ladder (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1) of Handstand Push-Ups and Power Cleans at 135/95 lbs, totaling 55 reps of each movement. I'll analyze this by comparing to similar benchmark workouts and calculating movement-by-movement breakdown. Closest anchor reference: Elizabeth (21-15-9 squat clean 135/95 + ring dip) with L10: 160-200 sec, L5: 360-420 sec, L1: 540-720 sec. However, this workout has significantly more volume (55 vs 45 reps) and HSPUs are more challenging than ring dips. Movement analysis: - Power Cleans 135/95: Elite ~2.5 sec/rep, Intermediate ~3.5 sec/rep, Novice ~5 sec/rep - Handstand Push-Ups: Elite ~3 sec/rep in fresh state, but significantly slower in complex workouts (8-12 sec/rep with fatigue) Round-by-round breakdown for elite athlete: - Rounds 10-8 (27 reps each): HSPUs 3-4 sec/rep, Cleans 2.5 sec/rep = ~175 sec - Rounds 7-5 (18 reps each): HSPUs 4-6 sec/rep, Cleans 3 sec/rep = ~125 sec - Rounds 4-1 (10 reps each): HSPUs 6-8 sec/rep, Cleans 3.5 sec/rep = ~115 sec - Transitions and brief rests: ~45 sec Total elite time: ~360 sec (6:00) For intermediate athletes, HSPU difficulty scales dramatically - expect 8-15 sec/rep with frequent breaking, and power cleans slow to 4-5 sec/rep under fatigue. This pushes times to 600+ seconds. Compared to Elizabeth anchor, this workout has 22% more volume and HSPUs are significantly more challenging than ring dips, justifying times that are roughly 80-100% longer than Elizabeth benchmarks. Final targets - L10: 360 sec (6:00), L5: 600 sec (10:00), L1: 1080 sec (18:00)

Modality Profile

Two movements: Handstand Push-Up (bodyweight gymnastics) and Power Clean (barbell weightlifting). Equal 50/50 split between Gymnastics and Weightlifting with no monostructural component.