Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Medium

While individual movements are manageable (50/35 DB death march, light wall balls, 5 HSPUs), the 16-minute continuous format with partner alternation creates moderate fatigue accumulation. The death march taxes grip/core, wall balls elevate heart rate, and HSPUs demand upper body strength when already fatigued. However, the partner format provides built-in rest periods (roughly 1:1 work-to-rest ratio), preventing excessive fatigue buildup that would push this to Hard difficulty.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume potential over 16 minutes with heavy carries, wall balls, and HSPUs creates substantial muscular endurance demands across multiple muscle groups.
• Endurance (7/10): 16-minute AMRAP with continuous movement and minimal rest creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with partner alternating keeping heart rate elevated throughout.
• Strength (6/10): 50/35lb dumbbell carries and handstand push-ups require significant strength, while wall balls provide moderate loading that accumulates over time.
• Speed (5/10): Partner format creates natural pacing with rest periods, but maintaining consistent round times and efficient transitions becomes important over 16 minutes.
• Flexibility (4/10): Handstand push-ups demand overhead mobility and shoulder flexibility, while wall balls require full squat depth and overhead extension for proper execution.
• Power (3/10): Wall balls require hip drive and explosive extension, but other movements are more strength-endurance focused with moderate power demands overall.

Movements

• Wall Ball
• Dumbbell Death March
• Handstand Push-Up

Scaling Options

Reduce DB weight to 35/25 or 25/15 lbs. Lower wall ball target to 9/8 ft or reduce to 14/10 lb ball. Substitute pike push-ups, box pike push-ups, or push-ups for HSPUs. Consider reducing death march distance to 15ft if space is limited. Reduce wall balls to 7-8 reps if shoulder fatigue becomes excessive.

Scaling Explanation

Scale DB weight if you cannot complete 25ft unbroken when fresh. Scale HSPUs if you cannot perform 3-5 strict handstand push-ups or if you're kicking off the wall frequently. Scale wall balls if you cannot hit the target consistently or if depth suffers. Goal is continuous movement for each partner with minimal rest between exercises while maintaining quality positions.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-intensity glycolytic conditioning workout targeting 12-16 minutes. Primary challenge is maintaining movement quality under fatigue while managing partner transitions. Tests grip strength endurance, upper body pressing power, and leg drive stamina across varied movement patterns.

Coach Insight

Emphasize smooth partner transitions - communicate clearly and move quickly between rounds. Death march should be unbroken - if grip fails, scale weight immediately. Wall balls should be done in 1-2 sets max, focus on full depth squat and hitting target. Break HSPUs early and often - singles or doubles to maintain quality. Partners should encourage each other during difficult movements and call out round counts.

Benchmark Notes

This is a 16-minute partner AMRAP with each round consisting of: 25ft DB Death March (50/35), 10 Wall Balls (20/14), 5 HSPUs, 25ft DB Death March. Partners alternate complete rounds. Round breakdown: Each DB Death March takes ~8-12 seconds fresh (25ft with heavy DBs), Wall Balls take ~20-30 seconds (10 reps at 2-3 sec each), HSPUs take ~25-40 seconds (5 reps at 5-8 sec each in complex WODs), second Death March ~8-12 seconds. Total round time starts at ~61-94 seconds fresh. With partner format, each athlete gets ~60-75 seconds rest between rounds. Fatigue progression: Rounds 1-2 at base time (~75-90 sec), Rounds 3-4 increase 10-15% (~85-105 sec), Rounds 5-6 increase 20-25% (~95-115 sec), Rounds 7+ increase 30-40%+ (~110-135 sec). Elite athletes complete 10-12 total rounds, advanced 8-10 rounds, intermediate 6-8 rounds, beginners 4-6 rounds. L1 represents scaled modifications, L10 represents top competitive performance.

Modality Profile

Handstand Push-Up is gymnastics (bodyweight), while Dumbbell Death March and Wall Ball are both weightlifting movements with external load. With 1 gymnastics and 2 weightlifting movements, the breakdown is 33% G and 67% W.