Workout Description
4 Rounds for Time
21 Overhead Squats (135/95 lb)
400 meter Run
Why This Workout Is Hard
Dan blends heavy, technical overhead squats with sustained running volume. Expect about 18–24 minutes for competent athletes. The overhead squat’s high skill and stability demands magnify fatigue from the 1.6 km total run. Density is moderate, complexity is mixed (high-skill OHS plus basic running), and the time domain sits squarely in the classic hard conditioning range.
Benchmark Times for Dan
- Elite: <15:00
- Advanced: 16:00-18:00
- Intermediate: 20:00-22:00
- Beginner: >40:00
Training Focus
This workout develops the following fitness attributes:
- Stamina (7/10): Eighty-four heavy overhead squats challenge shoulder, midline, and leg endurance. Expect cumulative fatigue that pressures set sizes and rest strategy by rounds three and four.
- Flexibility (7/10): Strong mobility is required: stable overhead position, thoracic extension, shoulder flexion, and ankle/hip depth to maintain safe, upright squatting under fatigue.
- Endurance (6/10): Four 400m runs create a steady aerobic demand. Pace must be sustainable while leaving enough breathing room to stabilize the barbell overhead each round.
- Strength (5/10): Overhead squatting 135/95 requires solid baseline strength, especially through the legs and shoulders, but the test is not about 1-rep max power.
- Speed (4/10): Transitions and efficient barbell cycling matter, but the workout rewards steady, consistent pacing more than all-out speed bursts.
- Power (3/10): Limited emphasis on explosive output. Most athletes will move the bar deliberately and run at a controlled pace rather than sprint or cycle explosively.
Scaling Options
Scale to: 21 OHS at 115/75 lb • 15 OHS at 95/65 lb • 21 Front Squat (95/65) or 21 Goblet Squat (53/35) with 300m run
Scaling Explanation
These options preserve the couplet’s stimulus—technical squatting under fatigue plus steady running—while matching strength, mobility, and capacity so athletes can keep moving with minimal breakdown.
Intended Stimulus
A steady grind with controlled barbell sets and purposeful, repeatable 400m runs. The OHS should be challenging but not a max; think 1–3 sets per round. Runs are smooth and consistent, not sprints. The workout should feel like sustained pressure, testing core stability and leg endurance without total redline.
Coach Insight
Open conservatively on the barbell: 11-10 or 8-7-6. Keep the runs at a repeatable pace you can maintain across all four rounds.
Biggest tip: Brace hard and lock your overhead position before each squat—stability saves energy and time.
Avoid death by no-reps and failed stands. Don’t sprint round one; aim for round four parity.
Benchmark Notes
These times bracket performance from beginner to elite. If you’re above L5 (around 22 minutes), scale load or reps. Strong barbell movers who run well can hit sub-18. Elite athletes capable of large OHS sets and fast 400s aim for 15 minutes or faster.
Modality Profile
This is a two-modal couplet: running (monostructural) and overhead squats (weightlifting). Most athletes will spend slightly more total time on the runs, with the barbell work demanding focused, technical effort that determines set strategy and transitions.
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