Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

While neither movement is extremely heavy or technically complex in isolation, the combination creates significant challenge. 20 reps per movement is substantial volume, and power cleans at 135/95 will become increasingly difficult as shoulder and leg fatigue accumulates from wall balls. With no built-in rest between movements or rounds, this becomes a demanding test of muscular endurance and power output sustainability.

Benchmark Times for Icon 1

• Elite: <6:00
• Advanced: 7:00-8:00
• Intermediate: 9:00-10:00
• Beginner: >16:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Sixty total reps each of wall balls and power cleans challenges muscular endurance in legs, shoulders, and posterior chain continuously.
• Power (8/10): Both movements are explosive: driving the wall ball up and accelerating the barbell from floor to shoulder rapidly.
• Endurance (7/10): Three rounds of high-rep compound movements with moderate loads creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with minimal built-in rest between movements.
• Strength (6/10): Moderate loads in power cleans and weighted wall balls require decent strength, though not maximal. Fatigue impacts force production.
• Speed (6/10): Quick transitions and consistent cycling of movements are important, though weight and fatigue limit maximum speed potential.
• Flexibility (5/10): Wall balls demand overhead mobility and squat depth, while power cleans require decent front rack and hip mobility.

Movements

• Wall Ball
• Power Clean

Scaling Options

Wall Ball: Reduce to 20/14 lb ball and/or lower target height by 6-12 inches. Power Clean: Scale to 95/65 lb or 75-80% of your power clean max. Movement subs: Med ball clean to shoulder for power clean, step-back wall ball for reduced cardio demand. Volume option: Reduce to 15 reps each movement or 2 rounds total.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot perform 10+ unbroken wall balls to target height or if power clean working weight is above 75% of 1RM. Proper hip drive and full extension should be maintained throughout - reduce load if form deteriorates significantly. Target time is 8-12 minutes with consistent movement quality. Scale to preserve intended stimulus of moderate-high power output with good mechanics.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-length glycolytic workout targeting the 8-12 minute time domain. Primary focus is on power endurance and lactate tolerance. The couplet combines explosive hip drive movements that challenge both upper and lower body power output while maintaining technical proficiency under fatigue.

Coach Insight

Break wall balls into sets of 10 or smaller from the start - don't go unbroken early. For power cleans, aim for sets of 5-7 reps with quick reset between sets. Keep bar close on cleans and maintain full hip extension. Common faults include rushing wall balls leading to short shots, and pulling early on cleans instead of maintaining patience off the floor. Consider alternating between quick singles and small sets on cleans as fatigue builds.

Benchmark Notes

This workout is similar to DT in structure (multiple rounds of barbell cycling) but with wall balls added. Analysis: Wall Ball Shots (20 reps x 3 rounds): - Fresh: 2.5s/rep = 50s - Round 2: 2.8s/rep = 56s - Round 3: 3.2s/rep = 64s Total: 170s for wall balls Power Cleans (20 reps x 3 rounds): - Fresh: 2.5s/rep = 50s - Round 2: 3s/rep = 60s - Round 3: 3.5s/rep = 70s Total: 180s for cleans Transitions: - Between movements: ~10s x 6 = 60s - Between rounds: ~15s x 2 = 30s Base time: 440s Add 15% for fatigue/variability = 506s Comparing to DT anchor (5 rounds at 155/105): - DT L10 = 360-420s male / 430-510s female - This workout has lighter barbell (135/95) but higher total reps and wall balls - Estimate L10 = 360s male / 480s female Recap: Male: L10 = 6:00, L5 = 10:00, L1 = 16:00 Female: L10 = 8:00, L5 = 12:00, L1 = 18:00

Modality Profile

Both Wall Ball and Power Clean are Weightlifting (W) movements as they involve external loads. Wall Ball uses a medicine ball and Power Clean uses a barbell. With both movements in the same modality, this results in 100% Weightlifting.