Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

This descending rep scheme combines three barbell movements with wall balls and burpees, creating significant fatigue accumulation. The squat clean and jerk at 60kg must be performed 84 times each, with wall balls and burpees interrupting recovery. The combination of heavy Olympic lifts under fatigue, plus the metabolic stress of wall balls and burpees, makes this a grueling 20-25 minute workout for most athletes.

Benchmark Times for Stuart McGrath

• 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 (9/10): Multiple movement patterns targeting legs, core, and upper body with no prescribed rest. High volume challenges local muscular endurance significantly.
• Endurance (8/10): High-rep Olympic lifting combined with wall balls and burpees creates significant cardiovascular demand across 84 total reps. Descending rep scheme maintains intensity throughout.
• Power (8/10): Clean, jerk, and wall ball movements are inherently explosive. Even at moderate loads, power production is crucial throughout.
• Flexibility (7/10): Olympic lifts demand good mobility in ankles, hips, and shoulders. Wall balls and burpees require full-range movement patterns.
• Speed (7/10): For time format rewards quick transitions and efficient cycling of movements, especially during higher rep rounds.
• Strength (6/10): Moderate loads for clean and jerk movements require strength, but rep scheme emphasizes endurance over max force production.

Movements

• Squat Clean
• Wall Ball
• Burpee
• Jerk

Scaling Options

Reduce barbell weight to 75% of 1RM clean (minimum 40/25kg) if needed. Scale wall ball weight to 14/10lb and target height 9'/8'. For movement substitutions: Power clean + front squat instead of squat clean, push press instead of jerk, step-back burpees instead of jumping. Volume option: Remove round of 21 or cap workout at 20 minutes. Consider 15-12-9-6-3 rep scheme for beginners.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if unable to perform 5+ unbroken squat cleans at prescribed weight or if technique deteriorates significantly under fatigue. Athletes should maintain proper receiving position in cleans and lockout in jerks throughout workout. Target completion time is 12-20 minutes - if projected time is longer, reduce load or modify movements. Prioritize maintaining power output and safe technique over prescribed weight. Scale to preserve intended stimulus of moderate-high intensity sustained effort.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate to long glycolytic workout (12-20 minutes) with oxidative system contribution. Primary focus is on Olympic lifting endurance and power maintenance under fatigue. The descending rep scheme creates a steady but challenging pace throughout all rounds. Tests both technical proficiency and conditioning capacity.

Coach Insight

Break up the squat cleans and jerks early - consider sets of 4-5 reps in the first round. Quick singles become more efficient in later rounds. Minimize transition time between movements. For wall balls, find a consistent rhythm and try to maintain unbroken sets until the round of 9. On burpees, focus on efficiency over speed - stay close to the bar and use a two-foot takeoff/landing. Most athletes hit the wall in the round of 15 - plan for this by breaking up work conservatively in rounds of 21/18.

Benchmark Notes

This workout is similar to Elizabeth (21-15-9 squat clean + ring dips) but with more movements and higher rep scheme. Base calculation: 1. Squat Clean (60kg/40kg): 2.5-3s/rep at moderate load 2. Wall Ball: 2-2.5s/rep 3. Jerk: 2-2.5s/rep 4. Bar Facing Burpee: 4-4.5s/rep Round breakdown (male): 21s: (3s + 2.5s + 2.5s + 4.5s) × 21 = 262.5s + 30s transitions = ~290s 18s: 1.1x fatigue = ~260s 15s: 1.2x fatigue = ~230s 12s: 1.2x fatigue = ~190s 9s: 1.3x fatigue = ~150s 6s: 1.3x fatigue = ~105s 3s: 1.3x fatigue = ~55s Total: ~1280s for L1 scaled down to ~360s for L10 Using Elizabeth as anchor (L10: 160-200s, L5: 360-420s, L1: 540-720s) but adjusting up ~80% due to: - Higher total reps (84 vs 45 per movement) - Four movements vs two - Additional complexity of bar-facing burpees Final targets (M/F): L10: 360s/480s (6:00/8:00) L5: 600s/720s (10:00/12:00) L1: 960s/1080s (16:00/18:00) Female times adjusted +20% due to load ratio similar to Elizabeth scaling and additional cardio demand of wall balls at 14lb.

Modality Profile

Of the 4 movements: Burpee is gymnastics (G); Squat Clean, Wall Ball, and Jerk are all weightlifting (W). This gives us 1 gymnastics movement and 3 weightlifting movements, resulting in a 25/75 split between G and W, with no monostructural (M) movements.

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