Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

Bodyweight front squats are extremely heavy for most athletes (185-225lbs), requiring significant strength. The 21-15-9 rep scheme with no built-in rest creates massive leg fatigue before transitioning to toes-to-bar, which demands fresh grip and core strength. The 5-minute cap adds brutal time pressure, forcing athletes to maintain high intensity throughout. Most will need to scale the front squat load significantly to have any chance of completion.

Benchmark Times for B. 21-15-9 (Front Sq. & T2B)

• Elite: <3:45
• Advanced: 4:05-4:25
• Intermediate: 4:45-5:10
• Beginner: >8:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Total of 45 front squats and 45 toes to bar will heavily tax both leg and core muscular endurance systems.
• Speed (8/10): Five-minute cap demands rapid transitions and aggressive pacing to complete 90 total reps of challenging movements.
• Endurance (7/10): Five-minute time cap with high-rep descending ladder creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic output throughout the workout.
• Flexibility (7/10): Front squats demand ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility while toes to bar requires exceptional shoulder and hip flexibility.
• Strength (6/10): Bodyweight front squats require significant absolute strength, especially as fatigue accumulates through the descending rep scheme.
• Power (3/10): Some explosive hip drive needed for front squats and kipping toes to bar, but primarily strength-endurance focused.

Movements

• Front Squat
• Toes-to-Bar

Benchmark Notes

This workout is a 21-15-9 couplet with Front Squat at bodyweight and Toes-to-Bar, with a 5-minute time cap. I'll analyze this by comparing to the Fran anchor (21-15-9 Thruster 95/65 + Pull-Up) and adjusting for movement differences. Movement Analysis: - Front Squat (bodyweight): Significantly heavier than Fran's thrusters (95/65). Bodyweight loading (~150-200/100-135) represents roughly 60-100% increase in load. This will dramatically slow the barbell portion. - Toes-to-Bar vs Pull-Ups: T2B are generally 20-30% slower than kipping pull-ups due to the longer range of motion and core demand. Round-by-round breakdown: Round 1 (21 reps each): Front squats will take 50-70 seconds (vs 25-35 for Fran thrusters), T2B will take 35-50 seconds (vs 25-35 for pull-ups). Total: 85-120 seconds. Round 2 (15 reps each): With fatigue, front squats 45-65 seconds, T2B 30-45 seconds. Total: 75-110 seconds. Round 3 (9 reps each): Front squats 25-40 seconds, T2B 18-30 seconds. Total: 43-70 seconds. Transitions: 3-5 seconds between movements, 5-10 seconds between rounds. Total estimated time: 210-315 seconds for elite athletes, scaling up significantly for lower levels. Comparing to Fran anchor (L10: 120-140 sec, L5: 320-360 sec, L1: 540-660 sec): The heavier loading and T2B complexity should add approximately 80-100% to Fran times for most athletes. However, the 5-minute (300-second) time cap creates a critical constraint. Many athletes will not finish, making this effectively a max reps workout for lower levels. For benchmark purposes, I'm calculating completion times for those who can finish. Final targets: L10: 225 seconds (3:45) - Elite athletes with strong front squat L5: 310 seconds (5:10) - Just over the time cap, representing the median capability L1: 480 seconds (8:00) - Theoretical completion time for beginners

Modality Profile

Front Squat is a weightlifting movement with external load (barbell), while Toes-to-Bar is a gymnastics bodyweight movement. With two modalities present, this creates a 50/50 split between Weightlifting and Gymnastics.