Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout creates significant fatigue accumulation through continuous high-intensity intervals with minimal rest. The 10-second AMRAPs force athletes to work at maximum capacity while the 20-second rest is insufficient for full recovery. Over 8 rounds, grip fatigue from pull-ups will severely impact push-up performance, and the alternating upper body movements create compounding muscular failure. The time pressure and work-to-rest ratio make this substantially harder than the movements suggest individually.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Upper body muscular endurance is heavily taxed through alternating pull-ups and push-ups across multiple rounds with minimal rest between efforts.
• Endurance (7/10): Eight rounds of 10-second AMRAPs with 20-second rest creates significant cardiovascular demand through repeated high-intensity intervals with incomplete recovery.
• Speed (7/10): Success depends on rapid cycling between movements within the short work windows and efficient transitions between pull-ups and push-ups.
• Power (6/10): Ten-second AMRAPs demand explosive output to maximize reps, requiring quick muscle fiber recruitment and high-intensity bursts of movement.
• Strength (3/10): Primarily bodyweight strength endurance rather than maximal strength, though pull-ups require decent relative strength to maintain output across rounds.
• Flexibility (2/10): Basic shoulder and thoracic mobility needed for pull-ups and push-ups, but no extreme range of motion requirements.

Movements

• Pull-Up
• Push-Up

Benchmark Notes

This workout consists of 8 rounds alternating between 10-second AMRAP pull-ups and 10-second AMRAP push-ups, with 20-second rest periods between each AMRAP. Total work time is 160 seconds (8 x 10 + 8 x 10), with 280 seconds of rest. I'll analyze this using the Angie benchmark (100 pull-ups + 100 push-ups + 100 sit-ups + 100 air squats) as the closest anchor, focusing on the pull-up and push-up portions. In Angie, elite athletes complete 100 pull-ups + 100 push-ups in roughly 6-8 minutes of the total 15-18 minute workout. However, this workout's format is fundamentally different - short bursts with forced rest rather than continuous work. For 10-second AMRAPs: Elite athletes can sustain 3-4 pull-ups per 10-second window when fresh, degrading to 2-3 in later rounds due to fatigue. Similarly, they can achieve 6-8 push-ups per 10-second window initially, degrading to 4-6 later. The 20-second rest periods allow partial recovery but not full recovery between efforts. Round-by-round breakdown for elite (L9-L10): Rounds 1-2: 4 pull-ups + 8 push-ups = 12 reps per round x 2 = 24 reps. Rounds 3-4: 3 pull-ups + 7 push-ups = 10 reps per round x 2 = 20 reps. Rounds 5-6: 3 pull-ups + 6 push-ups = 9 reps per round x 2 = 18 reps. Rounds 7-8: 2 pull-ups + 5 push-ups = 7 reps per round x 2 = 14 reps. Total elite range: 76 reps (conservative) to 96 reps (aggressive), placing L9 around 200 reps. For recreational athletes (L1-L3): They might achieve 1-2 pull-ups and 3-4 push-ups per round initially, with significant degradation. This yields roughly 40-80 total reps. The median CrossFitter (L5) would likely achieve around 120 total reps, managing 2-3 pull-ups and 4-6 push-ups per round on average. Final targets: L10: ~220+ reps, L5: ~120 reps, L1: ~40 reps.

Modality Profile

Both Pull-Up and Push-Up are bodyweight gymnastics movements, resulting in 100% Gymnastics modality