Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 95/65lb thrusters are moderate weight but become punishing over 5 rounds (45 total reps) with no rest. DB Death March adds significant posterior chain and grip fatigue that directly impacts pull-up performance. The continuous format prevents recovery between movements, creating compound fatigue. Most athletes will need to break up thrusters significantly and may require pull-up scaling by rounds 3-4.

Benchmark Times for WOD

• Elite: <9:00
• Advanced: 10:00-11:00
• Intermediate: 12:00-13:00
• Beginner: >21:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume of pulling, squatting, and pressing movements with death march creating serious muscular endurance demands across multiple muscle groups.
• Endurance (7/10): Five rounds with minimal rest creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with the combination of thrusters and sustained walking under load.
• Strength (6/10): Moderate barbell load on thrusters and heavy dumbbell carries challenge strength, though not maximal loads for most athletes.
• Speed (6/10): For-time format encourages quick transitions and steady cycling, though death march naturally limits overall pace and creates bottleneck.
• Power (5/10): Thrusters have explosive hip drive component, but death march is slow grind, creating mixed power demands throughout the workout.
• Flexibility (4/10): Thrusters require overhead mobility and ankle flexibility, while death march demands core stability and postural control throughout range of motion.

Movements

• Thruster
• Dumbbell Death March
• Pull-Up

Scaling Options

Reduce thruster weight to 75/55 or 65/45 lbs. Scale death march to 35/25 or 25/15 lb DBs. Sub banded pull-ups, ring rows, or jumping pull-ups. Consider reducing to 4 rounds or 15 death march steps. Time cap at 20 minutes.

Scaling Explanation

Scale thruster weight if you can't maintain sets of 3+ throughout. Scale death march weight if you can't complete 20 steps unbroken in early rounds. Scale pull-ups if you can't do 3+ strict reps. Goal is to maintain steady movement for 12-18 minutes without long rest periods. Prioritize movement quality over speed.

Intended Stimulus

Moderate-intensity glycolytic workout lasting 12-18 minutes. Tests muscular endurance, grip strength, and ability to maintain movement quality under accumulating fatigue. Primary challenge is conditioning with significant strength endurance component, particularly in shoulders and posterior chain.

Coach Insight

Pace thrusters in small sets early (5-4 or 3-3-3) to preserve shoulders for pull-ups. Death march will be the limiting factor - maintain upright posture and step deliberately to avoid stumbling. Break pull-ups early and often (10-10, 7-6-7, or 5-5-5-5). Rest 30-45 seconds between movements to maintain quality. Focus on breathing rhythm during death march - this movement will spike heart rate significantly.

Benchmark Notes

This is a 5-round workout with 9 Thrusters (95/65), 20 DB Death March (50/35), and 9 Pull-Ups per round. Round-by-round breakdown: Round 1 (fresh): Thrusters 9×2.5=22.5s, transition 3s, Death March 20×2=40s, transition 3s, Pull-ups 9×1.5=13.5s, round total 82s. Round 2: Same pattern but 1.05× fatigue = 86s. Round 3: 1.1× fatigue = 90s. Round 4: 1.15× fatigue = 94s. Round 5: 1.2× fatigue = 98s. Total base time: 450s. Added 30s between rounds for brief rest/setup. Death March is particularly taxing on legs/core affecting subsequent thrusters. Pull-ups after grip-intensive death march add 15% time penalty in later rounds. Final calculation accounts for progressive grip fatigue and metabolic demand across all 225 total reps.

Modality Profile

Three movements: Thruster (W), Dumbbell Death March (W), Pull-Up (G). Two weightlifting movements and one gymnastics movement gives a 67/33/0 breakdown.