Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 70% 4RM back squats for 1-minute AMRAPs create significant leg fatigue across 5 rounds with minimal recovery. The 6-second eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups demand exceptional control and strength, especially as grip and lats fatigue. The combination of heavy squatting volume with high-skill pulling under accumulating fatigue makes this challenging for average athletes, with many needing to scale the pull-up complexity or squat load.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Strength (8/10): Back squats at 70% of 4RM represent significant loading, while eccentric pull-ups with 6-second negatives demand high strength output.
• Stamina (7/10): Back squats at 70% for one minute plus eccentric pull-ups will heavily tax muscular endurance in legs and upper body pulling muscles.
• Endurance (4/10): Five one-minute AMRAPs with one-minute caps create moderate cardiovascular demand, but rest periods between rounds limit pure aerobic stress.
• Flexibility (3/10): Back squats require good ankle and hip mobility, while chest-to-bar pull-ups demand shoulder flexibility for full range of motion.
• Speed (3/10): One-minute caps limit cycling speed requirements, though efficient transitions between squat reps will matter for maximizing volume.
• Power (2/10): Eccentric emphasis and heavy squats minimize explosive demands; focus is on controlled strength rather than rapid force production.

Movements

• Back Squat
• Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up

Benchmark Notes

This workout consists of 5 rounds alternating between 1-minute AMRAP back squats at 70% of 4RM and 1-minute cap eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups. Since it's scored as 'Reps', I'm calculating total repetitions across all rounds. For back squats at 70% 4RM: Elite athletes can perform 8-10 reps per minute when fresh, degrading to 6-8 reps in later rounds due to fatigue. Average athletes start at 5-7 reps per minute, declining to 3-5 reps. Beginners manage 3-4 reps initially, dropping to 2-3 reps. For eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups with 6-second negatives: Each rep takes 8-10 seconds including transition time. Elite athletes can complete 6-7 per minute initially, declining to 4-5 in later rounds. Average athletes manage 4-5 initially, dropping to 3-4. Beginners complete 2-3 per minute throughout. Total calculation: Elite (L9-L10): 40 back squats + 25 eccentric pull-ups = 65 reps per round × 5 = 125-130 total reps. Average (L5): 25 back squats + 20 eccentric pull-ups = 45 reps per round × 5 = 95 total reps. Beginner (L1-L2): 12 back squats + 12 eccentric pull-ups = 24 reps per round × 5 = 45-55 total reps. The workout combines strength endurance with challenging gymnastics, creating significant fatigue accumulation across rounds. No direct anchor match exists, but the rep ranges align with high-intensity strength-gymnastics combinations. Final targets: L10: ~125 reps, L5: ~95 reps, L1: ~45 reps.

Modality Profile

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