Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 135/95lb power cleans are moderately heavy for most athletes, but the 21-15-9 rep scheme with lateral burpees creates significant fatigue accumulation. Power cleans require technical precision and full-body coordination, which deteriorates rapidly under fatigue from burpees. The continuous format with no built-in rest means athletes must cycle between high-skill barbell work and metabolically demanding burpees, creating both technical and cardiovascular challenges that will force many to scale.

Benchmark Times for Fast and Quick (38:00 - 48:00)

• Elite: <4:00
• Advanced: 4:40-5:20
• Intermediate: 6:00-7:00
• Beginner: >12:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Power (9/10): Power cleans are explosive by nature, and lateral burpees require rapid up-down transitions, making this heavily power-dependent throughout.
• Stamina (8/10): High volume of power cleans (45 total) and lateral burpees (45 total) will heavily tax muscular endurance, particularly grip, legs, and core.
• Endurance (7/10): The 21-15-9 format with minimal rest creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially as power cleans and burpees compound to elevate heart rate throughout.
• Strength (6/10): Power cleans at 135/95 lbs require moderate to heavy strength, especially as fatigue accumulates through the descending rep scheme.
• Speed (6/10): The descending rep format encourages fast cycling between movements, with minimal transition time between power cleans and lateral burpees being crucial.
• Flexibility (4/10): Power cleans demand good hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility for proper receiving position, while burpees require basic range of motion.

Movements

• Lateral Burpee
• Power Clean

Benchmark Notes

This workout follows a 21-15-9 rep scheme with Power Cleans at 135/95 lbs and Lateral Burpees. I'll analyze this by comparing to similar benchmarks and breaking down movement by movement. Closest Anchor Analysis: This workout is most similar to Elizabeth (21-15-9 squat clean 135/95 + ring dip) with anchor times of L10: 160-200 sec, L5: 360-420 sec, L1: 540-720 sec. However, this workout uses power cleans (slightly faster than squat cleans) but pairs them with lateral burpees instead of ring dips. Movement Breakdown: - Power Clean (135 lbs): 2-3 sec per rep when fresh, but will slow significantly under fatigue - Lateral Burpee: 4-5 sec per rep (similar to regular burpees but with lateral movement) Round-by-Round Analysis: Round 1 (21 reps each): - Power Cleans: 21 × 2.5 sec = 52 sec - Transition: 3 sec - Lateral Burpees: 21 × 4 sec = 84 sec - Round 1 total: ~140 sec Round 2 (15 reps each, with fatigue): - Power Cleans: 15 × 3 sec = 45 sec (fatigue factor 1.2x) - Transition: 3 sec - Lateral Burpees: 15 × 4.5 sec = 68 sec (fatigue factor 1.1x) - Round 2 total: ~116 sec Round 3 (9 reps each, heavy fatigue): - Power Cleans: 9 × 3.5 sec = 32 sec (fatigue factor 1.4x) - Transition: 3 sec - Lateral Burpees: 9 × 5 sec = 45 sec (fatigue factor 1.25x) - Round 3 total: ~80 sec Total for L5 athlete: ~336 sec (5:36) Compared to Elizabeth anchor (360-420 sec for L5), this workout should be slightly faster due to power cleans being more efficient than squat cleans, but lateral burpees are comparable to ring dips in difficulty. The similar loading (135 lbs) and identical rep scheme support using Elizabeth as the primary anchor with minor adjustments. Adjustment from Elizabeth: Estimating 10-15% faster due to power clean efficiency, placing L5 around 320-380 sec instead of 360-420 sec. Final Targets: - L10: 240 sec (4:00) - L5: 420 sec (7:00) - L1: 720 sec (12:00)

Modality Profile

Power Clean is a weightlifting movement with external load (barbell), while Lateral Burpee is a bodyweight gymnastics movement. With two modalities present, this creates a 50/50 split between Gymnastics and Weightlifting.