Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout combines moderate-heavy squat cleans (135/95) with high-skill handstand push-ups across significant volume (45 total of each), connected by continuous running. The barbell cycling under accumulated fatigue, technical breakdown of HSPU as shoulders fatigue, and minimal recovery between elements creates substantial difficulty. Most athletes will need to scale the weight or HSPU progression, and the 25-30 minute time domain ensures sustained suffering across multiple energy systems.

Benchmark Times for WOD

• Elite: <14:00
• Advanced: 16:00-18:00
• Intermediate: 20:00-22:00
• Beginner: >33:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Endurance (8/10): Six 400m runs interspersed with strength movements creates significant cardiovascular demand and tests aerobic capacity throughout the workout.
• Power (8/10): Squat cleans are explosive triple extension movements requiring power generation from the floor, especially when fatigued from running.
• Stamina (7/10): High volume squat cleans and handstand push-ups in descending ladder format will heavily tax upper body and posterior chain muscular endurance.
• Flexibility (7/10): Squat cleans demand ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility while handstand push-ups require significant shoulder and thoracic spine flexibility.
• Strength (6/10): 135/95lb squat cleans require moderate to heavy loading for most athletes, demanding significant strength output under fatigue.
• Speed (6/10): 21-15-9 format encourages fast transitions and quick movement cycling, though pacing strategy becomes important with the running intervals.

Movements

• Squat Clean
• Run
• Handstand Push-Up

Benchmark Notes

This workout is very similar to Elizabeth (21-15-9 squat clean 135/95 + ring dip) but with handstand push-ups instead of ring dips and 400m runs between each couplet. Using Elizabeth as the primary anchor: L10: 160-200 sec, L5: 360-420 sec, L1: 540-720 sec. Movement breakdown: Squat cleans (45 total reps at 135/95): Round 1 (21 reps): 63-84 sec, Round 2 (15 reps): 52-65 sec with fatigue, Round 3 (9 reps): 32-40 sec with significant fatigue. Total squat clean time: 147-189 sec. Handstand push-ups (45 total reps): These are significantly more challenging than ring dips. Round 1 (21 reps): 168-252 sec in sets of 5-7 with breaks, Round 2 (15 reps): 150-225 sec with increased fatigue, Round 3 (9 reps): 108-162 sec. Total HSPU time: 426-639 sec. Running (2400m total): 6 x 400m runs at 75-120 sec each = 450-720 sec total. Transitions: 6 transitions at 5-15 sec each = 30-90 sec. Total estimated time: 1053-1638 sec. However, the handstand push-ups create a major bottleneck compared to Elizabeth's ring dips, requiring significant scaling up from the Elizabeth anchor. The combination of heavy squat cleans with high-volume handstand push-ups plus substantial running volume makes this considerably longer than Elizabeth. Final targets: L10: 840 sec (14:00), L5: 1320 sec (22:00), L1: 1980 sec (33:00).

Modality Profile

Three movements across all modalities: Squat Clean (Weightlifting), Run (Monostructural), Handstand Push-Up (Gymnastics). Equal distribution with slight emphasis on Weightlifting.