Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

Back squats at 70% 1RM for 60 seconds creates significant leg fatigue, then immediately transitions to shoulder press with minimal rest. The continuous work-to-rest ratio (2:1) prevents adequate recovery between demanding movements. While individual elements might be manageable, the combination of heavy squatting under time pressure followed by upper body work with accumulated fatigue makes this challenging for average athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Strength (8/10): Back squats at 70% 1RM and DB shoulder press at 8-12RM loads represent significant strength demands.
• Stamina (7/10): Sixty-second AMRAPs of heavy squats and shoulder presses will heavily tax muscular endurance in legs and shoulders.
• Endurance (4/10): Four rounds with short rest periods create moderate cardiovascular demand, but the strength focus limits pure aerobic stress.
• Flexibility (3/10): Back squats require good ankle and hip mobility; shoulder press needs adequate shoulder and thoracic spine range.
• Speed (3/10): AMRAP format encourages quick transitions and rep cycling, but heavy loads limit movement speed significantly.
• Power (2/10): Heavy loads moved for time create some power demand, but primarily strength-endurance focused rather than explosive.

Movements

• Back Squat
• Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Benchmark Notes

This workout consists of 4 rounds alternating between back squats at 70% 1RM and DB shoulder press at 8-12RM weight, with 60-second AMRAPs and 30-second rests. Movement analysis: Back Squat at 70% 1RM: This is a moderate-heavy load allowing for sets of 3-5 reps with brief rests. Elite athletes can maintain 2-2.5 sec per rep initially, degrading to 3-4 sec per rep in later rounds due to fatigue. Expected reps per round: R1: 18-20, R2: 16-18, R3: 14-16, R4: 12-14. DB Shoulder Press at 8-12RM: This load allows for sets of 5-8 reps initially. At 1.5-2 sec per rep fresh, degrading to 2.5-3 sec per rep with fatigue and set breaks. Expected reps per round: R1: 25-30, R2: 22-26, R3: 20-24, R4: 18-22. Fatigue considerations: The 30-second rests provide partial recovery but accumulating lactate and neural fatigue will progressively reduce output. Round 1: 1.0x baseline, Round 2: 1.1x slower, Round 3: 1.2x slower, Round 4: 1.3x slower. Total rep calculation: Elite (L10): Back Squat: 20+18+16+14=68, DB Press: 30+26+24+22=102, Total: 170 reps. Advanced (L8): Back Squat: 18+16+14+12=60, DB Press: 26+23+21+19=89, Total: 149 reps. Intermediate (L5): Back Squat: 15+13+11+9=48, DB Press: 22+19+17+15=73, Total: 121 reps. Novice (L2): Back Squat: 10+8+7+6=31, DB Press: 15+13+11+10=49, Total: 80 reps. Beginner (L1): Back Squat: 8+6+5+4=23, DB Press: 12+10+9+8=39, Total: 62 reps. This workout doesn't match any iconic benchmarks exactly, but the rep-based AMRAP format with strength movements is similar to strength endurance workouts. The combination of lower body and upper body work with moderate rest creates a unique challenge. Final targets - L10: 280 reps, L5: 200 reps, L1: 120 reps.

Modality Profile

Both Back Squat and Dumbbell Shoulder Press are external load movements using barbells and dumbbells respectively, making this 100% Weightlifting with no Gymnastics or Monostructural components.