Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Medium

While hurdle jumps and sprints are high-intensity movements, the structure provides significant recovery. Each round is brief (30-45 seconds), followed by ~1 minute rest, creating a favorable 1:2 work-to-rest ratio. Eight rounds will accumulate some fatigue, but the built-in recovery prevents overwhelming intensity. Most average CrossFitters can complete this as prescribed, though it will be challenging cardio work.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Power (9/10): Explosive hurdle jumps combined with maximal sprint efforts make this primarily a power-based workout testing anaerobic alactic and glycolytic systems.
• Endurance (8/10): Multiple rounds of sprinting with short rest creates high cardiovascular demand, testing aerobic recovery between intense anaerobic efforts.
• Speed (8/10): Sprint ladder format emphasizes pure speed and acceleration, with transitions between hurdles and sprints requiring quick movement cycling.
• Stamina (6/10): Eight rounds of repeated explosive movements and sprints will challenge muscular endurance, particularly in the legs and cardiovascular system.
• Flexibility (4/10): Hurdle jumps demand hip flexor mobility and ankle flexibility for clearance, plus basic running mechanics requiring moderate range of motion.
• Strength (3/10): Hurdle jumps require some leg strength for takeoff, but primarily relies on bodyweight and explosive capacity rather than maximal force.

Movements

• Hurdle Jump
• Sprint

Benchmark Notes

This workout involves 8 rounds of 5 hurdle jumps followed by reverse ladder sprints (40-30-20-10 yards) with 1-minute rest between rounds. Since it's scored as 'Rounds + Reps', this is an AMRAP format where athletes complete as many full rounds as possible within a time domain. Breaking down the timing: Each hurdle jump takes ~1.5-2 seconds (5 jumps = 7.5-10 sec). The reverse ladder sprint involves 40+30+20+10=100 yards of sprinting, taking approximately 45-60 seconds for recreational athletes, 35-45 seconds for intermediate, and 25-35 seconds for elite. Including transitions between sprint segments (~5-10 seconds total) and the transition from hurdles to sprints (~3-5 seconds), each round takes approximately 60-75 seconds of work. With prescribed 1-minute rest, each complete round cycle is roughly 2-2.25 minutes. Fatigue accumulates significantly due to the explosive nature of both movements. Round 1-2: baseline times. Rounds 3-4: 10-15% slower. Rounds 5-6: 20-25% slower. Rounds 7-8: 30-40% slower. Most recreational athletes will complete 2-3 rounds, intermediate 4-5 rounds, advanced 5-6 rounds, and elite 6-8 rounds. The benchmarks reflect complete rounds with partial reps as decimals (e.g., 4.6 = 4 complete rounds plus 3 hurdle jumps into the 5th round).

Modality Profile

Hurdle Jump is a bodyweight/gymnastic movement requiring coordination and agility, while Sprint is a monostructural cardio movement. With two modalities represented equally, the breakdown is 50% Gymnastics and 50% Monostructural.