Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This 40-minute partner workout creates significant fatigue accumulation through high-skill movements (bar muscle-ups, strict HSPU) combined with metabolic stress (bear crawls, sprints). While Partner A gets rest periods, the continuous cycling between strength-skill and conditioning creates interference patterns. Bar muscle-ups and strict HSPU require fresh shoulders/lats, but bear crawls and sprints will compromise these positions. The 40-minute duration amplifies this effect, making scaling likely for average athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Endurance (9/10): 40-minute AMRAP with continuous partner rotation creates massive cardiovascular demand, especially with max calorie bike efforts and sustained movement patterns.
• Stamina (8/10): High-skill gymnastics movements like bar muscle ups and strict HSPU will heavily tax upper body muscular endurance over 40 minutes.
• Flexibility (7/10): Bar muscle ups demand exceptional shoulder mobility and thoracic extension, while HSPU requires overhead flexibility and bear crawls need hip mobility.
• Strength (6/10): Bar muscle ups and strict handstand push-ups require significant upper body and core strength, though bodyweight-based rather than external load.
• Speed (6/10): Partner rotations require quick transitions and sprints demand speed, while maintaining pace over 40 minutes becomes increasingly challenging.
• Power (4/10): Bar muscle ups require explosive pulling power and sprints demand leg power, but overall focus is more on endurance than pure explosiveness.

Movements

• Air Bike
• Bear Crawl
• Sprint
• Bar Muscle-Up
• Handstand Push-Up

Scaling Options

Bar muscle ups: substitute chest-to-bar pull-ups or jumping bar muscle ups. Strict HSPU: use abmat, reduce range of motion, or substitute pike push-ups. Bear crawl: reduce distance to 20ft or substitute bear hold. Sprint: substitute fast walk or reduce distance. Bike: reduce resistance or substitute rowing/air bike. Consider 30-minute time cap for newer athletes.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if athlete cannot perform 3+ bar muscle ups unbroken or 5+ strict HSPUs. Priority is maintaining movement quality and intended time domain over achieving Rx movements. Athletes should feel challenged but able to maintain consistent output for the full 40 minutes. If movements become severely broken or form deteriorates significantly, scale immediately to preserve stimulus.

Intended Stimulus

Long aerobic capacity workout targeting oxidative energy system over 40 minutes. Primary challenge is pacing and movement efficiency under sustained effort. Partner format allows for active recovery while maintaining continuous work across the team. Tests gymnastic strength endurance, locomotion patterns, and cardiovascular capacity.

Coach Insight

Partner A should pace for consistency over 40 minutes - break bar muscle ups early (singles or doubles), maintain steady bear crawl pace, perform HSPUs in small sets (1-3 reps), and use sprints as active recovery. Partner C on bike should aim for 70-80% effort to accumulate maximum calories without burning out. Rotate every 3-5 minutes to prevent local muscle fatigue. Focus on smooth transitions and breathing rhythm throughout.

Benchmark Notes

This is a 40-minute partner AMRAP where Partner A performs a complex (3 bar muscle-ups, 40ft bear crawl, 5 strict HSPU, 40ft sprint), Partner B rests, and Partner C bikes for max calories. The scoring is based on calories accumulated by Partner C. Breaking down Partner C's bike performance over 40 minutes: - Elite athletes can sustain 15-18 cal/min on assault bike for extended periods - Advanced athletes maintain 12-15 cal/min - Intermediate athletes sustain 10-12 cal/min - Beginners manage 6-8 cal/min For a 40-minute effort, pacing becomes critical. Athletes must balance intensity with sustainability. Elite athletes might average 11 cal/min (440 total), while beginners might average 3 cal/min (120 total). This workout is similar to extended monostructural pieces but with the added complexity of partner coordination. The bike work is continuous but must be paced for the full 40 minutes, similar to a long time trial. Final targets: L10: 440+ calories, L5: 280 calories, L1: 120 calories

Modality Profile

5 movements total: Bar Muscle-Up and Handstand Push-Up are Gymnastics (40%), Sprint and Bike are Monostructural (40%), Bear Crawl is primarily a Gymnastics movement but has some crossover characteristics (20%). The breakdown reflects the dominant modalities with slight weighting toward G/M.