Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

Bodyweight bench press is already challenging for most athletes, requiring 100% of their 1RM. The death-by format creates relentless fatigue accumulation with minimal rest (alternating minutes with partner). By minute 9-10, athletes attempt 7 reps at bodyweight under severe fatigue. The combination of maximal loading, continuous time pressure, and cumulative chest/tricep fatigue makes this accessible only to very strong, experienced athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): Bodyweight bench press for increasing reps tests upper body pushing stamina extensively, with fatigue accumulating rapidly as volume escalates each minute.
• Strength (8/10): Bodyweight bench press requires significant absolute strength, especially as fatigue sets in and maintaining proper form becomes increasingly challenging.
• Endurance (7/10): The escalating EMOM format with minimal rest between sets creates significant cardiovascular demand as heart rate climbs with increasing volume.
• Speed (4/10): EMOM format requires efficient transitions and steady rep completion within each minute, but not high-speed cycling between movements.
• Flexibility (3/10): Standard bench press range of motion with basic shoulder and chest mobility requirements, nothing extreme but proper positioning needed.
• Power (2/10): Bench press is primarily a strength-grinding movement with minimal explosive component, focus on controlled pressing rather than speed.

Movements

• Bench Press

Benchmark Notes

This is a 'Death By' ladder format starting at 3 reps and increasing by 1 rep every 2 minutes (alternating between partners). Each partner performs: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... reps of bodyweight bench press until failure. The workout is scored by total reps completed before failure. Key factors: (1) Bodyweight bench press is extremely demanding - most athletes can only perform 3-8 consecutive reps at bodyweight, making this primarily about muscular endurance and recovery between rounds. (2) Partners alternate every minute, providing 1 minute of rest between sets. (3) The ladder progression creates exponential difficulty - early rounds (3-5 reps) are manageable, middle rounds (6-8 reps) become challenging, and later rounds (9+ reps) require breaking into smaller sets. (4) Failure typically occurs when an athlete cannot complete the required reps within the minute. Analysis by round: Minutes 1-4 (3,3,4,4 reps): 14 total reps, manageable for most. Minutes 5-8 (5,5,6,6 reps): 22 additional reps (36 total), moderate difficulty. Minutes 9-12 (7,7,8,8 reps): 30 additional reps (66 total), significant fatigue sets in. Minutes 13-16 (9,9,10,10 reps): 38 additional reps (104 total), most recreational athletes fail here. Minutes 17-20 (11,11,12,12 reps): 46 additional reps (150 total), advanced athletes reach this zone. Elite athletes may reach minutes 21-24 (13,13,14,14 reps) for 54 more reps (204 total) or beyond. The 1-minute rest between attempts allows partial recovery but accumulated fatigue dominates. No direct anchor matches this format, but comparing to strength endurance benchmarks: recreational athletes typically manage 6-8 rounds (21-55 reps), intermediate athletes reach 10-12 rounds (78-136 reps), and elite athletes may achieve 14+ rounds (171+ reps). Final targets: L10: 253 reps (18+ rounds), L5: 105 reps (12 rounds), L1: 21 reps (6 rounds).

Modality Profile

Bench Press is a weightlifting movement using external load (barbell), making this 100% weightlifting with no gymnastics or monostructural components.