Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 115/75lb thrusters are moderate weight but become brutal in the 21-15-9 format with no built-in rest. The continuous high-intensity nature prevents recovery between rounds. Lateral barbell burpees add significant fatigue and movement complexity. The combination creates severe metabolic demand and cumulative fatigue - similar to Fran's intensity profile. Most athletes will need multiple breaks during the 21s and 15s.

Benchmark Times for At Least It is Not Fran (35:00 - 48:00)

• Elite: <3:45
• Advanced: 4:15-4:45
• Intermediate: 5:30-6:30
• Beginner: >12:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): High volume of thrusters (45 total) and burpees (45 total) will severely test muscular endurance in legs, shoulders, and core throughout.
• Endurance (8/10): The 21-15-9 format with minimal rest creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially when combined with the metabolic stress of thrusters and burpees.
• Power (7/10): Both movements require explosive hip extension and the thruster demands powerful drive from the squat to generate momentum for the press.
• Strength (6/10): 115/75lb thrusters require moderate strength, particularly in the front squat and overhead press components of the movement.
• Speed (6/10): Fast transitions between movements and quick cycling of reps is crucial for maintaining intensity in this sprint-style workout format.
• Flexibility (4/10): Thrusters demand good ankle, hip, and shoulder mobility while burpees require basic hip flexion and extension range of motion.

Movements

• Thruster
• Lateral Burpee Over Bar

Benchmark Notes

This workout is a modified version of the iconic Fran benchmark (21-15-9 Thrusters + Pull-ups), but substitutes lateral barbell burpees for pull-ups and uses heavier thrusters (115/75 vs 95/65). Starting from Fran anchors: L10: 120-140 sec, L5: 320-360 sec, L1: 540-660 sec. Movement breakdown: Thrusters (115/75) are 20-30% heavier than Fran's 95/65, adding ~15-20% time per rep. Fresh thruster time: 2.5-3 sec/rep. Lateral barbell burpees are significantly slower than pull-ups - approximately 4-5 sec/rep vs 1-2 sec for kipping pull-ups, representing a 2.5-3x time increase. Round structure (21-15-9 = 45 total reps each): Round 1 (21 reps): Thrusters 53-63 sec, transitions 5 sec, burpees 84-105 sec = 142-173 sec. Round 2 (15 reps): 1.1x fatigue, thrusters 41-52 sec, transitions 5 sec, burpees 66-83 sec = 112-140 sec. Round 3 (9 reps): 1.2x fatigue, thrusters 27-34 sec, transitions 5 sec, burpees 43-54 sec = 75-93 sec. Total time estimate: 329-406 sec for intermediate athletes. Compared to Fran's L5 (320-360 sec), this workout should be 15-25% slower due to heavier thrusters and much slower burpee movement, placing L5 around 390 sec. Elite athletes (L10) should complete in 225-255 sec, while novices (L1) may take 600-720 sec with significant set breaking. Final targets: L10: 225-255 sec, L5: 390 sec, L1: 720 sec.

Modality Profile

Two movements: Thruster (weightlifting with barbell/external load) and Lateral Burpee Over Bar (gymnastics bodyweight movement). Equal split between weightlifting and gymnastics modalities.