Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 70% of 8RM back squats for 1-minute AMRAPs create significant leg fatigue across three rounds with minimal rest. The 6-second eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups demand exceptional control and strength, especially as grip and lat fatigue accumulates. The combination of heavy squatting volume followed immediately by high-skill, strength-demanding pull-ups creates compounding fatigue that will challenge most athletes' ability to maintain quality movement.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Strength (8/10): Back squats at 70% of 8RM represent significant loading, while 6-second eccentric pull-ups demand high strength throughout the negative portion.
• Stamina (7/10): Back squats at 70% 8RM for one minute plus eccentric pull-ups heavily tax muscular endurance in both legs and upper body.
• Flexibility (4/10): Full depth squats and chest-to-bar pull-ups require good hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility for proper execution.
• Speed (4/10): One-minute caps create urgency for squat cycling, but eccentric focus limits overall movement speed and transition demands.
• Endurance (3/10): Three one-minute AMRAPs with rest between rounds creates moderate cardiovascular demand but isn't sustained enough for high endurance stress.
• Power (2/10): Controlled eccentric movements and moderate-load squats emphasize strength over explosive power output.

Movements

• Back Squat
• Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up

Benchmark Notes

This workout consists of 3 rounds with two distinct components per round: 1 minute AMRAP back squats at 70% of 8RM, followed by 5 eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups with 6-second negatives under a 1-minute cap. Since it's scored as 'Reps', I'm calculating total repetitions across all movements. For the back squats: At 70% of 8RM, athletes can typically perform 12-20 reps per minute when fresh. Round 1: 15-20 reps for elite, 10-15 for average, 6-10 for beginners. Round 2: Fatigue reduces this by 15-20%, so 12-16 elite, 8-12 average, 5-8 beginners. Round 3: Further 20% reduction gives 10-13 elite, 6-10 average, 4-6 beginners. Total back squat reps across 3 rounds: Elite 37-49, Average 24-37, Beginners 15-24. For eccentric chest-to-bar pull-ups: These are extremely demanding with 6-second negatives. Elite athletes might complete all 5 reps in each round (15 total), intermediate athletes 3-4 per round (9-12 total), beginners 1-2 per round (3-6 total). The 1-minute cap ensures even elite athletes are challenged. Total workout reps: Elite level (L9-L10): 52-64 reps (37-49 squats + 15 pull-ups), Intermediate (L5-L6): 33-49 reps (24-37 squats + 9-12 pull-ups), Beginner (L1-L2): 18-30 reps (15-24 squats + 3-6 pull-ups). This workout doesn't directly match any iconic benchmarks, but the high-skill eccentric pull-ups and moderate-load squats create a unique challenge that limits total rep counts significantly compared to typical AMRAP workouts. Final targets: L10: ~180 reps, L5: ~120 reps, L1: ~45 reps.

Modality Profile

Back Squat is a weightlifting movement with external load (barbell), while Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up is a gymnastics bodyweight movement. With two modalities present, this creates a 50/50 split between Weightlifting and Gymnastics.