Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 20-second cap creates extreme time pressure, forcing athletes to move heavy dumbbells (50/35) at maximum intensity with minimal transition time. Three 50ft farmers carries will severely tax grip and shoulders, leaving little capacity for DB burpees. Most athletes will struggle to complete even one burpee per round. The 60-second rest prevents full recovery across 10 rounds, creating significant cumulative fatigue and grip failure.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): Farmers carries tax grip endurance while max rep burpees challenge upper body and core stamina across multiple rounds.
• Endurance (7/10): Ten rounds with short work periods and rest intervals creates significant cardiovascular demand, though rest allows some recovery between efforts.
• Strength (6/10): 50/35 lb dumbbells provide moderate loading for both carries and burpees, requiring sustained strength output rather than maximal effort.
• Speed (6/10): 20-second caps create urgency for quick transitions and efficient movement patterns, especially maximizing burpee output after carries.
• Power (4/10): Burpees have explosive components in the jump, but farmers carries are purely strength-based with no power demands.
• Flexibility (3/10): Burpees require basic hip flexion and shoulder mobility, while farmers carries demand minimal range of motion requirements.

Movements

• Farmer Carry
• Dumbbell Burpee

Benchmark Notes

This workout is scored by total reps of DB burpees completed across 10 rounds. Each round has a 20-second cap with 3x50ft farmers carries (mandatory) followed by max DB burpees at 50/35 lbs, then 60 seconds rest. Movement breakdown: Farmers carry (3x50ft = 150ft total) takes approximately 12-15 seconds for elite athletes, 15-18 seconds for intermediate, leaving 5-8 seconds for burpees per round for elite, 2-5 seconds for intermediate. At 50/35 lbs, DB burpees are significantly heavier than standard bodyweight burpees, taking 4-5 seconds per rep when fresh. With the farmers carry pre-fatigue and heavy load, realistic burpee pace is 5-6 seconds per rep. Elite athletes might complete 1-2 burpees per round consistently (10-20 total), intermediate 0-1 per round (0-10 total). The 60-second rest allows partial recovery but grip fatigue accumulates. This is similar to a high-intensity interval format but with very limited work windows. L10 athletes (200 reps) would need 20 burpees per round average - this seems unrealistic given the time constraints and load. Adjusting downward: L10 realistically 15-20 total reps, L5 around 8-12 reps, L1 around 2-5 reps. The farmers carry dominates the time, leaving minimal burpee opportunity. Final targets: L10: 20 reps, L5: 10 reps, L1: 3 reps.

Modality Profile

Farmer Carry is a weighted external load movement (W), while Dumbbell Burpee combines bodyweight movement with external load. Since the burpee involves significant bodyweight coordination despite the dumbbell, it's classified as Gymnastics. Two modalities present: 50% Gymnastics, 50% Weightlifting.