Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout combines significant aerobic volume (4.5km total distance) with continuous movement patterns that create cumulative fatigue. The 500m row into wall balls taxes the legs, then the 400m run on already fatigued legs compounds the difficulty. With 5 rounds and no built-in rest, the combination of high volume cardio and moderate-weight wall balls under mounting fatigue makes this challenging for the average athlete, requiring mental toughness to maintain pace.

Benchmark Times for WOD

• Elite: <15:30
• Advanced: 17:00-19:00
• Intermediate: 21:00-23:00
• Beginner: >35:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Endurance (8/10): Five rounds of rowing and running with wall balls creates significant cardiovascular demand, testing aerobic capacity throughout the workout.
• Stamina (7/10): High volume wall balls (150 total reps) combined with cardio movements will heavily tax shoulder and leg muscular endurance.
• Speed (6/10): Fast transitions between movements and maintaining pace across five rounds while fatigued becomes increasingly challenging and important.
• Flexibility (4/10): Wall balls demand good hip and shoulder mobility, while running and rowing require basic range of motion.
• Power (4/10): Wall balls require explosive hip extension and shoulder power, though sustained over high volume rather than maximal output.
• Strength (3/10): Wall balls require moderate strength but primarily test strength endurance rather than maximal force production capabilities.

Movements

• Row
• Wall Ball
• Run

Benchmark Notes

This workout is nearly identical to the Kelly benchmark (5 rounds: 400m run, 30 box jump 24/20, 30 wall ball 20/14), with the key difference being the addition of 500m row and reduction from 30 to 15 wall balls per round. Using Kelly as the primary anchor: L10: 930-1050 sec, L5: 1260-1440 sec, L1: 1800-2100 sec. Movement breakdown per round: 500m Row (85-120 sec fresh), 15 Wall Balls (30-45 sec fresh), 400m Run (75-120 sec fresh), 15 Wall Balls (30-45 sec fresh). Total fresh time per round: 220-330 sec. With 5 rounds, fresh estimate would be 1100-1650 sec. However, fatigue multipliers apply significantly: Round 1: 1.0x, Round 2: 1.0x, Round 3: 1.1x, Round 4: 1.2x, Round 5: 1.3x. The rowing-to-wall ball transition creates grip fatigue (+15%), wall ball-to-run creates leg fatigue (+10%), and run-to-wall ball creates breathing/leg interference (+15%). Set breaking becomes significant after round 2, with wall balls breaking into 8-7 or 10-5 sets with 5-10 sec rest between sets. Transitions between equipment add 5-15 sec per movement change. The 500m row addition versus Kelly's 30 box jumps roughly balances out (rowing is slower but less leg-intensive), while reducing wall balls from 30 to 15 per round saves approximately 30-45 seconds per round. Final adjustment from Kelly anchor: similar overall time domain due to offsetting factors. Elite athletes (L10): 930 sec, Median (L5): 1380 sec, Novice (L1): 2100 sec.

Modality Profile

Row and Run are monostructural cardio movements (2/3 = 67%), Wall Ball is a weightlifting movement with external load (1/3 = 33%)