Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 4-minute cap creates intense time pressure, forcing athletes to maintain high rowing pace then immediately transition to heavy front squats under significant fatigue. The 135/95lb load is substantial for max reps when legs are already compromised from rowing. Three rounds with only 1-minute rest prevents full recovery, creating cumulative fatigue. Most athletes will struggle with the weight or need to scale significantly.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High-rep front squats after rowing will severely test leg and core muscular endurance, especially as fatigue accumulates across rounds.
• Endurance (7/10): Three 4-minute intervals with rowing and front squats create significant cardiovascular demand, though rest periods provide some recovery between rounds.
• Strength (6/10): 135/95lb front squats require moderate to heavy loading for most athletes, testing strength endurance rather than pure max strength.
• Speed (6/10): Four-minute time cap creates urgency to transition quickly between movements and maintain high intensity throughout each interval.
• Flexibility (4/10): Front squats demand good ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility for proper positioning, while rowing requires moderate range of motion.
• Power (3/10): Some explosive demand from rowing drive and standing from front squats, but primarily strength-endurance focused rather than pure power.

Movements

• Front Squat
• Row

Benchmark Notes

This workout is scored by total reps of front squats completed across 3 rounds, with each round having a 4-minute cap after a 500m row. Let me break this down movement by movement: 500m Row Analysis: Elite athletes will complete this in 85-95 seconds, intermediate in 100-110 seconds, and beginners in 115-125 seconds. This leaves varying amounts of time for front squats in each 4-minute window. Front Squat (135/95) Analysis: At moderate load, fresh front squats take 2-3 seconds per rep for elite athletes, 3-4 seconds for intermediate, and 4-5 seconds for beginners. However, fatigue from rowing and accumulated rounds significantly impacts performance. Round-by-Round Breakdown: Round 1: After 90-second row, elite athletes have ~150 seconds for squats, completing 45-50 reps. Intermediate athletes have ~130 seconds, completing 30-35 reps. Beginners have ~115 seconds, completing 20-25 reps. Round 2: Fatigue multiplier of 1.1-1.2x applies. Elite: 40-45 reps, Intermediate: 25-30 reps, Beginners: 15-20 reps. Round 3: Fatigue multiplier of 1.2-1.3x applies. Elite: 35-40 reps, Intermediate: 20-25 reps, Beginners: 10-15 reps. The 1-minute rest between rounds provides partial recovery but doesn't fully reset performance. Total Rep Calculations: - Elite (L9-L10): 120-135 total reps - Advanced (L7-L8): 90-120 total reps - Intermediate (L5-L6): 75-105 total reps - Beginner (L2-L4): 45-75 total reps - Scaled (L1): 30-45 total reps This workout doesn't directly match any iconic benchmarks, but the front squat loading and rep scheme is similar to strength-endurance workouts. The time cap creates urgency while the rowing pre-fatigues the legs, making the front squats significantly more challenging. Final targets: L10: 165+ reps, L5: 105 reps, L1: 45 reps

Modality Profile

Row is monostructural cardio (M) and Front Squat is a barbell weightlifting movement (W). With two modalities present, this creates a 50/50 split between M and W.