Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

While chest-to-bar pull-ups are a fundamental movement, the max rep format creates significant challenges. Most average CrossFitters can only perform 5-15 consecutive chest-to-bar reps before grip and lat fatigue forces breaks. The psychological pressure of 'max reps' pushes athletes beyond their comfort zone, and the strict movement standard (chest touching bar) is more demanding than regular pull-ups, making this a challenging test of upper body endurance.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High muscular endurance demand on lats, rhomboids, and biceps as athletes push for maximum repetitions until muscular failure.
• Strength (7/10): Significant relative strength requirement for bodyweight pulling, with chest-to-bar standard demanding greater strength than regular pull-ups.
• Flexibility (4/10): Moderate shoulder and thoracic mobility needed for full range chest-to-bar contact and proper pulling mechanics.
• Endurance (3/10): Limited cardiovascular demand as this is a max effort test focused on upper body strength rather than sustained aerobic work.
• Power (2/10): Minimal explosive demand as athletes typically grind through reps rather than performing explosive kipping movements.
• Speed (1/10): No time component or cycling speed required; focus is purely on accumulating maximum repetitions regardless of pace.

Movements

• Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up

Benchmark Notes

This is a max rep chest-to-bar pull-up test, which is more challenging than standard pull-ups due to the higher bar contact requirement. I'll analyze this against pull-up capacity benchmarks and chest-to-bar specific performance data. Chest-to-bar pull-ups typically reduce max rep capacity by 15-25% compared to standard pull-ups due to the increased range of motion and stricter standard. For reference, elite CrossFit athletes can typically perform 40-50+ chest-to-bar pull-ups when fresh, while intermediate athletes manage 20-30, and beginners struggle to achieve 5-10. The movement requires significant lat strength, shoulder mobility, and kipping efficiency. Unlike timed workouts, this is purely about muscular endurance and technique under fatigue. L10 athletes (45+ reps) represent competitive CrossFit athletes with exceptional pulling strength. L5 athletes (25 reps) represent solid intermediate CrossFitters who can string together moderate sets. L1 athletes (5 reps) represent beginners who may need to break into singles after a few reps. The progression accounts for the exponential difficulty increase as grip strength and lat endurance fail. Final targets: L10: 45+ reps, L5: 25 reps, L1: 5 reps.

Modality Profile

Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up is a bodyweight gymnastics movement, making this workout 100% gymnastics with no monostructural or weightlifting components.