Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 135/95 overhead squat weight is moderate-heavy for most athletes, but the 21-15-9 rep scheme creates significant shoulder and core fatigue accumulation. Toes-to-bar after OHS compounds this by demanding grip strength and midline stability when already compromised. The continuous format with no built-in rest means athletes must work through mounting fatigue across two demanding movements that directly interfere with each other.

Benchmark Times for DARE DEVIL PART II

• Elite: <4:00
• Advanced: 4:40-5:20
• Intermediate: 6:00-7:00
• Beginner: >12:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Flexibility (9/10): Overhead squats demand exceptional ankle, hip, thoracic, and shoulder mobility. Toes to bar requires significant posterior chain and lat flexibility.
• Stamina (8/10): High volume overhead squats and toes to bar will severely test shoulder, core, and grip stamina across 45 total reps of each movement.
• Endurance (7/10): The 21-15-9 format with challenging movements creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic output throughout the descending rep scheme.
• Strength (6/10): 135/95 lb overhead squats require substantial strength in the squat and overhead position, while toes to bar demands pulling strength.
• Speed (6/10): For time format encourages fast transitions and quick cycling, though technical demands of OHS may limit maximum speed potential.
• Power (3/10): While both movements can be performed explosively, the loading and volume favor strength endurance over pure explosive power output.

Movements

• Overhead Squat
• Toes-to-Bar

Benchmark Notes

This workout follows the classic 21-15-9 format with Overhead Squats (135/95) and Toes-to-Bar, totaling 45 reps of each movement. I'll use Fran as the primary anchor since it shares the identical rep scheme (21-15-9) and similar movement complexity. Fran benchmarks: L10 120-140 sec, L5 320-360 sec, L1 540-660 sec. Movement analysis: OHS (135/95) is significantly more challenging than Fran's thrusters (95/65) due to heavier load (+40 lbs) and greater overhead stability demands. Fresh OHS at 135 lbs takes 3-4 sec per rep vs 2-3 sec for thrusters. Toes-to-Bar requires similar grip and core demands as pull-ups but with added coordination, taking 2-2.5 sec per rep vs 1-2 sec for pull-ups. Round breakdown with fatigue: Round 1 (21 reps each): OHS 21×3.5=74 sec, T2B 21×2.2=46 sec, transition 5 sec = 125 sec. Round 2 (15 reps): 1.2x fatigue, OHS 15×4.2=63 sec, T2B 15×2.6=39 sec, transition 5 sec = 107 sec. Round 3 (9 reps): 1.3x fatigue, OHS 9×4.5=41 sec, T2B 9×2.9=26 sec = 67 sec. Total elite time: 125+107+67=299 sec, rounded to 300 sec for L10. The heavier OHS load and technical demands justify being roughly 2.5x slower than Fran. Set breaking considerations: OHS will break into 10-7-4, 8-4-3, 5-4 sets with 8-12 sec rests. T2B breaks into 12-9, 8-7, 5-4 with similar rest. Adding break time increases total by 40-60 sec across levels. Final targets: L10: 240 sec (4:00), L5: 420 sec (7:00), L1: 720 sec (12:00).

Modality Profile

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