Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 135/95lb cleans are moderately heavy for most athletes, requiring technical proficiency under fatigue. The 21-15-9 rep scheme creates significant accumulation without built-in rest. Ring dips demand upper body strength and stability that deteriorates as the workout progresses. The combination of barbell cycling fatigue transferring directly to compromised pressing strength makes this challenging for the average athlete, with many needing to scale weight or ring dip progression.

Benchmark Times for 30:01 - 50:00

• Elite: <3:20
• Advanced: 4:00-5:00
• Intermediate: 6:00-7:00
• Beginner: >12:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume of upper body pulling and pushing movements will severely test muscular endurance, especially in the shoulders and arms.
• Power (8/10): Cleans are inherently explosive movements requiring rapid force development from the floor through the catch position.
• Strength (7/10): 135/95# cleans require substantial strength, particularly in the posterior chain and receiving position, making this a strength-biased workout.
• Speed (7/10): The descending rep scheme encourages fast transitions and quick cycling, especially as fatigue sets in during later rounds.
• Endurance (6/10): The 21-15-9 format with moderate loads creates significant cardiovascular demand as athletes push through fatigue with minimal rest between movements.
• Flexibility (6/10): Cleans demand good ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility for proper receiving position, while ring dips require shoulder flexibility and stability.

Movements

• Clean
• Ring Dip

Benchmark Notes

This workout is nearly identical to the benchmark 'Elizabeth' (21-15-9 squat clean 135/95 + ring dip), with the only difference being power cleans instead of squat cleans. Since power cleans are slightly faster than squat cleans (no need to ride down into the squat), I'll use Elizabeth as the primary anchor but adjust slightly faster. Elizabeth anchor times: L10: 160-200 sec, L5: 360-420 sec, L1: 540-720 sec. Movement breakdown: Round 1 (21 reps each): Cleans at 135# will take ~2.5 sec/rep fresh = 52.5 sec, Ring dips ~2 sec/rep = 42 sec, transitions ~5 sec = 99.5 sec. Round 2 (15 reps): Cleans with fatigue 1.2x = 45 sec, Ring dips 1.2x = 36 sec, transitions = 86 sec total. Round 3 (9 reps): Cleans with fatigue 1.4x = 31.5 sec, Ring dips 1.4x = 25.2 sec = 61.7 sec total. Elite total: ~247 sec, which aligns well with Elizabeth's upper L10 range. Since power cleans are marginally faster than squat cleans, I'm setting L10 at 200 sec (middle of Elizabeth range), L5 at 420 sec, and L1 at 720 sec. The 45 total reps per movement with heavy loading and challenging gymnastics creates significant fatigue accumulation. Final targets - L10: 200 sec, L5: 420 sec, L1: 720 sec.

Modality Profile

Clean is a weightlifting movement with external load (barbell), Ring Dip is a gymnastics bodyweight movement. Two modalities present, split 50/50.