Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This 20-minute AMRAP creates significant cumulative fatigue through continuous work with no built-in rest. The pull-ups will become increasingly difficult as grip and upper body fatigue from the sustained pace. While individual movements are moderate, the 20-minute duration forces athletes into a grinding pace where movement quality degrades and many will need to break reps frequently in later rounds.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): High volume of pull-ups, wall balls, and kettlebell swings over 20 minutes severely tests muscular endurance across multiple muscle groups.
• Endurance (8/10): A 20-minute AMRAP with continuous movement creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic capacity throughout the entire workout duration.
• Speed (7/10): Fast transitions between movements and maintaining quick cycling pace are crucial for maximizing rounds in this time-capped AMRAP format.
• Power (6/10): Wall balls and kettlebell swings are inherently explosive movements requiring hip drive and power generation throughout the workout.
• Strength (4/10): Moderate strength demands from pull-ups and kettlebell swings, with wall balls requiring functional strength but not maximal loads.
• Flexibility (3/10): Pull-ups require shoulder mobility, wall balls demand hip and ankle flexibility, and kettlebell swings need hip hinge mobility.

Movements

• Pull-Up
• Wall Ball
• Kettlebell Swing

Benchmark Notes

This workout is very similar to the iconic Cindy benchmark (AMRAP 20: 5 pull-ups + 10 push-ups + 15 air squats), but substitutes 10 wall balls and 20 kettlebell swings for the push-ups and air squats. Using Cindy as the primary anchor: L10: 25-30 rounds, L5: 15-18 rounds, L1: 6-8 rounds. Movement analysis: Pull-ups remain identical (1-2 sec per rep). Wall balls (10 reps at 20/14 lbs) take approximately 20-30 seconds per round when fresh, similar to the 10 push-ups in Cindy. Kettlebell swings (20 reps at 53/35 lbs) take 30-40 seconds per round when fresh, compared to 15-20 seconds for 15 air squats in Cindy. The substituted movements are slightly more demanding - wall balls require more coordination and the higher rep count on KB swings adds volume. Round-by-round breakdown: Rounds 1-3 take 90-120 seconds each (fresh state), rounds 4-8 slow to 120-150 seconds with fatigue multipliers of 1.1-1.3x, rounds 9+ extend to 150-180+ seconds with 1.5-2.0x fatigue as grip and shoulders accumulate stress. Transitions between movements are minimal (3-6 seconds) as equipment stays in same area. Given the slightly higher demand than Cindy, I'm scaling the anchor down by approximately 15-20%: L10 becomes ~20 rounds instead of 25-30, L5 becomes ~13 rounds instead of 15-18, and L1 becomes ~7 rounds instead of 6-8. Final targets: L10: 19-20 rounds, L5: 12-13 rounds, L1: 6-7 rounds.

Modality Profile

Pull-Up is gymnastics (bodyweight), Wall Ball and Kettlebell Swing are weightlifting (external load). With 1 gymnastics and 2 weightlifting movements, the breakdown is 33% G and 67% W.