Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 135/95lb power cleans are moderate weight but become challenging due to the descending ladder structure with minimal rest. 45 total power cleans performed continuously will create significant grip and posterior chain fatigue. Box jumps between sets provide little recovery while adding leg fatigue. The combination of moderate-heavy barbell cycling under accumulating fatigue, with most athletes taking 8-12 minutes of near-continuous work, elevates this beyond Medium difficulty.

Benchmark Times for WOD

• 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:

• Power (9/10): Power cleans are explosive triple extension movements, and box jumps require rapid force production, making this highly power-dependent.
• Stamina (8/10): High total volume of power cleans (45 reps) combined with box jumps will heavily tax muscular endurance, especially grip and posterior chain.
• Endurance (7/10): The descending ladder format with moderate loads creates significant cardiovascular demand, requiring sustained aerobic output throughout the workout.
• Strength (6/10): 135/95lb power cleans require moderate strength levels, though not maximal loads, making strength a significant but not primary demand.
• Speed (6/10): The descending rep scheme encourages fast cycling between movements with minimal rest, requiring quick transitions and sustained pace.
• Flexibility (4/10): Power cleans demand good hip, ankle, and shoulder mobility for proper receiving position, while box jumps require basic hip flexion.

Movements

• Power Clean
• Box Jump

Benchmark Notes

This workout follows a descending ladder format (21-15-9 power cleans, 9-7-5 box jumps) totaling 45 power cleans at 135/95 lbs and 21 box jumps at 24/20 inches. I used Grace (30 Clean and Jerk 135/95) as the primary anchor since it's the closest barbell cycling benchmark at the same weight. Grace benchmarks: L10 90-120 sec, L5 240-300 sec, L1 480-600 sec. However, this workout has 50% more cleans (45 vs 30) and adds box jumps, requiring significant adjustments. Movement breakdown: Power cleans are slightly faster than clean & jerks (no jerk component), estimated 2-3 sec per rep fresh. Box jumps add 1.5-2 sec per rep. Round 1 (21+9): Fresh state, ~63-84 sec for cleans, ~14-18 sec for box jumps. Round 2 (15+7): 1.1x fatigue multiplier, ~50-66 sec for cleans, ~12-15 sec for box jumps. Round 3 (9+5): 1.2x fatigue multiplier, ~32-43 sec for cleans, ~9-12 sec for box jumps. Adding transitions (3-5 sec between movements, 5-8 sec between rounds) and accounting for the 50% increase in barbell volume plus the metabolic demand of box jumps, I scaled Grace upward by approximately 100-120% for elite times and 20-50% for recreational times. The box jumps, while adding volume, are less limiting than the barbell cycling for most athletes. Final targets: L10: 240 sec (4:00), L5: 420 sec (7:00), L1: 720 sec (12:00).

Modality Profile

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