Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

This workout combines moderate-weight power cleans under significant metabolic stress from bike calories, repeated 10 times with minimal recovery. The 30-second time cap forces athletes to push hard on the bike, leaving them breathing heavily before attempting technical barbell movements. The 1:2 work-to-rest ratio provides some recovery, but fatigue accumulates over 20 minutes. Most athletes will struggle with power clean technique and rep counts as rounds progress.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High-volume dumbbell power cleans after bike calories will heavily tax grip strength and posterior chain muscular endurance over multiple rounds.
• Endurance (7/10): Ten rounds of 30-second AMRAPs with 1-minute rest creates significant aerobic demand, especially from bike calories and sustained DB work.
• Power (7/10): Dumbbell power cleans are inherently explosive movements requiring hip drive and rapid extension under fatigue from bike intervals.
• Speed (6/10): 30-second intervals demand quick transitions and fast cycling of movements to maximize reps within the time constraint.
• Strength (4/10): 50/35lb dumbbells provide moderate loading that challenges strength endurance more than pure maximal strength output.
• Flexibility (3/10): Power cleans require hip and ankle mobility for proper catch position, plus shoulder flexibility for front rack.

Movements

• Air Bike
• Dumbbell Power Clean

Scaling Options

Reduce bike calories to 8/5 or 6/4. Drop DB weight to 35/25 or 25/15 lbs. Substitute single-arm DB cleans alternating arms, or DB deadlifts if clean technique is poor. Reduce to 8 rounds if conditioning is limited. Advanced athletes can increase to 12/9 calories or 60/45 lb dumbbells.

Scaling Explanation

Scale if you cannot maintain at least 3-4 DB cleans per round after the bike calories, or if bike calories take longer than 20 seconds. Priority is maintaining the intended high-intensity interval stimulus. Athletes should feel completely gassed by round 6-7. If completing more than 8-10 cleans per round consistently, increase weight or calories.

Intended Stimulus

High-intensity glycolytic intervals targeting lactate tolerance and power endurance. 10 x 30-second sprint efforts with 1-minute recovery create repeated exposure to high lactate levels. Primary challenge is maintaining power output on DB cleans while managing metabolic stress from bike calories. Tests ability to transition quickly between cardio and strength movements.

Coach Insight

Attack the bike aggressively to secure calories quickly, leaving maximum time for DB cleans. Aim for calories in 12-15 seconds, then explosive transition to dumbbells. Use a cycling clean technique - catch high and ride the dumbbell down to maximize reps. Keep dumbbells close during transition. Count reps aloud to maintain focus. Expect significant drop-off in clean reps after round 5-6. Focus on maintaining cycle speed rather than perfect form on cleans.

Benchmark Notes

This workout is scored by total reps of DB Power Cleans across 10 rounds. Each round: 30s bike for 10/7 calories + remaining time for max DB power cleans, then 1min rest. Round breakdown: Rounds 1-3 (fresh): Bike takes 18-24s, leaving 6-12s for power cleans at 2-3s per rep = 2-4 reps per round. Rounds 4-6 (moderate fatigue): Bike takes 20-26s due to accumulated fatigue, leaving 4-10s for power cleans with 1.2x multiplier = 1-3 reps per round. Rounds 7-10 (high fatigue): Bike takes 22-28s, leaving 2-8s for power cleans with 1.5x multiplier = 0-2 reps per round. The 1-minute rest allows partial recovery between rounds. Elite athletes maintain higher bike efficiency and power clean speed throughout. Total rep ranges: L1 (45 reps) = ~4-5 per round average, L5 (105 reps) = ~10-11 per round average, L9 (165 reps) = ~16-17 per round average. The limiting factor is the bike portion eating into power clean time, with fatigue significantly impacting later rounds.

Modality Profile

Bike is monostructural cardio (M), Dumbbell Power Clean is weightlifting with external load (W). Two modalities split evenly.