Warmup
General Warmup (5 minutes)
- 400m easy jog or 3 min row
- 20 jumping jacks
- 10 inchworms with push-up
Dynamic Mobility (6-8 minutes)
- World's greatest stretch: 5/side
- Cat-cow: 10 reps
- Thoracic rotations on all fours: 8/side
- Scorpion stretch: 8/side
- Cossack squats: 8/side
- Hip flexor stretch with reach: 30s/side
- Downward dog to cobra flow: 8 reps
Shoulder & Posterior Chain Prep (5 minutes)
- Band pull-aparts: 15 reps
- Band pass-throughs: 10 reps
- PVC good mornings: 10 reps
- Scapular push-ups: 10 reps
- Glute bridges: 15 reps
- Bird dogs: 8/side
Barbell Warmup (5 minutes)
- Empty bar Romanian deadlifts: 8 reps
- Empty bar deadlifts (focus on setup): 5 reps
- Empty bar bench press: 8 reps
- Empty bar close-grip bench: 5 reps
Strength
Deadlift + Bench Press (approx. 25 minutes)
A1. Deadlift — Work up to a heavy set of 3, then perform 3 x 3 @ 85% of that top set. Rest 2-3 minutes between working sets. Focus on tight setup, neutral spine, and pushing the floor away.
A2. Bench Press — 5 x 5 across at 75-80% of 1RM. Rest 2 minutes between sets. Feet planted, shoulder blades retracted, controlled descent to the chest.
Alternate movements: complete a deadlift set, rest, then a bench set, rest, and repeat.
Workout
"Iron Sandwich"
For time (18-minute cap):
- 21 deadlifts (225/155 lb)
- 21 bench press (155/105 lb)
- 400m run
- 15 deadlifts (225/155 lb)
- 15 bench press (155/105 lb)
- 400m run
- 9 deadlifts (225/155 lb)
- 9 bench press (155/105 lb)
- 400m run
Scaling: Reduce loads so that deadlifts can be completed in 2-3 sets and bench in 2-3 sets throughout. Substitute row 500/400/300m for run if needed.
Summary
Heavy pulling and pressing day: build to a heavy deadlift triple with backdown sets, pair it with 5x5 bench press, then finish with a 21-15-9 deadlift/bench couplet broken up by 400m runs.