For Time: 10 Burpees, 15 Thrusters (95/65 lb), 20 Burpees, 25 Thrusters (95/65 lb), 30 Burpees, 35 Thrusters (95/65 lb).
Primary movement: Burpees/Thrusters
Omar honors Marine 1st Lieutenant Omar J. Vazquez, of Hamilton, New Jersey, who died on April 22, 2011 of wounds sustained from an IED in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. The workout is an ascending double ladder: burpees and thrusters climbing together from 10-15 up to 30-35, for time. 60 burpees and 75 thrusters at a light 95/65 lb - nothing heavy, nothing technical, just a rising tide of the two movements that most efficiently flood the legs and lungs. The genius is the escalation: each round is bigger than the last, so the workout gets harder exactly as you get more tired.
| Level (Time) | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| beginner | 18:00+ | 19:30+ |
| intermediate | 13:00 | 14:00 |
| advanced | 10:00 | 11:00 |
| elite | sub 8:00 | sub 9:00 |
Pace the burpees from rep one - a metronomic step-back, step-up rhythm you could hold for all 60, because sprinting the round of 10 buys nothing and taxes the round of 35 thrusters that follows. Thrusters unbroken while honest (the 15s and often the 25s), then a planned break in the 35s (20-15 or 12-12-11) rather than a death march to failure. Breathe at the top of every thruster. The workout is won in the final 30-35 block: arrive there with legs that can still stand a light bar up, not with a personal best on the opening rounds.
Scaled: same ladder at 65/45 lb thrusters. Beginner: 10-15, 20-25, 30-35 with an empty bar or dumbbell thrusters and regular (non-jumping) burpees, or cut the top round to keep it under 15 minutes. The stimulus is a continuous, ascending grind - reduce the load before reducing the reps.
Log every result, see your progress over time, and know exactly where you stand.