Benchmark WOD

Sham

The Workout

7 Rounds For Time: 11 Deadlifts (bodyweight), 100 meter Sprint

Primary movement: BW Deadlifts/Sprints

What is Sham?

Sham is a Hero WOD honoring Air Force Staff Sergeant David 'Sham' Wieger: 7 rounds for time of 11 bodyweight deadlifts and a 100 meter sprint. The pairing is beautifully simple - a moderate-heavy pull straight into an all-out sprint, repeated seven times. Sham trains and tests explosive posterior-chain power and repeat sprint ability; it's short (usually 7-12 minutes), fast and surprisingly savage on the hamstrings.

What is a good Sham time?

Level (Time)MenWomen
beginner16:00+17:00+
intermediate12:0013:00
advanced9:3010:30
elitesub 8:00sub 9:00

Tips & Strategy

Do the deadlifts unbroken if your bodyweight pull allows it - 11 reps at bodyweight should be sets you don't fear. Run the first three sprints at 85-90%, not 100%; hamstrings under deadlift fatigue are vulnerable to true max sprints until you've calibrated. Reset your brace every deadlift set; sprinting spikes your breathing and sloppy rounded pulls follow. Fast transitions: the bar should be near the sprint start line.

Scaled & Beginner Versions

Scaled: 7 rounds of 11 deadlifts at 0.75x bodyweight and 100 m run. Beginner: 5 rounds of 8 deadlifts at 0.5x bodyweight and 100 m brisk run. Loads must allow aggressive, technically sound pulls.

Track your Sham PR

Log every result, see your progress over time, and know exactly where you stand.