Diane
Heavy deadlifts paired with handstand push-ups in a descending ladder. A test of raw strength and pressing power.
- Format
- Ladder
- Time cap
- 10 mins
- Level
- advanced
Ladder
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Diane is a ladder workout by Fiz, built from 2 movements, with a 10 mins cap. It is set at advanced level.
About Diane
Diane pairs heavy deadlifts with handstand push-ups in a twenty-one, fifteen, nine ladder. It is the strength-and-skill benchmark: the deadlift is heavy enough to matter, and the handstand push-up is a skill most athletes either have or spend a year building. There is very little middle ground, which is what makes Diane such a sharp diagnostic.
Don't treat the deadlifts like Fran
The deadlift load is meaningful but not maximal, and the mistake is treating it like Fran's barbell. Twenty-one heavy deadlifts done fast will spike your heart rate and blur your lower-back position at exactly the moment you need to go upside down. Break the twenty-one into manageable sets from the start (sevens or a set of eleven and a set of ten) and keep the bar path honest. Speed here buys you almost nothing and costs you the next movement.
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Where the time actually goes
Handstand push-ups are where the time actually goes. Pressing overhead with a fatigued midline and blood already in your head is a different proposition from a fresh set, and most athletes lose whole minutes standing under the wall. Plan small sets with short, fixed rests rather than going to failure and then needing a long recovery.
What's a good Diane time
Under five minutes is a strong Diane and elite athletes go under three. Five to eight is a good competitive time and eight to twelve is a solid result. If you do not yet have strict handstand push-ups, scale to a pike push-up from a box rather than to a regular push-up, you want to keep the overhead pressing pattern and the inverted position, because that is what the workout is for.