Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Very Hard

This workout combines two high-skill movements (handstand push-ups and pistol squats) with an ascending ladder that creates relentless volume accumulation. The unilateral pistols will create significant imbalance and fatigue, while HSPU demand upper body strength and shoulder stability. Most athletes will hit failure on HSPU early, and the continuous 10-minute format prevents meaningful recovery. The skill demands under mounting fatigue make this accessible only to experienced athletes.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (9/10): Handstand push-ups and pistols require exceptional upper body and unilateral leg stamina as reps climb from 1 to potentially 10+ per round.
• Strength (8/10): Handstand push-ups demand high relative strength for pressing bodyweight overhead, while pistols require significant unilateral leg strength and stability.
• Endurance (7/10): Ten minutes of continuous ascending ladder work creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially as volume increases and rest periods diminish.
• Flexibility (7/10): Handstand push-ups require shoulder and thoracic mobility, while pistols demand ankle, hip, and hamstring flexibility for proper depth and balance.
• Speed (4/10): Ascending ladder format allows some pacing strategy, but transitions between movements and maintaining rhythm become crucial as fatigue sets in.
• Power (3/10): Moderate power component from explosive push-up drive and pistol ascent, but movements are more strength-endurance focused than explosive.

Movements

• Handstand Push-Up
• Pistol Squat

Benchmark Notes

This is a 10-minute AMRAP with an ascending ladder of handstand push-ups and pistols (1 HSPU + 1 left pistol + 1 right pistol, then 2+2+2, then 3+3+3, etc.). Each round contains 3x the round number in total reps. Round 1 = 3 reps, Round 2 = 6 reps, Round 3 = 9 reps, etc. Complete rounds yield: R1=3, R2=9, R3=18, R4=30, R5=45, R6=63, R7=84, R8=108, R9=135, R10=165 total reps. Movement analysis: Handstand push-ups are highly demanding (2-4 sec fresh, 8-12 sec in complex workouts). Pistols require 2-3 sec each but demand significant balance and unilateral strength. In later rounds, HSPU will require frequent breaking (sets of 1-3), and pistols may need balance resets. Fatigue multipliers: Rounds 1-2 at 1.0x, rounds 3-4 at 1.1-1.2x, rounds 5-6 at 1.2-1.3x, rounds 7+ at 1.3-1.5x+. Elite athletes might complete 8-9 full rounds (108-135 reps) with some partial work in round 9-10. Advanced athletes likely finish 6-7 rounds (63-84 reps). Intermediate athletes may complete 4-5 rounds (30-45 reps). Beginners will struggle with the skill demands and complete 2-3 rounds (9-18 reps). No direct anchor match exists, but this resembles high-skill gymnastics work similar to muscle-up ladders. The combination of overhead pressing strength and unilateral leg strength creates a unique limiting factor profile. Final targets: L10: ~285 reps (partial round 10), L5: ~165 reps (complete round 9), L1: ~45 reps (complete round 5).

Modality Profile

Both Handstand Push-Up and Pistol are bodyweight gymnastics movements, resulting in 100% gymnastics modality