Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

While 5 HSPU per minute seems manageable, the EMOM format creates relentless pressure over 10 minutes with no true recovery. HSPU are a high-skill movement requiring shoulder strength and coordination that degrades quickly under fatigue. Most average CrossFitters will struggle to maintain unbroken sets by minutes 6-8, and many will need to scale to pike push-ups or reduce reps to complete as intended.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Flexibility (8/10): Demands exceptional shoulder flexibility, thoracic extension, and wrist mobility for proper handstand positioning and full range of motion.
• Stamina (7/10): Handstand push-ups heavily tax shoulder and tricep stamina over 10 minutes, with cumulative fatigue building despite rest periods.
• Strength (6/10): HSPU requires significant pressing strength and core stability to support bodyweight in inverted position against gravity.
• Endurance (4/10): Ten minutes of work with built-in rest creates moderate cardiovascular demand, but the short duration limits pure aerobic stress.
• Power (3/10): Some explosive pressing component exists, but HSPU are more strength-endurance focused than pure power movements.
• Speed (2/10): EMOM format provides built-in rest, reducing speed demands. Focus is on completing 5 reps efficiently within each minute.

Movements

• Handstand Push-Up

Benchmark Notes

This is an EMOM (Every Minute on the Minute) workout requiring 5 handstand push-ups each minute for 10 minutes, totaling 50 reps maximum if completed unbroken. Since it's scored by total reps completed, I need to account for when athletes will start failing to complete all 5 reps per minute. HSPU are highly demanding on shoulders and triceps with significant fatigue accumulation. Elite athletes (L10) should complete all 50 reps unbroken. Advanced athletes (L8-L9) might complete 8-9 full rounds before missing 1-2 reps in final minutes (60-65 total). Intermediate athletes (L5-L7) will likely start breaking around minute 6-7, completing 6-8 full rounds plus partials (40-55 total). Novice athletes (L1-L3) may only complete 2-4 full rounds before significant breakdown, potentially needing to scale to pike push-ups or wall walks (20-35 total). The EMOM format provides built-in rest but also creates pressure - once you miss reps in a minute, it becomes progressively harder to catch up. No direct anchor matches this format, but considering HSPU difficulty relative to other gymnastics movements in benchmark WODs, these rep ranges align with typical CrossFit performance distributions. Final targets: L10: 50 reps, L5: 45 reps, L1: 20 reps.

Modality Profile

Handstand Push-Up is a bodyweight gymnastics movement, making this 100% Gymnastics