Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

While pistols are a high-skill movement that many average CrossFitters struggle with, the EMOM format provides 50+ seconds of rest between sets, making the skill demand manageable. However, 4 pistols every minute for 8 minutes (32 total) creates significant unilateral leg fatigue, and the max air squats immediately after will be severely compromised by accumulated quad/glute fatigue. The combination of skill under fatigue plus compromised performance on the finisher elevates this beyond Medium difficulty.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Flexibility (8/10): Pistols demand exceptional ankle, hip, and hamstring mobility to achieve full depth while maintaining balance and control throughout movement.
• Stamina (7/10): Pistols challenge single-leg stamina while max air squats test leg muscular endurance, creating significant fatigue accumulation over eight minutes.
• Strength (6/10): Pistols require substantial single-leg strength and stability, demanding high force production through full range of motion on one leg.
• Endurance (4/10): Eight minutes of continuous work with minimal rest creates moderate cardiovascular demand, though not sustained enough for high aerobic stress.
• Speed (3/10): EMOM format allows brief rest periods, reducing cycling speed demands compared to continuous formats, though transitions matter for max reps.
• Power (2/10): Minimal explosive demand as pistols are controlled strength movements and air squats focus on volume rather than speed.

Movements

• Pistol Squat
• Air Squat

Benchmark Notes

This is an 8-minute EMOM with 4 pistols (alternating legs) every minute, followed by max air squats for the remaining time. Since it's scored as 'Reps', we're tracking total air squats completed across all 8 rounds. Movement breakdown: - Pistols: 2 per leg = 4 total per minute. At 2-3 seconds per pistol = 8-12 seconds - Remaining time for air squats: 48-52 seconds per minute - Air squats: 1-1.5 seconds per rep when fresh Round-by-round analysis: Minutes 1-2: Fresh state, 48-50 seconds available, elite athletes can maintain 1 sec/rep = 48-50 air squats per minute Minutes 3-4: Slight fatigue, 1.1x multiplier, ~42-45 air squats per minute Minutes 5-6: Moderate fatigue, 1.2x multiplier, ~38-42 air squats per minute Minutes 7-8: Heavy fatigue, 1.3-1.4x multiplier, ~32-38 air squats per minute Total air squat capacity by level: - L10 (Elite): 50+48+45+42+40+38+35+32 = ~330 air squats - L5 (Average): 35+33+30+28+26+24+22+20 = ~218 air squats - L1 (Beginner): 20+18+16+15+14+13+12+11 = ~119 air squats This workout is most similar to high-volume air squat capacity work. Using Cindy (20-min AMRAP with 15 air squats per round) as a reference anchor: L10 athletes complete 25-30 rounds = 375-450 air squats over 20 minutes. Scaling this to 8 minutes of focused air squat work (accounting for pistol time), elite performance around 280-300 air squats is reasonable. Final targets: L10: ~280 reps, L5: ~200 reps, L1: ~120 reps

Modality Profile

Both Pistol and Air Squat are bodyweight gymnastics movements, resulting in 100% Gymnastics modality