Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

The 3-minute time cap creates significant pressure to move fast through challenging movements. Alternating pistols require high skill and unilateral strength, becoming much harder under time pressure and after rowing/biking. The combination of cardio fatigue, technical single-leg movement, and push-ups with minimal rest across 4 rounds creates substantial cumulative fatigue. Most athletes will struggle with pistol technique as fatigue builds.

Benchmark Times for Row, Pistols, Push Ups (:35 - :50)

• Elite: <6:00
• Advanced: 7:00-8:00
• Intermediate: 9:00-10:00
• Beginner: >15:00

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High volume of pistols and push-ups across four rounds will heavily tax muscular endurance, particularly in legs and upper body.
• Speed (8/10): Three-minute time caps create urgency requiring fast transitions and quick movement cycling to maximize work within limited timeframe.
• Endurance (7/10): Four rounds with 3-minute caps creates significant cardiovascular demand, especially with rowing/biking component requiring sustained aerobic output.
• Flexibility (7/10): Pistol squats demand exceptional ankle, hip, and hamstring mobility; full range of motion critical for proper execution.
• Strength (6/10): Pistol squats require significant unilateral leg strength and stability, while push-ups demand upper body strength endurance capabilities.
• Power (4/10): Moderate power demand from explosive rowing/biking starts and dynamic pistol transitions, but not primarily power-focused.

Movements

• Air Bike
• Pistol Squat
• Push-Up
• Row

Benchmark Notes

This is a 4-round workout with a 3-minute time cap per round, totaling 12 minutes maximum. Each round contains: 320m Row (or 18/14 cal bike), 16 Alternating Pistols, 8 Push-Ups, with rest in remaining time. Movement breakdown per round: 320m Row takes 75-90 sec for elite, 90-110 sec intermediate, 110-140 sec recreational. 16 Alternating Pistols (8 per leg) take 16-24 sec elite, 24-40 sec intermediate, 40-60 sec recreational. 8 Push-Ups take 8-12 sec elite, 12-20 sec intermediate, 20-30 sec recreational. Transitions add 5-10 sec per round. Round 1 fresh times: Elite 100-110 sec, Intermediate 130-150 sec, Recreational 170-200 sec. With fatigue multipliers across 4 rounds: Round 2 (+10%), Round 3 (+20%), Round 4 (+30-40%). Total workout times: Elite athletes complete in 6-7 minutes with significant rest, intermediate athletes in 8-10 minutes with moderate rest, recreational athletes may hit the 12-minute cap or finish in 10-12 minutes. The 3-minute cap per round prevents this from becoming excessively long. No direct anchor match, but similar to interval-style workouts with mixed modalities. Final targets: L10: 360 sec (6:00), L5: 600 sec (10:00), L1: 900 sec (15:00 - accounting for those who struggle significantly with pistols).

Modality Profile

Row and Bike are monostructural cardio movements (50%), while Pistol and Push-Up are bodyweight gymnastics movements (50%). No weightlifting movements present.