Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Medium

While ring dips are a challenging bodyweight movement requiring upper body strength and stability, the tempo prescription (5-second negative, 3-second pause, explosive up, 3-second pause) significantly reduces volume potential. The average athlete might achieve 15-30 total reps over multiple sets with self-selected rest. The tempo forces quality over quantity, making this more about strength endurance than metabolic conditioning, keeping it manageable for most CrossFitters.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Stamina (8/10): High muscular endurance demand on triceps, chest, and shoulders as athletes push for maximum repetitions with controlled tempo.
• Strength (6/10): Significant upper body strength requirement for ring dips, especially with slow eccentric and pause demands of tempo work.
• Flexibility (4/10): Requires good shoulder mobility and range of motion for proper ring dip depth and lockout position.
• Endurance (3/10): Moderate cardiovascular demand as athletes work to max reps over time, but rest periods between sets allow for recovery.
• Speed (2/10): Speed is limited by tempo requirements; focus is on controlled movement quality rather than fast cycling.
• Power (1/10): Minimal power component due to controlled tempo prescription (5 second eccentric, 3 second pause, explosive up, 3 second pause).

Movements

• Ring Dip

Benchmark Notes

This workout is a max rep tempo ring dip challenge with a 5/3/X/3 tempo (5 second negative, 3 second pause at bottom, explosive up, 3 second pause at top). The tempo significantly increases time under tension and difficulty compared to regular ring dips. I referenced the Elizabeth benchmark (21-15-9 squat clean + ring dip) where elite athletes complete 21 ring dips in the first round, but those are regular tempo. With the prescribed tempo, each rep takes approximately 11+ seconds minimum (5+3+1+3), making this extremely demanding on triceps, shoulders, and core stability. Elite athletes might achieve 8-12 tempo ring dips in their first set, then break into smaller sets of 3-5 reps with rest periods. Advanced athletes would likely manage 5-8 initial reps, while intermediate athletes might start with 3-5 reps. The workout allows breaking, so athletes can accumulate reps over time, but the tempo requirement prevents high volume. Based on similar high-skill, high-fatigue movements and considering that even elite athletes would struggle to maintain this tempo for extended periods, I estimate: L10 (elite): 95+ reps, L5 (average): 55 reps, L1 (beginner): 15 reps. The distribution accounts for the exponential difficulty increase with fatigue in tempo work.

Modality Profile

Ring Dip is a bodyweight gymnastics movement performed on rings, requiring no external load or cyclical cardio component.