Workout Description
50/40 calories on the Echo bike
100-foot yoke carry
30 deficit handstand push-ups
100-foot yoke carry
50/40 calories on the Echo bike
Why This Workout Is Hard
For the average CrossFit athlete, Going Dark is Hard because Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry meet a roughly 8:09 work domain. The movements interfere through repeated grip, trunk, leg, or overhead fatigue, and there is little built-in recovery, so local fatigue compounds across movements. Many average athletes will need to scale at least one limiter.
Training Focus
This workout develops the following fitness attributes:
- Speed (8/10): The 8:09 scoring window and 3 movements score 0.8 for speed; success rewards repeatable cycling, decisive transitions, and appropriately aggressive pacing.
- Stamina (5/10): The repeated work around Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry scores 0.5 for stamina; athletes must preserve local muscular output as sets, rounds, and transitions accumulate fatigue.
- Endurance (4/10): Going Dark scores 0.4 for endurance because its 8:09 domain creates cardiovascular demand through sustained output. Breathing supports repeatable work, but pure aerobic capacity is not the only limiter.
- Flexibility (3/10): Deficit Handstand Push-Up create a 0.3 flexibility demand: efficient range of motion matters, but mobility is supportive rather than the sole test.
- Strength (2/10): Force and control demands score 0.2 for strength. Strength supports posture and movement quality, while absolute load is either unreported or not the workout's primary scoring challenge.
- Power (2/10): Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry drive a 0.2 power score through controlled force rather than maximal explosiveness. Explosive intent must remain repeatable rather than deteriorating into slow, inefficient repetitions.
Movements
- Air Bike
- Yoke Carry
- Deficit Handstand Push-Up
Scaling Options
Replace Deficit Handstand Push-Up with standard handstand push-ups or box pike handstand push-ups. Reduce monostructural distance or calories to roughly 70-80%.
Scaling Explanation
Because the official course is incomplete, scale by matching work time and movement demand rather than chasing a fabricated score. Preserve the primary challenge of Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry, not the exact Rx load or skill at the expense of intensity.
Intended Stimulus
Going Dark is intended as a short, high-output test centered on Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry. Athletes should sustain the fastest repeatable output that preserves the prescribed standards, letting breathing and local fatigue build without turning early aggression into failed reps or long stops.
Coach Insight
Start at a pace you can repeat through the middle of the workout, and break Deficit Handstand Push-Up and Yoke Carry before technique or cadence collapses. Keep transitions deliberate and short; save the final acceleration for the last round or station.
Benchmark Notes
The yoke load is absent from the source description, and that load materially determines both carry and handstand-push-up fatigue.
Modality Profile
Counting each unique movement once, G includes Deficit Handstand Push-Up; M includes Air Bike; W includes Yoke Carry. That produces G 40%, M 30%, and W 30%.
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