Workout Description

Why This Workout Is Hard

While pistols are challenging for many athletes requiring significant mobility and strength, the EMOM format provides 50+ seconds of rest between sets, making the skill demand manageable. However, the combination of a complex unilateral movement with max effort air squats creates cumulative leg fatigue. The pistol requirement will force many to scale, and the continuous 8-minute duration with no true rest makes this demanding for the average CrossFitter.

Training Focus

This workout develops the following fitness attributes:

• Flexibility (8/10): Pistols demand exceptional ankle, hip, and hamstring mobility, plus balance and coordination through full range of motion.
• Stamina (7/10): High volume air squats combined with pistol demands creates significant muscular endurance challenge, especially in the legs and core stabilizers.
• Strength (6/10): Pistols require substantial unilateral leg strength and core stability, while air squats test relative strength endurance under fatigue.
• Speed (5/10): EMOM format requires consistent pacing and quick transitions between pistols and air squats to maximize volume each minute.
• Endurance (4/10): Eight minutes of continuous work with minimal rest creates moderate cardiovascular demand, though not sustained enough for high endurance stress.
• Power (2/10): Minimal explosive demand as both movements are controlled strength patterns rather than ballistic or explosive movements.

Movements

• Pistol Squat
• Air Squat

Benchmark Notes

This is an 8-minute EMOM with 4 pistols alternating legs each minute, followed by max air squats for the remaining time. Let me break this down: Each minute consists of 4 pistols (2 per leg) taking approximately 8-12 seconds for elite athletes, 12-20 seconds for intermediate, and 20-30 seconds for beginners. This leaves 48-52 seconds, 40-48 seconds, and 30-40 seconds respectively for air squats. Air squats in fresh state take 1-1.5 seconds per rep, but fatigue accumulates significantly over 8 minutes. For air squats: Elite athletes can maintain 25-30 reps/minute early, degrading to 20-25 reps in later minutes due to leg fatigue from pistols. Intermediate athletes start at 20-25 reps/minute, degrading to 15-20 reps. Beginners manage 15-20 reps/minute early, degrading to 10-15 reps. The pistols create significant unilateral leg fatigue that impacts air squat capacity. Total calculation: Elite (L9-L10): 8 minutes × 22-27 average air squats = 176-216 reps, plus 32 pistols = 208-248 total reps. Intermediate (L5-L6): 8 minutes × 17-22 average air squats = 136-176 reps, plus 32 pistols = 168-208 total reps. Beginner (L1-L2): 8 minutes × 12-17 average air squats = 96-136 reps, plus 32 pistols = 128-168 total reps. This workout is unique with no direct anchor, but the rep volume and time domain suggest similar intensity to moderate-volume gymnastics workouts. Final targets: L10: 280+ reps, L5: 200 reps, L1: 120 reps.

Modality Profile

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