Ben Smith What You Need to Know About the CrossFit Open 20.4 Workout

The fourth workout of this season’s CrossFit Open has been announced, and our first piece of advice for 20.4 is this: startmobilizing your anklesandbulletproofing your shoulders. You’ll be doing box jumps, single-leg squats, and clean and jerks. Below, you’ll find the full workout and tips for approaching this 20-minute slugfest.

The Workout:

• 30 box jumps (24 inches for men/20 inches for women)
• 15 clean and jerks, (95 pounds for men/65 pounds for women)
• 30 box jumps (24/20)
• 15 clean and jerks (135/95)
• 30 box jumps (24/20)
• 10 clean and jerks (185/115)
• 30 single-leg squats
• 10 clean and jerk (225/145)
• 30 single-leg squats
• 5 clean and jerks (275/175)
• 30 single-leg squats
• 5 clean and jerks (315/205)

Time cap: 20 minutes

What’s the Deal With the CrossFit Open 20.4 Workout

According to Henning Langer, one of the two exercise scientists behindWOD Science, the two obvious sticking points are the heavy cleans and the single-leg squats, also called “pistols.”

If you don’t have the strength, skill, or mobility to do the latter, you have two options. You can scale the workout, which replaces the pistols with a 20-pound medicine-ball box step-up (and lightens the clean and jerks to 65-95-115-135-155-185 pounds). Or, you can consider just the first three sets your workout, pace accordingly, and startpracticing the movementfor next year.

Even if you’re a monster on the barbell, Langer says you probably won’t finish th