The CrossFit 23.3 Workout Is The Ultimate Fitness Challenge

CrossFit is known for being intense, to say the least. This workout style is super tough and challenging, but that’s precisely why it has a cult following of exercisers who are all about gaining strength and endurance — and taking on workout challenges like the CrossFit 23.3 — as part of the community.

As a fan of CrossFit, one thing you can participate in is the CrossFit Open, an annual online workout competition put on by CrossFit that anyone can register to compete in, says ACE-certified personal trainer TJ Mentus. During the CrossFit Open, a new Open Workout challenge gets released every week for three weeks. You then have a couple of days to complete the challenge, record your score, and submit it to CrossFit. "The 23.3 workout is the third and final workout from the 2023 CrossFit Open,” he tells Bustle.

Regular CrossFit workouts are already difficult, but the Open Workouts are designed to be even more challenging. Think cleans, deadlifts, handstand push-ups, and snatches with extra heavy weights that you lift as quickly as possible. And the 23.3 is supposed to be the toughest yet, says Christine Morrison, a CrossFitter with an L-1 certification.

The CrossFit Open is the first stage of the CrossFit Games, where CrossFitters from around the world come together to compete in super-difficult tests of physical fitness. But you can also try Open Workouts at home on your own to see how your personal strength training journey is coming along. “The 23.3 is a great way to see how you stack up against other CrossFitters — you can see your ranking overall, by gender, and by age group,” Morrison tells Bustle. “It’s also beneficial in that you can compare your ranking and personal performance year over year.”

Up for a challenge? Here’s what the CrossFit workout entails.

What Is The CrossFit 23.3 Workout?

The workout involves four movements: wall walks, double unders, snatches, and handstand push-ups. Here, Mentus breaks it down.

You have six minutes to complete as many reps as possible:

• 5 wall walks
• 50 double unders
• 15 snatches with a barbell (65 pounds)
• 5 wall walks
• 50 double unders
• 12 snatches (95 pounds)

If completed before six minutes, add three minutes and do:

• 20 strict handstand push-ups
• 50 doubles
• 9 snatches (125 pounds)

If completed before nine minutes, add three more minutes and do:

• 20 strict handstand push-ups
• 50 double unders
• 6 snatches (155 pounds)

What Are The Benefits Of The 23.3 Workout?

According to Mentus, the 23.3 workout is all about increasing your endurance and pushing yourself. “One of the focuses of CrossFit is improving your ability to perform under fatigue, and this workout tests your ability to lift the barbell while fatigued,” he tells Bustle.

The workout also has you hold your own body weight during the wall walks and handstand push-ups, which is obviously super tough. “Improving your ability to perform these movements under fatigue increases your fitness levels by allowing you to complete more work in the same amount of time or faster,” he says.

Who Should Try The Workout?

If you’re already doing CrossFit, you might want to try this routine to test your abilities, especially if you want to apply for the CrossFit Games. If you don’t have any CrossFit experience, though, it’s best to try the modified version first. If you don’t think you could do moves, it’s more than OK to scale the workout back, Mentus says.

How To Modify The CrossFit 23.3 Workout

Here, Mentus shares the scaled version, in case you want to give it a try.

Try these in six minutes:

• 5 scaled wall walks
• 50 single-unders
• 15 snatches (45 pounds)
• 5 scaled wall walks
• 50 single-unders
• 12 snatches (65 pounds)

If you complete this before the six-minute time cap, add three minutes and do:

• 20 hand-release push-ups
• 50 single-unders
• 9 snatches (75 pounds)

If you finish before the nine-minute time cap, add three minutes and do:

• 20 hand-release push-ups
• 50 single-unders
• 6 snatches (85 pounds)

Note: There will be a lot of sweat.

Sources:

Christine Morrison, a CrossFitter with an L-1 certification

TJ Mentus, ACE-certified personal trainer