Its not easy (in fact, its brutally, brutally hard), but, unlike other Open workouts, this one isnt the kind thats destined to leave you as an injured pile of mush. Instead, this one is built around two exercises, one of which you either know how to do, or have no prayer of doing at all.

The two-part workout blends deadlifts and handstands. Everyone who hangs around a CrossFit box is familiar with the deadlift. But handstand walks, which show up in the final phase of this workout, arent something everyone can pull off. And if you cant do the handstand walk, you simply cant complete the RXed version of this workout. You either have the shoulder stability (and total body control) to do a handstand walk, or you dont.

And that means more people than ever will do the scaled version of Open Workout 20.3, leaving plenty of battered shoulders to live to fight another day.

So what is Open Workout 20.3? Its back-to-back 21-15-9 ladder-downs of deadlifts broken up by handstand work. The first ladder-down has you doing 21 deadlifts, followed by 21 handstand pushups, then 15 of each move, then 9. Men doing the RXed version will deadlift 225 pounds; women will deadlift 155 pounds.

Complete that ladder, and you do another 21-15-9 ladder-down of deadlifts, this time upping the weight to 315 for men, 205 for women. In between each set of deadlifts, you do a 50-foot handstand walk.

Your score is your time to complete the workout. Theres a 9-minute overall time cap.

Plenty of people wont be able to pull off the RXed workout, simply because handstand walks are, hard, perhaps one of the hardest skills taught in any CrossFit box. Because of that, expect to see more people than ever in your box doing the scaled version. To scale 20.3, youll nix the handstand pushups and to hand-release pushups instead, lowering your chest to the ground, lifting your hands off the ground, then returning them to the ground and pressing back up to plank position.

Youll also drop the handstand walks and do 50 feet of bear crawls instead. Weights will drop off as well. Men will open their deadlifting at 135 pounds and escalate to 185; women will open at 95 and increase to 135.

Ive been critical of CrossFits Open workouts in the past , in large part because many of them encourage people who lack proper shoulder stability to do moves that challenge shoulder stability in ways that arent safe for longterm joint health.

Thats where 20.3 manages to be magical. Heres the thing with the handstand walk: Youve either got it or you dont. This isnt a heavy dumbbell snatch, where somebody can muscle up too much weight in awkward, labrum-tearing fashion. And its not a kipping pullup sequence where somebody else can blow out a rotator cuff while pretending their aerial worm of a flail is actually a proper kip.

Being able to handstand walk almost assuredly means you have strong, consistent shoulder stability and control of your body. Sure, you can arch your back plenty on these and thats not ideal (and yes, some people will feel 20.3 in their lower backs on the morning after). But by and large, youll either know you have a chance of doing the RXed version of 20.3, or know full well that you shouldnt even waste brain cells pondering it too much and just opt to do the scaled version.

Heres the thing with the handstand walk: Youve either got it or you dont.

And the scaled version is as safe a workout as youll see from a CrossFit box. A typical CrossFit sweat session almost always involves some level of overhead action. In the scaled version of 20.3, you never actually need your arms to exceed a 90-degree angle relative to torso unless youre wiping the sweat off your forehead. Pushups and bear crawls are exceedingly safe ways to get upper body work.

Both workouts are smart in that they essentially challenge your full body and prioritize the posterior chain (on the deadlifts) before pushing you into some upper-body-focused work. Youll get a total body burn from this one, and your hamstrings and glutes (and lower back, depending on your deadlift technique) will really feel this one. By workouts end, youve done 90 deadlift reps.

The key to tackling 20.3 comes down to handling those early deadlifts. You need to get them over swiftly, but you also need to safe your grip and your hamstrings (and lower back) for the challenge of the second ladder-down series.

Think strongly about using a mixed grip, even if thats not how you normally train. Itll prevent you from wasting valuable forearm strength, saving you for later.

If youre fighting through the RXed version (in which case, you really dont need our advice since you own your handstand movements), consider breaking up the first two sets of handstand pushups. Think of going 7-7-7 in the 21 set, and 5-5-5 on the 15 set. Sure, you could kip through the whole bunch, but youre going to want your legs and lower body fresh when you reach that 21-set of 315-pound deadlifts.

If youre going scaled, push through the pushups. Yes, CrossFitters often struggle with horizontal pressing movements and are stronger on vertical presses, but youre still getting a pectoral break on each hand-release rep, so gut it out.

When you get to the final series of deadlifts, go in planning to break things up. You might want to break the 21-set into 4, and the 15-set into 3. Also, dont forget your form. Sure, youre trying to speed through these deadlifts, so youll be willing to compromise your lower back more than usual. But do you really have a shot at the games?

Yeah, thats what we thought.

Overall, CrossFit Open Workout 20.3 is the best of CrossFit, brutally hard, over swiftlyand smart in how it self-selects who can do the RXed version and who cant. Wed love to see more workouts like this, because they are challenging regardless of what version you do, but they save you from your own ambitions, which is fantastic.

The great thing about the scaled version is its still a great workout. Again, youre piling up a whopping 90 deadlift reps, meaning serious booty and hamstring burn, and the hand-release pushups include a strongly underrated scapular squeezing moment too. And the bear crawls will hammer your core.

If youre into CrossFit even a bit, 20.3 is a session worth trying. Dont be afraid to scale though. Either way, your body will be on fire.