WOD: Pullman
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 | CrossFit MYO, San Jose CA
The Workout
Snatch Complex
1 Snatch 1 OHS 1 Hang Snatch
Score type: Load
Pullman
16 Devil’s Press 32 V-Ups 12 Devil’s Press 24 V-Ups 8 Devil’s Press 16 V-Ups 4 Devil’s Press 8 V-Ups
What Makes This Workout Effective
Today’s For Time is a descending ladder — 16-12-8-4 devil’s presses against 32-24-16-8 V-ups — and the shrinking rep counts are a trap, because the first round is nearly half the work. A devil’s press is a burpee and a double dumbbell snatch stitched together, so it drives your heart rate to the ceiling and then asks your midline to do controlled V-ups while you’re breathing hard. That’s the session: the abs aren’t the hard part, holding position with a heaving chest is.
Scaling Options
| Level | Modifications |
|---|---|
| Rx | Devil’s presses with the prescribed dumbbells and full V-ups — chest of the dumbbells to the floor each rep, hands and feet meeting on every V-up. |
| Intermediate | Devil’s presses with a lighter pair of dumbbells so round one stays under three minutes; tuck-ups instead of V-ups, keeping the same rep counts. |
| Beginner | Devil’s presses as a burpee to a light dumbbell deadlift and press, or halve the reps (8-6-4-2); V-ups as bent-knee sit-ups or alternating dead bugs, same counts. |
Full Session Breakdown
| Block | Duration | What You’ll Do |
|---|---|---|
| Warmup | 10 min | Dynamic stretching and heart rate elevation. |
| Skill/Strength | 20 min | Movement prep and technical review. |
| WOD | ~20 min | The main metabolic conditioning piece. |
| Cooldown | 10 min | Recovery and mobility. |
FAQ
Q: How do I pace a workout where the first round is the biggest one?
A: Treat the round of 16 as the whole workout and everything after it as the reward. Set a pace on the devil’s presses you could hold for twenty reps, not sixteen — singles with a consistent turnaround beat fast sets of five followed by standing and staring at the dumbbells. If you’re still moving steadily when you reach the round of 8, you paced it right.
Q: My lower back rounds on the V-ups when I’m out of breath. What do I do?
A: Break them up before that happens rather than after. Sets of eight with five seconds between them will be faster than a set of twenty that turns into flailing, and far kinder to your back. If your feet start swinging to generate momentum, that’s the signal to switch to tuck-ups for the rest of the workout.
Q: I’ve never done a devil’s press. Is it hard to learn?
A: It’s a burpee with dumbbells in your hands, then a snatch from the floor to overhead in one movement — easy to learn, hard to do many of. Get there early and your coach will walk you through it with a light pair. Go lighter than you think for your first time: this workout has 40 of them.
Ready to Try It?
CrossFit MYO offers 2 free classes for newcomers. Every workout is scalable — coaches meet you exactly where you are.
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