CrossFit Open 22.1 Strategy & Tips To Get Your Best Time

The CrossFit Open 22.1 workout was announced and we get to do a very fun triplet of wall walks, dumbbell snatches, and box jump overs!

The standards are a little different on these movements than before, so we’ll want to strategize how we can efficiently hit this workout to get our best time possible.

In this article we’ll go over tips and strategies on how to pace this workout, and how to efficiently move through your wall walks, DB snatches, and box jump overs while going as fast as possible!

If you’d rather watch, check our our CrossFit Open 22.1 Workout Strategy & Tips video below:

Make sure you get a good warm up in for this workout. You don’t want to shock your system. You’ll want to be ready to perform consistently for this one.

We provide a warm-up and have live strategy discussions with our private WODprep Masters group. If you’re looking to be competitive or smoothly hit these open workouts as a master, join our group now!

Tips On How To Pace 22.1

Pacing appropriately will be your secret sauce for getting your absolute best time on this workout!

If you watched the open announcement, you’ll notice that Noah Olsen blew up early in the workout. You don’t want this to happen.

Determine Your “Limiter” Movement

For most people, the wall walks will be the biggest “limiter”. By limiter we mean that this exercise will take the most of the athlete, taking a disproportionately long amount of time or fatiguing them the most. For some athletes this may be the box jumps.

With that said, you’ll want to pace your entire workout so that all of your rounds of wall walks are just as fast as your first round of wall walks. Or if the box jumps are your weakness, pace so that you can complete all of the box jumps with the same speed every round.

Don’t Blow Out Of The Starting Gate

If you go as fast as you possibly can at the start you will definitely hit a “red line” in this workout. That is the last thing you want to do! You will get passed by others pacing this workout in later rounds.

This workout is 15 minutes long, you preferably want to go almost the same speed every round and be able to speed up or sprint just at the very end.

When you should start that sprint in the end is completely dependent on you. That could be with 1 round left, 1 minute left, or even just 30 seconds!

No Resting, Move Steady

At no point in this workout should you be taking a rest between reps or sets. The goal is to be constantly moving through. If you feel like you’re wanting to take a rest, then you should slow your pace down to a manageable level.

Strategy For Efficient Wall Walks In 22.1

We wrote about some tips and performance points for wall walks last year when they first appeared in the open. We’ll go over a few of those strategies here and a few specific tips for them in this workout with the new standards.

Generally, wall walks are more efficient with those who have short torsos and those with long torsos are usually at a disadvantage. However, the wall walk standard this year is a set measurement and might feel pretty far out for shorter athletes.

How To Do Efficient Wall Walks & Perform The Standard

Check out our video on quick tips for improving your wall walks:

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Start with your feet flat on the wall.
- This may be harder this year for those who are shorter, as the wall walk standard this year is a set measurement from the wall.
- Having your feet flat will make you closer to the wall from the start, giving you less distance you have to travel.
Think “Downward Dog”.
- Many people want to start their wall walk by doing a push up. This is even more taxing on the arms. Instead, try pushing the butt up and back into a downward dog position. This will get your hips high and make stepping up on the wall much easier.
Place your foot high on the wall.
- On your first step up on the wall, place your foot up as high as possible on the wall. This will give you a lot less time under tension and have you that much closer to the top of your rep. From there, you’ll just continue to step back.
Mark your hand placement with chalk.
- Chalk up your hands before the workout and do a solid practice rep to mark each hand placement. This will give you consistent targets to hit throughout the workout.
Breathe!
- Make sure you’re breathing here! But don’t lay on the floor for forever in between each rep. We want smooth but fast transitions between reps. Try taking 2-3 breaths on the floor and then hit your next rep.
Splat down!
- A key to having fast wall walks is getting back to the floor as quickly as possible. Over 15 minutes you’ll accumulate a lot of wall walks and as you “splat down” your toes will be smacking the floor. It would be a good idea to do your wall walks on a gymnastics mat to reduce the impact and crunching your toes.

Strategy For The Dumbbell Snatches

The dumbbell snatches should be completed unbroken. This weight shouldn’t be too heavy if you’re in the proper division. You don’t want to push these hard, but you’ll want to keep a steady pace.

If the dumbbells are heavier for you, you could do a slight re-dip like a jerk. We don’t recommend doing a split snatch, as this will just eat up too much time. Although, split snatches are allowed by the standard.

To keep your reps transitioning fast, you’ll want to switch hands in the air, as these are alternating reps. However, you can switch on the ground to help manage your pacing if you feel like it’s getting out of control.

How To Speed Up The Box Jump Overs

Rebounding is not allowed in 22.1, so you may be wondering how you can keep up fast box jump overs.

We actually don’t recommend going as fast as possible on these or you might blow yourself up for the wall walks. Instead find a smooth and steady pace. Push the pace, especially on the first half of your box jump over sets. But if your heart rate increases too much, then slow it down. You need to be able to move right into the wall walks, with no rest.

However, to get the most efficient box jump overs without sacrificing time we have a few tips for performance.

Don’t stand up.
- Sometimes when pacing, we want to stand up to slow the rep. However, this will take up too much time and energy.
Jump laterally if possible.
- Jumping lateral is not a skill everyone has, but if you do, this could be a quick way to get these reps. Otherwise, you can still face forward before your jump. But, you should try to land sideways on top of the box, for a quick step back.
Step back off the box or laterally.
- You don’t want to step forward off of the box and have to spend time turning around. Make sure you’re touching the box with both feet on top, but step off laterally, or step back off of the box.

Overall we really like this workout! Please let us know in the comments below if you used any of these strategies in your workout and how you did!

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Useful Links:

22.1

Blog: CrossFit Open 22.1 Workout & Standards

YouTube Video: CrossFit Open 22.1 Strategy & Tips

22.2

Blog: CrossFit Open 22.2 Workout & Standards