CrossFit Open 19.2: The Ultimate Workout Strategy Guide for Rx, Scaled, and Masters

Written By Ben  |  Open 

Looking for workout 20.2? Head here to stay up to date.

Who doesn’t love a good repeat workout, with a little bit of a twist? 

Open workout 19.2 is very similar to 16.2. The movements are the same, the timing is a bit different. Check it out:  

CrossFit Open 19.2 Workout 

Beginning on an 8-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of: 

  • 25 toes-to-bars 
  • 50 double-unders 
  • 15 squat cleans, 135/85 lbs 
  • 25 toes-to-bars 
  • 50 double-unders 
  • 13 squat cleans, 185/115 lbs 


If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 

  •   25 toes-to-bars 
  •   50 double-unders 
  •   11 squat cleans, 225/145 lb. 


If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 

  •   25 toes-to-bars 
  •   50 double-unders 
  •   9 squat cleans, 275/175 lb. 


If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to: 

  •   25 toes-to-bars 
  •   50 double-unders 
  •   7 squat cleans, 315/205 lb. 

Stop at 20 minutes. 

This is a fun one, let’s dig in.

19.2 Workout Strategy: 

First, let’s take a look at a few main keys.

Toes To Bars for 19.2: 

If you aren’t able to easily knock out large sets of toes to bar, then singles on TTB is a good idea. Scratch that. Singles are a GREAT idea! Singles on a “low bar” is an even better idea (so that you’re not wasting energy jumping up and down.) You can see what I’m talking about here:

Believe it or not, back in 2016 I used singles on my re-attempt of Open workout 16.2 and saw a much better score (multiple cleans at 275lbs vs. 225lbs on my first attempt). Doing singles on the TTB saved me.

Note: you’ll need to make sure you’re moving steady on the double unders and cleans for this to work, but I promise it’s a good move and will help you stay fresh on those heavy barbells. You can’t win the workout in the first 2 rounds, but you sure can lose it! 

>>> Here’s our full article about how to learn TTB.

Open 19.2 TTB

Scaled Athletes: For your knee raises or abmat sit-ups, I DO NOT suggest singles. Fly through your reps as close to unbroken as possible, as they will not cause too much fatigue and will leave you more time on the barbell. 

Double Unders for 19.2:

When it comes to double unders, just do whatever you can to knock them out. Keep the rope spinning, even if it means having to go single-double. Many people will make simple mistakes during the double unders that might completely derail them. Here’s a comprehensive list of the most common double under mistakes:

  • Arm lift
  • Lopsided spinning
  • Overspinning
  • Bad jumping (piking or donkey-kicking)
  • Using the wrong jump rope (watch this!)

Scaled Athletes: The same rules apply for your single unders! Do your best to fly through them unbroken and leave yourself plenty of time for the cleans. Let someone else count your reps and don’t forget to breathe!

Cleans for 19.2:

For the cleans, I’m going to recommend singles for nearly everyone. Unless the weights are VERY light for you, try taking a ‘Rich Froning’ breath in between reps or smaller sets. If you don’t know what I’m referencing, check out this video:

Also, be sure that you control your dropping. Use the least-bouncy bumper plates available. If not, you’ll waste a bunch of time  chasing your barbell around the floor. Try not to move your feet hardly at all, take your breath, and get back on the bar!

Scaled Athletes: If you are scaling this workout because of the TTB or DUs, then this barbell weight might be very light for you. You can ignore the “singles” suggestion until the barbell gets heavy (>50% of your 1RM).

When you do rest, be sure you have the discipline to use the “Froning breaths” and get back on that barbell. There is no time to waste just staring at the bar. 

After the double unders, shake out your arms and approach your bar with confidence. Have your plates arranged in a way that it’s very easy for your helpers to switch out the weight and don’t let your barbell roll all over the gym!

19.2 Workout Set-up

Just like last week's Open WOD, we are going to want to cut down on the transition time here. If possible, get your jump rope positioned right in front of your toes to bar station, so that you can hop off the bar, take a few breathes, and get right into it. DO NOT jump rope on a “crack” - I explain why here.  

CrossFit Open 19.2: Masters Division

The Masters standards for both males and females in Open workout 19.2 stay the same until we get to the 55+ age categories. At that point, the squat clean weight is going to drop slightly. The toes to bar and double unders stay the same.

We recommend checking out games.crossfit.com for the various weights.

CrossFit Open 19.2: Scaled Division

Doing CrossFit Open workout 19.2 scaled? Sweet. Here is what we are looking at for the individual male and female categories.

Beginning on an 8-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

  • 25 hanging knee-raises
  • 50 single-unders
  • 15 squat cleans, 95/55 lb.
  • 25 hanging knee-raises
  • 50 single-unders
  • 13 squat cleans, 115/75 lb.


If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

  •  25 hanging knee-raises
  •  50 single-unders
  •  11 squat cleans, 135/95 lb.


If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

  •  25 hanging knee-raises
  •  50 single-unders
  •  9 squat cleans, 155/115 lb.


If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

  •  25 hanging knee-raises
  •  50 single-unders
  •  7 squat cleans, 185/135 lb.

Stop at 20 minutes.

CrossFit Open 19.2

CrossFit Open 19.2: Mindset Tips

“Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” - Navy SEAL mantra

Your job in this workout is not to go as fast as humanly possible. Instead, your job is to go fast enough that you comfortably make it to the next level.

During the 16.2 Open workout, I made a HUGE mistake and did my first 25 TTB unbroken, then crushed the double unders, and then 135 lbs felt awfully heavy.... then I crumbled. I got through 135 and 185 fast, but 225 crushed me when it shouldn’t have.

Heed my advice: pace yourself!

Like I mentioned earlier, I re-attempted 16.2 a couple days later and beat my previous score despite being very, very sore. What was the secret? Singles. I did singles on the TTB and singles on the cleans. Every. Single. One. Forcing myself to slow down, take breaths and control my heart rate was the reason I was able to make it to the 275lb barbell and get some reps. 

Open 19.2: Equipment

Personally, I’ll be using the following gear:

Full-length 19.2 Open Strategy Video
19.2 Quick Tips
2019 Movement Tracker

This year, our friends over at the Morning Chalk Up are actively updating their Open Movement tracker after each Open workout. Be sure to bookmark this page it has some great insights not only on which movements have shown up in the past, but for what specific workout they were programmed in as well. 

If you need to be brought up to speed on what's different for the 2019 CrossFit Games Open - here's an article to help.

Ready to tackle Open Workout 19.3? Here is the full workout strategy guide

CrossFit Open: Leaderboards

Officially registered for the 2019 CrossFit Open? Join our WODprep athlete leaderboard by typing #wodprep into the hashtag wizard. Read more about that here.

Subscribe to our Open Guides

Want to see exactly how our athletes are warming up to attack 19.2? Sign up for our Open Strategy Emails and you’ll get the bonus warm-up and recovery videos delivered directly to your email inbox.

Disclaimer: WODprep is not associated with CrossFit® in any way and these opinions are separate from the CrossFit® brand.

  • Hi Ben I really appreciate your strategy guides they are super helpful. If the box I’m at doesn’t allow you to drop the bar on the floor because of noise issues (drop on pads instead) what would you recommend on how to move through the squat cleans?

    • What do the higher level athletes do at your box? I’d follow their lead.

      For me, I’d consider dropping the weight to a hang position, then lowering the weight to the floor. That should mean you wouldn’t need to use the mats till heavier reps. On the last rep or when you’re smoked step forward and drop in the mat.

      Or have some extra hands to help move the barbell back to the floor after each single rep.

      Hope that helps, Joshua. Let us know how you end up attacking this.

      • Thanks Brent! I was able to move pretty well during the 135s by loosening my grip and guiding it down. The 185s I just dropped and my judge moved them back … Those were tough, I ended up getting 6 reps at 185.

  • Curious to read any recommendations on footwear. I prefer lifters for squats, but not rope jumping. My thought is to wear lifters for 19.2 because I’ll need more help on the squats, at the expense of jumps. Am I thinking of this correctly?

    • Hey Carlos – if you check out the equipment section above, you’ll see Ben plans to wear lifters for the workout. If they’re going to help you out and give you the edge without messing up your DU’s – go for it!

    • Hey Joselyn! Here’s the standard: “At the start of each rep, the arms must be fully extended and the heels much be brought back behind the bar.”

      Based on what I see, and what I’ve seen from athletes in the past, the singles are totally OK! What would be illegal is if you pushed off the floor to help you get your feet up to the bar – that would be a no-rep 🙂

      • I wasn’t planning to do this workout Rx b/c I’ve never done more than 2 TTB in a row, and never more than 10 DUs in a day, but I decided to go with your singles strategy and miracle of miracles I actually got ALL the TTB done (thought I wouldn’t get past 10) and 37 of the 50 DUs before time ran out. Then I rested a while and did the workout scaled, too (because 8m of TTB & DU attempts wasn’t really taxing, LOL), and basically got to the first of the 9 cleans 18 minutes in before not being able to go any further. Your tips are really helpful. Thanks a ton!

  • You mention that you will be using your W lift shoes but how do you get DU with the same shoes on??

    • Easy! You just do double unders. 🙂

      They should have a very minimal effect on jumping for your double unders, and it’s something I’ve done easily in years past. If they are causing you to mess up, then I’d highly suggest working on becoming more comfortable with double unders – the shoes shouldn’t matter too much at all.

      Good luck Andrea!

      • I did 19.2 scaled with my Reebok lifters, and SU were not a problem. I used a slightly longer rope than normal because I found I was getting tripped up with my usual rope. But I did 2 sets of 50 SU unbroken without a problem. I missed completing the second set of squat cleans by 2 reps before time ran out, so I’ll try again tomorrow. The “Froning” method helped. I just need to take fewer breaths in between reps towards the end.

  • Finished 19.2 tonight – Rx. Thought T2B would kill me but read and watched your thoughts on consistent singles. Never believed it would work but finished the 2 sets in 70 seconds each. It was awesome and got me further than ever expected. Thank you. Have stuck with WodPrep for 4 years – haven’t failed me.

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