Week two is underway! And of course, WODprep has your back for all things Open-related.
Last weekend, our CrossFit® Open 18.1 Complete Strategy Guide got a ton of hits. Your feedback was incredible! Our goal is to help even more athletes this week. So before we start, we want to ask that you share this guide with a friend or two if you find it valuable.
Moving onto the WOD. Patrick and Noah did a great job showing us how it’s done. Which was definitely necessary, because Castro did a hilarious job explaining it. My goodness. He needs a bigger blackboard… and a penmanship class. But ya gotta love the guy! If you didn’t watch the live event, you can catch it here.
Last week’s WOD seemed like an eternity. We have a feeling this week we’ll all be wishing we had a little more time to complete the task. Let’s dive in.
CrossFit® Open 18.2: The Workout
RX
FOR TIME: 12 MIN CAP
1/1, 2/2, 3/3 – up to – 10/10
- DB Squat (50s / 35s)
- Bar-Facing Burpees
18.2A – 1RM clean (in remaining time)
Scaled
FOR TIME: 12 MIN CAP
1/1, 2/2, 3/3 – up to – 10/10
- DB Squat (35s / 20s)
- Bar-Facing Burpees
18.2A – 1RM clean (in remaining time)
Masters
FOR TIME: 12 MIN CAP
1/1, 2/2, 3/3 – up to – 10/10
- DB Squat (*weight dependent on age)
- Bar-Facing Burpees
18.2A – 1RM clean (in remaining time)
For a complete standards guide, please visit games.crossfit.com/workouts/open/2018/2
Just like last week, we encourage you to Rx this WOD!
CrossFit® Open 18.2 – Strategy:
- 1Ascending Ladder – mentally prepare that it’s going to get harder.
- 2Warming Up (be sure to opt-in to our email guide if you haven’t already for our 18.2-specific warm-up)
- 3Transitions – massively important to shave time.
- 4Pay Attention To Your Reps (don’t overly rely on your judge).
Go “a little hot” on the MetCon to buy a little extra time on the barbell; the goal is to not rest at all. If you start off too fast and have to rest, you likely hit it too fast in the beginning. Remember… both 18.2 and 18.2A have equal value, so your goal is to do as well as possible on both.
CrossFit® Open 18.2 – Mindset:
- Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
- This is an ascending ladder so it’s designed to be incrementally more difficult as time passes.
- There are 110 reps in 18.2 – the halfway point is the round of 7/7!
CrossFit® Open 18.2 – Movement:
Dumbbell Squats
- Don’t get no-repped on your first rep. Standards dictate you must lock out your hips before dropping into your first squat. Don’t squat clean your first rep. If you power clean your first rep, stand up completely before dropping.
- Don’t throw your DBs away! Place them on the floor right outside your feet so you can step right into your next first rep.
- Hands must be on the DBs at all times! Keep your elbows up and out, the higher the better. This will open up your chest and let you keep a straight torso. Shifting the DB weight towards your upper back will save your quads.
- Keep a regular front rack full grip on the DBs in the beginning. Then switch to the “crease grip” as the sets get longer. See the strategy video for more details on the “crease grip” we recommend.
- Keep your DBs outside of the bumper plates on either side of your barbell. This will prevent your feet from crashing into them on the burpees.
- BREATHE! Keep it 1:1. Don’t try to squeeze multiple reps into one breath.
Bar-Facing Burpees
- Load the bar with your opening weight (see more on that in the 1RM clean section below)
- Standards are tricky, check them out first.
- Practice your group specific standards! Rx must keep feet together at all times. Imagine your ankles are banded together. Scaled can effectively go about it however they want. We encourage you to identify a strategy you can keep consistent throughout. Then execute accordingly!
- See our video demonstrations for my favorite burpee techniques for both RX and Scaled.
1 Rep Max Clean
- Your everyday athlete will not have copious amounts of time like Noah and Patrick did. So don’t expect to be able to sit on the floor for two full minutes before your first rep.
- Hit about 80 to 90% of your clean 1RM before the WOD if you can. We suggest hitting a weight heavier than your planned opening weight. Otherwise, your opening weight will feel overwhelming after the MetCon.
- The opening lift should be ~80-85% of what you built to in warm-up. Your goal is to have 2-3 attempts at the Clean – plan them out ahead of time.
- Other people can help you with the barbell. Take advantage! If possible, have someone help you with adding weight. This will be a huge edge over those changing their own weights. If you can sit down on the ground while other people load/switch your weight, that would be best.
- Let your coach know your plan for weight escalation so there’s no time spent “arguing”.
- Don’t shy away from adding incremental (1lb / 2lb) plates. There will be A LOT of ties for lifts ending in a 0 or 5. Grab a slight edge by adding the smaller plates, chances are you won’t feel the difference.
- Aim to take smaller jumps in weight (20 lbs or less) instead of big jumps (30lbs or more).
- Focus on “fast elbows”. Don’t let a lazy catch ruin your lift.
- If your power clean is as strong as your full (squat) clean, then you should try power cleans for 18.2A. You’ll only know how you feel once you get there!
- SAFETY TIP: Please keep your extra bumper plates away from your barbell’s path. We don’t want dropped barbells ricocheting off the plates and injuring you or someone around you. This should be standard practice, but it’s worth mentioning again.
CrossFit® Open 18.2 – Gear:
- Knee Sleeves: Lots of squats in this WOD so if you’re used to knee sleeves, they’ll come in handy.
- Olympic Lifting Shoes: I will be wearing lifters for both 18.2 and 18.2A. If you’re not comfortable doing burpees in this type of shoe, then you could switch shoes between events. However, that will waste a lot of time, which most of us won’t have to begin with. They are going to be a great help with the DB squats and 1RM clean.
- Belt: A belt will help tighten up your exhausted core. Don’t worry about this for 18.2, but I’m going to strap up for 18.2A. Again, if you’ve never lifted with a belt, don’t worry about it! This is not a time to try anything new.
- Tape: Tape your thumbs! This will help with your hook grip, especially under fatigue. If you don’t hook grip, shame on you! WODprep athletes should ALWAYS hook grip for heavy Olympic lifts.