CrossFit Open 15.2 Strategy:
Amidst the exciting and unpredictable variability of the CrossFit Open, there often lies at least one predictable variable: The inevitable inclusion of a repeat-workout. This time around 15.2 is that inevitability with athletes expected to best their 14.2 scores in an ascending ladder of Overhead Squats and Chest to Bar Pull-ups. This workout is another brilliant test of differing capacities with a bottle-knock of energy systems from aerobic power eventually crossing the anaerobic threshold culminating in an inability to finish the repetition’s in the required timeframe for many athletes looking to push the numbers up. Strategies and tips should be formulated based on last year’s effort for each athlete, as well as how well they’ve developed in all areas since, (has your mobility improved in the OHS? Have you moved from kipping to butterfly Chest to Bars? Has your grip/shoulder endurance improved enabling this to be more of an energy system fatigue test rather than a local muscular endurance fatigue one?). Knowing yourself here and where your strengths and weaknesses lie will be key in developing a more precise strategy, but for now here are some general guidelines, in line with last years workout:
– Right off the bat, one thing I would advise here is to be at your lightest bodyweight wise. With the high volume of Chest to Bar Pull-ups shedding an extra 1.5-2kg in overall weight (which is easily doable here by Monday) for athlete’s could be huge. Unlike 15.1 and 15.1a where the second workout called for more of an absolute strength test, this workout doesn’t require you to be at your best under maximal loads, and the benefit of a lighter bodyweight for gymnastics pieces is without question. DO NOT mistake this as a call for cutting carbohydrates however! You will need glycogen stores to obviously be full so as long as this is taken care of a slight loss in bodyweight will absolutely improve performance here.
– With regards actual energy systems here this is again, for the initial rounds anyway, another aerobic power (shocker) piece, and as the rest gets shorter and shorter during the later rounds this will bottleneck eventually leading for most into that redlining middle ground shitty place. The goal is to MAINTAIN as much aerobic involvements as possible, so rather than looking at the actual repetitions here also look at the time period your performing these repetitions for. For this reason I would not advise the use of intervals here i.e bang out as many reps as you can in say, 2mins, and look to rest and ‘recover’ in the remaining 1min. This will constantly spike HR needlessly, and remember aerobic power is all about maintaining a high power output while keeping heart rate constant (well as constant as possible) so figure out what kind of timeframe you can continuously move for per each 3min period without heart rate getting too high and this should determine your reps per movement per round. If you’ve been using a HR monitor in your training, or if your like Rich and just know yourself and your threshold amazingly well, then you should have a HUGE advantage here and know how many unbroken repetitions it takes before this happens.
– Whether by design or by default, both this workout as well as last week’s have been a real test of local muscular endurance, and for many, this was the deciding/limiting factor in performance as opposed to specific energy systems development. Many will have felt their grip go, or the inability to perform Toes to Bar because of midline fatigue, and this is also going to be very individual based on the athlete at hand. This weeks test will also be a serious test of grip endurance, but also shoulder endurance depending on how far into the OHS you get. None will have improved over the passed week, but knowing which, if any, are a weakness for you will determine your pacing/gripping strategy.
– For the OHS in particular Power Snatch-into-OHS is going to be the go to start for most. If resting between repetitions resting the bar on your back as opposed to dropping the bar is a no-brainer. This will save you lots of time over the course of each round. How narrow or wide you take your grip overhead is completely individual based on comfort level. Narrower grip might save you some shoulder/wrist fatigue BUT comfort = efficiency so again don’t be trying to utilise something new and different during competition!
– For Chest to Bar Pull-ups the athlete’s who will do really well here will generally have the butterfly kip down. This is obviously more efficient with regards cycle time but again, if you have been kipping regularly and have been testing butterfly’s out the last week or so, STICK WITH KIPPING! The movement you are more comfortable with you will be more efficient with, and the more efficient you are the less energy you will waste here.
– As usual have all equipment needed right beside each other. Last year watching some videos athletes were walking about 5 or 6 steps from the barbell to the pull-up bar, which is crazy. 10-12 steps every round, you do the maths. Make sure your barbell, chalk, water and anything else you need is right beside you, and if partitioning repetition’s stay beside whichever piece of equipment you are using at the time (in spite of whatever weird little ritual you might have!)
– Tape the shit out of your hands if you’re someone that rips due to high volume’s of work! This is especially the case for any guy’s hoping to repeat this workout before submitting scores on Monday. There is nothing worse than knowing you can do better, having a repeat-plan laid out only for your ripped hands to stop you from even attempting it again. Also, with regards footwear, this is generally going to be based on how your OHS mobility is. Regular shoes are obviously the way to go for pull-ups, but if your OHS mobility is poor then the benefit of wearing weightlifting shoes outweigh’s any added weight they will add to the pull-up portion of the workout.
– For those athlete’s that did this workout last year, the only goal is to improve your own score and do the best you can. If you are 6ft 2” tall and weigh 190lbs with very little bodyfat do not beat yourself up if that 5ft 8” guy that weigh’s 170lbs manages more reps than you on these type of workouts. Self improvement is the only improvement we’re seeking.
Warmups:
With regards warm-ups the following are some good general guidelines:
1) Again a slow and steady aerobic piece to get heart rate going and blood pumping. 10-12mins on C2 or AD here will suffice.
2) Some dynamic movement/activation drills for ankles, hips, shoulders, t-spine, lats etc
3) A couple of rounds touching on the specific energy systems being used here, including rounds of the actual movements programmed.
A concrete example could look like this:
A) 10-12mins on Airdyne at HR 130-150bpm
B) Ankle, Hip, T-Spine, Shoulder drill:
– Knee to Wall Touches x 8
– Spider Man Lunge with reach x 8
– Goblet Squats x 8 (elbows inside knees)
– Band Pull-Aparts x 8
– OHS into Sots press with bands x 8
C) 3 Rounds of the following:
– 3 OHS/3 CH2B
– Rest 45-60secs
– 4 OHS/4 CH2B
– Rest 30-45secs
– 5 OHS/5 CH2B
– Rest a couple of minutes and then go….
Again this will be another great test. Whereas last week’s was an Aerobic Power and Absolute Strength/CP Battery type piece this week is definitely hitting that middle ground during the bottleneck of the later rounds. Don’t be afraid to push hard here, the Open WOD’s, unlike regular competition, are about getting the best score you can (for advance athletes anyway) as opposed to pacing due to multiple workouts, so give it your all, have fun and best of luck!!!
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