15.3 Strategy
Yet again not too many surprises this week with the announcement of 15.3. Same energy system testing we generally see in the Open (Aerobic Power/Possible Lactic Capacity if really pushing into later rounds) as well as the inclusion of movements we all expected to make an appearance at some stage: Muscle Ups, WallBalls and Double Unders. CrossFit at it’s finest!
The workout itself is as follows: AMRAP in 14mins of: 7 Muscle Ups, 50 WallBalls (20lb-10ft/10lb-9ft) 100 Double Unders.
Many people have been commenting on their disappointment of the inclusion of Muscle Ups first in this workout, a sentiment I don’t particularly agree with (this year anyway). The reason is simple: Every year in the Open you should expect Muscle Up’s to make an appearance and if this is the case then you better have them down. In previous years it was an all-or nothing scenario with regards certain movements, if you didn’t have them the Open was the time to use the adrenaline rush of competition to get that first Muscle Up, or face staring at the rings for the time frame asked feeling an overwhelming sense of disappointment. ‘There’s always next year.’ But this year, with the scaled option, this scenario now finds itself obsolete, because as we can be fairly certain (as certain as you can with regards CrossFit anyway) of the movements coming up, if we don’t have them we can scale, and still get a productive workout/capacity test. In my opinion there is no need for any movement to be a ‘separator’ anymore, knowing what we do about the movements that show up in the Open the separator should be you choosing between Scaled and RX’d.
If you DO have Muscle Ups you better know your max capacity, especially under fatigue. I’ve seen scores of athlete’s practicing this exact scenario after a heavy amount of shoulder volume for this very reason which was a really smart thing to do in the build up to the Open (as is the case with any high skilled movement because it WILL come up). Where you fall on the max repetition scale for the movement will determine how and if you break the MU’s up. If you are comfortable hitting 2-3 reps here you WILL need 45-90secs rest between reps to maintain efficiency, especially in later rounds. If you are in between 4-9 reps you will need less rest between efforts and can keep chipping away. Those athlete’s with Muscle Up’s in the double digit’s should really not find this the toughest part of the workout and will be comfortably breaking these into sets of triples or doubles with the ability to get back on the rings every 10-20secs. Know yourself here too, if you’re gymnastic’s kip is really solid and lands you near the top of the lockout these will be less demanding muscularly than an athlete that ‘muscles’ the movement more, which will really tell in later rounds (especially if this is the case with the WB and DU’s)
For those athletes that have Muscle Up’s down this test becomes a lot less daunting on the front end and becomes about the ability to perform high amounts of work and tolerate fatigue in the legs and shoulders from the WallBalls and Double Unders. Athletes should have hopefully been performing high workloads of these movements during their prep and so will have a good idea of what way to partition reps. The WallBall is basically a Thruster but without the ability to rest the ball in the rack position the shoulders are under a lot more stress throughout. Although the weight is a lot lighter throwing an object dynamically WILL induce slightly more fatigue here so staying as relaxed as possible in the shoulders and traps throughout this movement can be really important. Be prepared to break these up from the get-go. Have a plan and stick to it! Definitely in the later rounds these are gonna start to suck so you might certainly have to fight through a lot of these, so be prepared! The presence of shoulder fatigue is especially going to be true if your Double Under’s aren’t on point either. The DU rotation MUST come from the wrists as much as possible saving unnecessary shoulder movement. These little elements will matter as, like we even seen with the elite athlete’s Foucher and Brookes’ shaking out of the shoulders, the ability to keep them fatigue-free will be pivotal as you progress through the rounds and get back onto the rings. Those proficient on the rope can definitely use this to relax, stay calm and regain their breathing pattern, being as fresh as possible landing in the catch position of those MU’s for each and every round!
With regards equipment for this one it’s very straight forward again. Don’t be walking half way round the gym from your rings to the WallBall station, and for the love of god use whatever rings, wallball and jump rope you have been using. There is nothing going to throw your game off like the introduction of a new and slightly different element equipment wise!
WarmUp:
The Warm Up for this one again will be similar to previous weeks. Some mobilization of the joints being used, a general movement warmup targeting the musculature being used, followed by a specific warmup using the actual movements used, ramping up intensity to that of the opening effort, in this case Aerobic-Power.
Example:
1) 10-15min Aerobic piece on C2 or AD (HR @ 130-150bpm)
2) 3 sets of 10reps or 30secs of the following:
a) Knee to Wall Touch (ankle mobilization)
b) Spiderman Lunge w/ Rotation (iso hold stretch)
c) Goblet Squat Iso Hold stretch
d) Band Pullaparts into Dislocates
e) Press w/ Bands
f) Wrist Iso Hold stretch
3) 3 sets of 10reps of the following:
a) Air Squats
b) Squat to Thoracic Rotation
c) Kipping Swing (hollow to arch on rings)
d) Shoulder Press (empty bar)
e) Wrist Rolls
4) 3 sets of the following, performed at 60%, 70% and finally workout pace:
– 1 Muscle Up
– 5 WallBalls
– 10 Double Unders
– Rest 60-90secs
All in all another good test of Aerobic Power inter-spread with a gymnastics piece and movements in a rep-range that will force athletes to be smart with regards planning and pacing, a skill in and of itself and one of the biggest traits needed as a competitive CrossFit athlete.
Best of luck to everyone doing this workout!
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