CrossFit Open 15.5 Strategy:
This weeks final test takes us into more familiar territory with two of the movements predicted by many, rowing and thrusters, finally making their appearance in this years Open. The format is genius also, and makes for a little bit more of a punisher than previous weeks. The larger rep range on the near end of 27 calories/reps couple with the ‘Fran’ like descending rep scheme culminating in 9 calories/reps on the far end will absolutely make you go to that nasty place. Many a name is given to ‘that place’ in CrossFit, but whether redlining, lactate accumulation or the ‘shitty shit shit’ describes it best, CrossFitter’s know it well and you must familiarize yourself with it if high level CrossFit is the goal.
The actual workout itself is as follows: 27-21-15-9 of kCals on the Rower & Thrusters at Fran weights (43/29kg). There is no better engine test than the simple CrossFit couplet’s and these are some of the most notorious for inducing those sweat angel Instagram selfies that shower our timeline. The workout is absolutely about power output, especially the rower, and providing ability to suffer is also adequate, will tend to favor those more powerful athlete’s in this sense. High level athletes will more than likely go unbroken here but for the rest breaking those repetitions up will be advised, especially on that near end with the 27’s and 21’s. If athlete’s have a reasonably well developed aerobic
engine and pacing is also on-point here the 15’s and 9’s could and should be UB and it is here that the ability to ‘suffer’ and fight through that lactate accumulation will be key. Those who have been training their lactic endurance and lactic capacity pieces PROPERLY will do well at the later stages on this one, and many that had the ability to grind through here reported feeling as bad as their ‘first ever Fran’ afterwards! If you have a coach/athlete relationship that use of the term ‘stop being a bitch’ is usable and productive then the last set of 15.5 might be the best place to use it out of all the open workouts! Breathing has been mentioned numerous times by coaches and as silly and obvious as it sounds this is absolutely critical as it is the efficient consumption of oxygen that will stave off and deal necessarily with any impending lactate accumulation.
Rowing: The row is all about the pull, so don’t be the guy that’s stroke rate is through the roof but pull is so weak it takes two to three strokes to burn one calorie. Efficiency is key here and breathing will be king. Longer/more powerful guy’s who are good at rowing will love this piece to the workout, smaller/less powerful guy’s will absolutely not. Again, the row is about power output so try to maintain breathing on the eccentric component of the row while maximizing power output on the pull, making it as long as possible, with a 2:1 eccentric/concentric work to rest working very well here.
Thrusters: Most folks will have a god idea where they fall on the max thrusters scale before going too far over threshold or redlining. How is your Fran? If you find going unbroken on Fran difficult then this will not be a workout you will be able to go UB on, even with the 2:1 work to rest on the rower. Yes higher level athlete’s will be able to do so but for most we would advise breaking up the higher sets of 27’s and possibly 21’s depending upon where you fall experience wise, and saving that ability to fight and grind through reps on the lower rep sets of 15 and 9. The beauty of this one is that, with the descending rep scheme, you can and will need to go there and with that amount of volume/time under tension blood lactate accumulation won’t be as intense as if you tried to blast through the 27’s unbroken. So save that fight for the end.
Because of the way this workout is presented and the fact you most definitely will have to ‘go there’ it is, alongside 15.1 and 15.1(a) a workout which will have a bigger impact nervous system wise compared to other’s but is still one that can be repeated, as almost all Open WODs are for those seeking to edge closer and closer to the top spots. However whether it’s worth it just from an absolute suckfest point of view is another question. Like most Open workouts we have utilized two attempts with the first an 80-90% effort, leaving some in the tank but giving us enough to think about, tinker with and strategize on for the repeat, and the second a true best attempt. This has worked extremely well and is also something I would advise most looking to seek improvement in future competitive workouts to utilize. We do not recommend the often touted ‘one and done’ approach for competitors simply because there is just SO much that can be learned, both about yourself but especially the finer technicalities of competition from repeating the Open workouts.
Warmup: For the warmup for this one you absolutely will have to ramp up the intensity before hand and be primed and ready to work. Any time we go from an aerobic power based workout into that nasty middle ground place and expect athletes to finish strong with a fast turnover near the end the inclusion of those energy systems is a must. With regard patterns we again see knee and hip flexion, overhead extension and upper body horizontal pulling on the rower so all patterns must be mobilized and activated in the general warmup piece.
Example:
1) Aerobic Primer: Rower (10-12mins at HR 130-150bpm)
2) General Mobility Warmup: 3 sets of 10-12/45-60secs of the following:
a) Knee touch (ankle mob)
b) Goblet Squat
c) Spiderman Lunge w/ Reach
d) Keg Stretch/Lat stretch
d) Wrist Rotations + Front Rack Mob
3) General Movement Warmup: 3 Rounds of 20secs on/10secs off:
a) Air Squat
b) Light Clean (or Burpee)
c) 2-4 x Light B-O-Row or strict Pullup
4) Specific Warmup, ramping up Intensity over 3 sets:
a) 6kCal Row/6 Thrusters @ 60% RPE, rest 60-90secs
b) 5kCal Row/5 Thrusters @ 70% RPE, rest 60-90secs
c) 4kCal Row/4 Thrusters @ workout pace, aim for 1kCal per pull
Rest 2-3mins and GO!!!
15.5 brings to an end the 2015 Open season and as usual CrossFit HQ have delivered another highly entertaining spectacle. The only significant change from a testing standpoint was the 1RM test in 15.1a, possibly the Clean weight in 15.4 also, only based off previous years weights, but overall another thorough test of aerobic power and, rightfully so this year, of more skilled gymnastics pieces as well. Going forward I definitely see this becoming the norm with the inclusion of the RX and now Scaled divisions, which have brought another welcome addition to the Open and one I hope proves to be a massive success.
Massive well done to everyone that’s taken part and used the Open to learn more about themselves and have fun. Best of luck to everyone hitting this one final time tomorrow before submitting scores before tomorrow evening’s deadline and it’s going to be amazing watching the progress of Ireland’s best CrossFitter’s over the next year towards next years Open and beyond!
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