16.4

Was feeling pretty good about this one when it was announced. I’m fine with deadlifts, have grown to enjoy wall balls a bit, and I’ll take a rower any day.

Warm-up

• Crossover Symmetry Activation
• Bottom Squat Hold
• 3:00 Air Dyne
• 3×10 GHD Heel Drives
• Deadlifts
  • 10×45#
  • 5×135
  • 5×185
• Bar Hang

CrossFit Open Workout 16.4

13:00 AMRAP

• 55 Deadlifts (225#)
• 55 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
• 55 Row (calories)
• 55 Handstand Push-ups

My plan was:

• Start with 10s on deadlift with 15 seconds rest. Decrease if it got bad.
• Do 5 sets of 11 wall balls with 10 seconds of rest so it was similar to a Tabata.
• Hit about a 1,200 cal/hr pace on the rower.
• Doubles on HSPU.

I was really expecting the deadlifts to be a lot worse. I stuck to the plan and ended up with 4 sets of 10, then 8-7 to finish. Wall balls were right on plan as well with no problem. I felt more comfortable at 1,100 on the rower and kicked it in for the last 5 calories. Did 6 or so doubles on the wall and was feeling good so did a couple of triples. Then tried to do some quick singles or maybe even some doubles towards the end. Never failed a handstand push-up until the very last one I was trying to get in to beat the clock. I ended up with 27 handstand push-ups for a total rep count of 192 and a tiebreak time of 8:34. So much time to do the HSPU!!

Looking back I really think I over-paced this one. I could have gotten away with 10 second rests on the deadlifts and maybe 3 sets of 15 plus a set of 10 wall balls. I should have pushed the row to be a little uncomfortable too and got up on the wall quicker. I realistically think I could have been off the rower in under 8:00, which would give me another 2-4 HSPU probably. I really expected those deadlifts to get me a lot worse or the wall balls to add up after the deadlifts, but I didn’t have a problem with either one.

I was hoping to average 3:00 for the first 3 movements and had no trouble beating that. My rep goal was 185-195, which was in the 80-90 percentile from the early scoring, so I’m not disappointed at all. You just learn a lot the first time you do a workout. I’m already thinking next year I might just commit to doing every workout twice for a change and an interesting challenge. If they do introduce a 35-39 Masters division it would be fun to see how I rank with full effort and redoing workouts too. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I have to worry about making it into the Masters Qualifier. I’m far from that level.

One more workout this year!