Tag: 2020 CrossFit Games Open

20.4

Rest day yesterday. On Wednesday I setup an adjustable stand on my desk so I can go between sitting and standing. Also bought an anti fatigue mat. After only a few hours I could tell my back was fighting to get in a better position, so hopefully it helps in the long run. I didn’t stand at the desk today since I needed my legs for the Open workout. I was getting anxious about the workout, so I got to the gym pretty early for the 4pm.

Warm-up

I started with 3:00 on the Echo Bike for 28 cals. Then I did a ton of ankle mobility work to get them primed for pistols, including sitting on ankles, KB on a knee and driving the leg forward, air squats, Cossack squats, step-ups, deep stretch with one foot up on a box, etc. I think I did 5×45, 5×95, and 3×135 clean and jerks. Honestly, not a ton of warm-up needed for me because the first five minutes of the workout was going to be a great warm-up and I didn’t want to be going too fast there.

CrossFit Open Workout 20.4

  • 30 Box Jumps / Step-ups (24″)
  • 15 C&J (95#)
  • 30 Box Jumps / Step-ups
  • 15 C&J (135#)
  • 30 Box Jumps / Step-ups
  • 10 C&J (185#)
  • 30 Pistol Squats
  • 10 C&J (225#)
  • 30 Pistol Squats
  • 5 C&J (275#)
  • 30 Pistol Squats
  • 5 C&J (315#)

Step up and down every rep on the box. Then all singles with the barbell. Both would keep my heart rate under control through the first part of the workout. I had my belt on and tightened it for every set with the barbell. Since I wasn’t jumping, I wore lifting shoes to would help with the pistols. Knee sleeves on too, which I pulled up for the pistols.

Last night I came up with sort of a slow scenario that would still let me get up to the 275# bar, where I would just stop. I haven’t lifted that weight in a couple years and it wouldn’t be worth an attempt with how my back was just feeling last week. Here was the plan:

  • 1:30 Box
  • 1:30 C&J (3:00)
  • 1:30 Box (4:30)
  • 2:30 C&J (7:00)
  • 1:30 Box (8:30)
  • 3:00 C&J (11:30)
  • 2:30 Pistols (14:00)
  • 3:30 C&J (17:30)
  • 2:30 Pistols (20:00)

I got through 200 reps with a 18:27 tiebreak, so I finished the 225# C&J and the 2nd set of pistols like I hoped. 💥  I was ahead of my total pace at every point. Here are my splits (compared to plan) and total time (compared to plan).

  • 1:24 (0:06) – 1:24 (0:06
  • 1:23 (0:07) – 2:47 (0:13)
  • 1:41 (-0:11) – 4:28 (0:02)
  • 1:32 (0:58) – 6:00 (1:00)
  • 1:57 (-0:27) – 7:57 (0:33)
  • 2:02 (0:58) – 9:59 (1:31)
  • 2:20 (0:10) – 12:19 (1:41)
  • 4:42 (-1:12) – 17:01 (0:19)
  • 1:26 (1:04) – 18:27 (1:33)

I thought it felt like my step-ups got slower and they sure did. I gave back time during the 2nd and 3rd sets. Kind of crazy that the 95# cleans took 1:23 and the 135# took 1:32. The 25# plates bounce around so much it’s hard to pick the bar back up. I should have gone faster on the first set of pistols, but was trying to keep my heart rate under control before that 225 pounder. Those heavier cleans took much longer than expected, considering I handled all of the other weights well. I was trying to rest about 20 seconds between each rep there because I knew I was ahead and I didn’t want to miss a jerk.

That workout was a lot of fun. I was nervous about my back holding up, but it was good. My entire back side is really tight now though.

20-4-scorecard.jpeg

 

20.2

Another complete rest day yesterday and my legs were still pretty tight. At the 4pm class for the workout.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Echo Bike
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Dead Hang
  • Various DB Thrusters
  • 2:00 Echo Bike
  • Various DB Thrusters
  • 1:00 Echo Bike

CrossFit Games Open Workout 20.2

20:00 AMRAP

  • 4 DB Thrusters (50# DBs)
  • 6 Toes to Bars
  • 24 Double Unders

It’s a big surprise to see thrusters in week 2, but I’m so glad for the small sets if we have to use dumbbells. I feel like picking a good starting pace is important this week as well, so was hoping to do better than 20.1. Last night, 16 rounds seemed like a good goal, which would require a pace of 1:15 per round. Today, after seeing the leaderboards I decided to shoot for 18 rounds.

I did my early rounds and rested until 1:06 had passed for that round. I was feeling pretty good and doing 3-3 for all of my T2B. Then I missed some dubs, lost my rest, missed more dubs, was resting all over the place, and really fell off pace over the second half of the workout. Ended up with 15 + 32. Like week 1, it felt like the weight was affecting me more than it should have, making my T2B and double unders more tiring. I think I only did 3-4 rounds of dubs unbroken, which is not good for only 24 reps. It’s a good thing I broke the T2B too because the second set of three in my last two rounds turned into one of those where I had to reset and stopped my feet at the bottom.

My back was getting tight throughout the workout and I can really feel it afterwards. Definitely not doing it again. Less happy about my effort in this one because I started resting all over the place.

20.1

Yesterday I walked 18 holes. It was a beautiful day and now the weather is shifting tomorrow.

I’m curious how I’ll do this year in the Open. I didn’t do any special “Open prep” work, like the Thruster Attack program or additional gymnastics volume. I’ve been doing the engine builder work, but that’s since February, so not new. My training hasn’t been very consistent for the last couple of months either.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Dead Hang
  • PVC Passes
  • 2:00 Echo Bike
  • Snatches
  • C&J

Maybe could have done a better warm-up. 🤷🏻‍♂️

CrossFit Games Open Workout 20.1

10 Rounds

  • 8 Ground to Overhead (95#)
  • 10 Bar-facing Burpees

Last year for the three rounds of 10 snatches and 12 bar-facing burpees in 19.4 my rounds were 1:20, 1:32, and 1:30. Plus I had a pretty badly tweaked back which slowed me down. Based on the video. I estimated a quick round of this workout would be a little more than a minute with snatches. That was my big question though, to snatch or to clean and jerk?

I think going unbroken on the snatches is a trap for the majority of us. When I did 17.5 I split up my thrusters 5-4, so my plan was to do something similar with 4-4 today, and even 4 snatches + 4 c&j. The break helps to slow you down, which in needed in a workout like this. That rest for your grip is a huge help as well. Mixing up between snatches and c&j saves from taxing any specific muscle groups and breaks up the monotony of 80 reps.

My rounds were 1:11, 1:19, 1:22, 1:26, 1:40, 1:41, 1:51, 1:48, 1:51 and I ended up needing 7 more burpees to finish. So I did 9+11. I clipped the bar once with a foot and had to redo a burpee. I started out with 4 snatches and 4 c&j, which was working great. At some point I decided to give up on the snatches and do 2×4 c&j. If I had to guess it was in round 5, where I fell off 14 seconds. Then at some point I went to singles. Guessing it was when I dropped another 10 seconds in round 7. I think I did 1-3-1-1-2 in the 10th round and then 3 quick burpees.

My first four rounds took 5:18 and I don’t think I’d want to go much slower than that or there is no room to slow down the rest of the way. The next four rounds took 7:00, so if I can bring that down to the 6:00-6:30 range I’ll be solid. I mentally gave in for whatever reason. I can keep doing the two movements of four reps, which would be huge for my time. Pretty sure I’m going to give this one another try.

I checked WHOOP and my heart rate got up to 150 quickly and then stayed at 145-160.