Open 18.1 Thoughts & Strategy
Open Athletes - if you haven't already, please watch the 18.1 standards video below, and read the workout details here on the CrossFit Games website. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page with movement standards and expectations (both Rx and scaled) prior to every athlete and judge starting their workout/heat.
You'll also need to enter your score on the CrossFit Games website before the submission deadline at 5pm on Monday. You can still register for the Open up until the 18.1 submission deadline, so if you do the workout this weekend and decide to enter afterwards make sure to have someone judge you so you have an official score.
As we've covered previously in this post here, we'll be running the Open Workout ("18.1") during rolling heats in all of our Saturday morning classes. Please sign-up for class in advance and plan on doing the workout AND judging another athlete while in the gym (no, you do not have to be a certified judge who has taken the judges course... that is only required if you're judging an aspiring Regionals or Masters Qualifier athlete).
For those new to Arena Ready please note that these Saturday morning classes will be very different from our usual protocol. The warm-up will be self-directed and written on the board in AR North for you to follow. Please plan on showing up 10-15 minutes early for class if possible, so that you can sign-up for a heat time when you arrive and get yourself situated for warming-up. Among other things, you're going to want to get your shoulders & lats nice and warm, your dumbbell mechanics dialed-in, and your hamstrings primed (i.e. mobilized) to make it easier to get your feet to the bar.
18.1 is a great 20-minute AMRAP triplet designed to keep just about everyone moving for the entirety of the workout, both in the Rx and scaled versions (relatively small rep sets for each movement, relatively light loading, and not terribly complex in skill requirements). Strategy is not all that complicated -- you mostly need to know your strengths and weaknesses among the three movements, keep the transitions between movements disciplined and quick, and pick a rep scheme and row pacing that suits your capacity.
Toes-to-Bar
Are you a toes-to-bar ninja and have lots of capacity with the movement? Then go unbroken from the start to limit accumulating rest periods (very costly for higher level competitors), and try to hang on (pun intended) to an unbroken scheme for as long as possible. If you feel the grip starting to strain at some point then one break in the set is the way to go (think 5-3 or 4-4), keeping your rest periods "strict" (e.g. count to three and jump back up immediately).
Are you decent at toes-to-bar but don't consider the movement a strength of yours? Then break up the sets of 8 from the start with a rep scheme appropriate for your capacity (5-3 or 4-4 if you're pretty darn good, 3-3-2 if you know you're going to fade a little, or 2-2-2-2 if you know you need to be methodical about it from the beginning). The breaking of the set will feel silly in the first round but trust the strategy -- it will pay dividends in the second half of the workout. Don't forget that the toes-to-bar will be the "grippiest" part of this grippy workout for most people, so quick breaks here are much smarter than breaking on the dumbbell.
Those of you who need to do the toes-to-bar in singles already know who you are. Don't be shy about it, just keep chipping away with those singles and stay focused (it's a 20 minute workout so you're going to rack up a bunch of rounds when it's all over... don't get discouraged early!). If you can do even 1 rep of toes-to-bar safely we recommend you spend as much time as you need to getting that 1 rep, or first several, at Rx -- and if at some point it's clear that no additional reps are going to happen (or that you've had enough valiant attempts at that first one to no avail) you can continue on with the scaled movement (hanging knee raise above hips) to continue progressing through the workout. Your Rx score would, of course, simply be recorded as the rep count at the point that you stopped doing full toes-to-bar -- but remember that just 1 rep at Rx beats even the highest scaled score in the world... so stick with it for as long as you're able!
Single Dumbbell Hang Clean & Jerk
First off, make sure you STAND THE DUMBBELL UP TO FULL EXTENSION with a quick pause at the top (i.e. standing to your full height) before you initiate the first hang clean -- otherwise that first clean is technically not from the hang. This movement will take a little practice simply to develop a bit of familiarity, so get in early and use a lighter dumbbell to dial-in the pattern and feel of the movement.
Don't think of this as a "clean" per se -- you should be doing the "clean" portion much like you would a (one-arm) kettlebell swing at the bottom... that is, DB between your legs & reaching behind you (chest comes forward), hinging at the hip to load the hamstrings, and driving the DB initially with the hips & legs as much as possible. Then it resembles a "hammer curl" to the shoulder -- but remember that most of the work must be done with the legs & hips, and not from the arm curl, otherwise your biceps are going to get smoked really quickly.
To get the dumbbell overhead you can technically use any shoulder-to-overhead movement you like (honestly, I'm not sure why the terminology they used is "jerk"), but the choice is pretty simple. If the weight is light to moderate for you, and you have good mobility and stability overhead, then use a push press. If it's a little heavy for you and/or you're a bit sketchy overhead, then use a re-dip to push jerk the DB overhead -- and make sure to stand up all the way with full lockout to complete the rep. Either way this requires a shoulder-width stance for most people, which means you should do the "clean" with more of a squat stance to make the transition overhead more efficient (i.e. no need to move your feet at all during consecutive reps).
Unless this weight is heavy for you, or mobility and/or fatigue is causing a potential movement safety issue, then try to do as many of these DB reps unbroken as possible. The "cost" on the grip is not as great here as it is on the toes-to-bar -- plus breaking the reps on the DB means you're going to have to put it all the way back down and pick it all the way back up again (causing lots of rest periods that you probably don't actually need if this weight is light for you). You're essentially creating an eccentric lowering and then a deadlift every time you set the DB down. If you do need a break and/or you're not comfortable with a mid-air switch of hands, then the place to get your quick break is to place the DB back on the ground when switching from one side to the other after 5 reps.
If you know you're going to need breaks to safely move through the workout, then remember the same idea we mention above for toes-to-bar -- this AMRAP is 20 minutes long and you're going to rack up some rounds no matter what. So keep chipping away patiently, be smart, move well, and do what you gotta do!
Row (Yay!)
For many of us we'll spend half of this workout on the rower, give or take. Which means that knowing your max sustainable rowing pace is key if you're going to get a good score relative to your individual capability (being fit and having a terrible strategy on pacing can render you a score much lower than you deserve). If you watched Sam Briggs and Kristen Holte do 18.1 at the big announcement you saw Holte go out hot because she knew she couldn't hang with Briggs on the rower -- so she essentially tried to get ahead and then hold on as best she could. Since both athletes are incredibly fit & strong the toes-to-bar and DB movements would basically be unbroken for both of them the entire way -- leaving no option to gain ground other than in transitions and on the rower. In the end the better, more efficient rower (Briggs) caught up and eventually passed the early leader by holding basically the same pace from first round until final round. And not because she was a bigger or stronger athlete on the rower -- she simply rowed better, with better technique (thus less suffering) and better pacing.
Now most of us are not competing at a Regional/Masters Qualifier/Games level, so while the Briggs-Holte example is not exactly analogous to us the main idea remains the same -- your row pace and ability to hold that pace (or even increase it in the last quarter of the workout) will have a big impact on your score, almost regardless of your capability on the other two movements.
So what pace do you use? Well hopefully you've paid attention to the Cal/Hour number on the monitor during any one of the hundreds of row for calories workouts you've done at Arena Ready. That's the BIG number in the middle of the screen -- you know, the one that's constantly changing, and often going down as you get more tired. Here's a nice chart that gives you the pacing lowdown:
I'll make it easy for you since we coaches basically know everyone's relative capacity on the rower (and on the other two movements). Highly competitive "Black level" AR athletes will be gunning for 10 total rounds or more. The "Red level" may generally be in the 7 to 8 round range, give or take one or two. The "Gray level" may likely be in that 5 to 7 round range, give or take, with Rx or Scaled dependent on the individual's proficiency with toes-to-bar. The "White level" athletes will likely span the range of 5 to 8 rounds if doing Scaled, with the exception of those who are determined to fight (safely) for an Rx score.
So take that approximate number of rounds and pretend we are doing a WOD at Arena Ready where you have to row 14/12 calories within a minute, and for that many rounds. Based on the table above, and knowing you'll have two other movements in the WOD (like we usually do in those types of workouts at our gym), what pace can you hold? How much time within this theoretical minute would you have as "rest" after finishing the 14/12 calorie row? That period could become your transition time back to toes-to-bar (or even starting the toes-to-bar for the fast people). We've done literally dozens of workouts like that -- maybe not for 8 or 10 rounds, but certainly for 5 or 6. That should give you a good idea of where to start when game planning for your pace.
And to answer the two common questions:
Yes, if you know how to sprint start on the rower I think you should do it (if you don't know what that is or how to do it then now is not the time to start by trying it for the first time in 18.1).
You should use the same setting on the flywheel that you always use when we row for calories. If you have no idea what that is then put it on 5.
The Universal MUSTS for EVERYONE Doing the Workout
1) Don't drop the dumbbell. Just don't do it. You could break your foot or toe, and you could break the dumbbell. And it just really makes things harder anyway -- if you're dropping the DB and then chasing it around you not only look like a tool, but it also means you're going far past your own ability to hold any kind of sustainable pace.
2) If even just ONE rep (or several) can be performed safely at Rx then you have the option of spending as much time as needed (up to 20 minutes!) getting as far along in the Rx workout sequence as you can with good mechanics and movement (e.g. you're being safe & smart while trying really, really, really hard). Remember that even an Rx score of 1 rep ranks higher than every scaled score in the world, so if you can safely fight for that one good rep it may be a battle worth fighting. If you're not officially entered in the Open then ask a coach on site to help you decide on a reasonable dumbbell weight for scaling the workout appropriately -- it doesn't necessarily need to be one of the exact weights listed by CrossFit HQ for the Open.
3) Be smart and move well. You know what that means, I don't have to explain that one to you. The weights will be here tomorrow... will you be?
4) Cheer for your fellow athletes, and be a good judge. We do things the right way at Arena Ready -- with integrity and to the standards of the competition. Our movement is clean, our technique is admirable, our effort is 100%, and our members know the difference between intent and accomplishment (e.g. giving your fellow athlete a respectful but deserved no-rep when they're working their ass off but simply didn't accomplish a valid rep). The spirit of the Open is amazing - there's nothing like the energy and positive family vibe of these 5 weeks. Many of your buddies will do things they never thought possible, some will fall short of what they wanted and be frustrated for a bit, and others will have experiences on both sides. But in the end this is our community, and our AR family, and we support each other in success and in failure... knowing that we're all just trying to get better every day.
GO TIME!
WOD For 02-24-18:
"Open 18.1"
AMRAP 20 Minutes:
8 Toes-to-Bar
10 Single Dumbbell Hang Clean & Jerk @ 50/35 lbs (5 Right THEN 5 Left, or vice versa)
14/12 Calorie Row
*The 18.1 Scaled Workout follows the same sequence but uses hanging knee raises in place of toes-to-bar and 35/20 pound dumbbells.