CrossFit Open 2014
Five months to go. What are you doing to get ready? Here’s what you absolutely MUST be doing:
Increasing the amount of force you can produce (get strong), increasing the speed at which you can apply that force (get fast), increasing the amount of time over which you can apply force (gain endurance). If you work on all three, you will do better than you did last year.
Get Strong (improve how much force you can produce in 1RM)
Increase your C&J to at least the level of last year’s heaviest lift in your age group.
Increase your snatch to at least the level of last year’s heaviest lift in your age group.
Increase your thruster to at least the level of last year’s heaviest thruster in your age group.
Increase your deadlift to at least the level of last year’s heaviest thruster in your age group.
Increasing your max height box jump.
Increasing your max weight strict pullup.
Increasing your max weight burpee.
Increasing your 1RM in these movements does two things, first, it will give you 1 rep at the heavier weight, where 99% of the rest of the competitors get no rep. Second, it will make doing multiple reps at the lighter weights feel easier because you will be working farther and farther below your 1RM. How do you do this? Cycle through each of these movements one every other day, get warm by doing burpees and double unders, do 5 reps at 50% of your 1RM, do 3 reps at 75% of your 1RM, do 1 rep at 80% of your 1RM, then do 3 reps at or above 90% of your 1RM. That’s your strength workout for that day.
Get Fast (improve how quickly you can apply force)
Increase your cycle rate on thrusters, wall ball shots, and air squats.
Increase your cycle rate on pullups, T2B.
Increase your cycle rate on double unders.
Increase your cycle rate on burpees.
Increase your cycle rate on box jumps.
Increasing your cycle rate will allow you to go at 80% and not cross the red line. How do you do this? EMOM will become your friend. Find your 1 minute max (1MM) for each of these movements. After you’ve done your warmup for the strength portion described above, pick two of these, and do a couplet of EMOM. Do ten minutes alternating between the two movements where you do 40% of your 1MM as fast as possible (faster than your 1MM rate) For example, if you can do 20 burpees in a minute, you would do 8 burpees at lightning fast speed then rest the rest of the minute. If you can do 10 pullups in a minute, you would then do 4 pullups as fast as you can and then rest the rest of the minute.
THEN, after you’ve done this “warmup”, pick one of the strength movements from Get Strong, then EMOM do 10 sets of 2 reps at 40% of your 1RM with 25% accomodating resistance where you move the bar as fast as possible.
Gain Endurance
Kalsu, Cindy, Death by XXX, drag a sled
Do four different types of WODs that last from 10-30 minutes. Don’t try to finish these for numbers, put a time cap on and work until the time cap. There is no point in digging a hole any deeper than 30 minutes, and rarely is there any point in digging a hole deeper than 15 minutes.
The first is EMOM like Kalsu, (x burpees and then a big strength movement (e.g., thrusters)) or Air Forc (x burpees and then rotate through strength movements).
The second is a long triplet like Cindy where you alternate through body weight exercises for the whole time period. You simply cannot stop. This is endurance work. It is supposed to train your mind as much as your body to NEVER stop moving.
The third is the death by XXX approach, where you do 1 rep of a movement in the first minute, then 2 reps in the 2nd movement, and so on, until you can’t do the number of reps in that interval. Put a time cap of 30 minutes. If you finish all 30 movements, add weight.
The fourth is to load up the sled and pull it. Put on a weight that you can pull doing heel/toe walking for 15 minutes. When you can pull the sled for 15 minutes, add weight. DO NOT RUN, walk continuously.
So it’s simple, get strong, get fast, and keep moving without stopping.
WARNING
Exercising in general, and Training For The Open Are Inherently Dangerous Activities Where You May Be Seriously Injured Or Die. You should not depend on any information in this post for your personal safety or improvement. Your personal safety and improvement depends solely on your own good judgment, your own good choices, the quality and care of your equipment, and your abilities. There are no warranties, express or implied, that this approach is beneficial, or safe, or that the information in it is reliable. Your use of this post indicates your assumption of the risks inherent in exercising hard and is an acknowledgement of your sole responsibility for your own safety. The user of this approach assumes all risks and responsibilities associated with the practice described herein and absolves the publisher and author of blame for any accident, injury, or harm that may occur through use of this information. Those unfamiliar with the techniques and equipment required to perform any of the exercises described herein are advised to not perform these activities or to seek professional instruction. If you do these workouts in this way you are likely to throw up, may be injured, and may die. You expressly assume all the risks associated with using this information.
