This year’s CrossFit Open kicked off on February 22, with WOD 18.1 and will continue through to March 26, ending with WOD 18.5. As each Open WOD is announced, I will be providing you with the same briefing I give the athletes at my gym, Precision CrossFit. This immediate feedback will arm you with valuable strategies and tips to help you make the most of your efforts and score your best possible performance in these WODs.
As I have always said, aiming for success in the Open is not just for top-tier athletes. It’s also a great way to build benchmarks and goals into your year-round training. Even if you are not going to go on to higher levels of competition, completing the Open WODs each year gives you performance data you can use to chart your progress and evaluate your programming going forward.
Now you’ve got one WOD under your belt. Hopefully, you’ve learned something. Be sure to evaluate your performance and aim to eliminate anything that might have gone poorly. Also, however, be proud of yourself for taking on this year’s Open. None of this is easy, but all of it is worthwhile.
Open WOD 18.2
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 reps for time of:
- Dumbbell squats
- Bar-facing burpees
(Men use 50-lb. dumbbells)
Workout 18.2a
- 1-rep-max clean
Time cap: 12 minutes to complete 18.2 AND 18.2a
The Rx dumbbell weights are 50 lbs. for men and 35 lbs. for women. Additional scalings, movement standards, and more are available on the official CrossFit Open 18.2 page.
How to Approach WOD 18.2
This is a great WOD because it tests three things: Capacity, Recovery, and Strength. And these are three things you need to succeed as a Crossfitter — and in life.
When you tackle the first part of this WOD, you’ll need to mentally prepare yourself to push through. Especially after about round eight, when you’ll really have to embrace the suck. In fact, in your warmup, be sure to not only do some of the burpees but also grab those dumbbells and get in a few good sets of the squats; in the WOD, you don’t want that load to be a surprise to your body. In some ways, you can look at the first part of the WOD as similar to 17.5, which was a total engine WOD.
Next, you need to find a good resting position for the dumbbells, something that works for you and taxes your grip the least. It’s critical you give your grip a break on the squats. if you don’t, at the end of part one your over-taxed grip will limit your clean.
As with most WODs, another key to success here is to minimize transition time — set up your workout area for maximum efficiency and the quickest possible transitions. You want to rank as high as possible, and a single second can put you up or down dozens, maybe even hundreds, of places. Try especially hard to do your squats unbroken; setting those dumbbells down to rest mid-set will kill your time.
Once you get to the cleans, you’ve got to assess yourself and your recovery before grabbing that bar. It’s going to be a very mental game, and the clock will likely feel like it’s running fast. Be sure to start with a “given” weight, something you’ll absolutely be able to do. That might be something around 60% of your 1RM. From there, you’ll be able to assess your condition and proceed.
In summary, this WOD is about three things that every Crossfitter needs and that I think are key to a good, fit life: capacity, recovery, and strength. How you do on this WOD will be a great way to assess your training and make adjustments going forward. So, take a look at my athlete briefing and good luck on this one!
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