18.5 Tips: Been There, Done That. But This Time Better

18.5 Tips: Been There, Done That. But This Time Better

This is IT, ladies and gentlemen! The 5 weeks of testing your fitness via the CrossFit Open is coming to a close. We have one. more. WOD.

 

And lo and behold, it’s a repeat. Not only a repeat of 11.6 but we also saw this exact WOD for 12.5. Depending on how long you’ve been doing this whole CrossFit thing then you might have done this before.  But regardless of your CrossFit veteran status, as a community we are faster, stronger, fitter and overall just plain better. Which means this year should see top times and PRs. How to make sure you have a good run? Read on for 18.5 tips!

 

At First Glance

 

Quick and to the point this WOD is Fran-esque in nature with the thrusters and pull-ups (although a more challenging variation). That and being a 7:00 AMRAP it’s like 2 Frans (if you have a Fran time around the 3:30 mark).

Your lungs are going to burn, your hands might rip (let’s not do that, okay?) and those 7:00 minutes are going to seem like 60.

 

You voted for this, people.

 

Previously BeyondTheWhiteboard.com had individuals in the:

  • 50th percentile in the round of 15s
  • 90th percentile was in the round of 18s
  • And the 99th percentile will be in the round of 21s

 

 

The Warm-up

Legs, overhead position, hips, that kip/butterfly rhythm. I like this one from ActiveLifeRX:

* a 1 1/4 thruster is down, half way up, back down, all the way up. Check out their post at the hyperlink for details.

 

If you have any special areas you need to focus on do that. That whole thing about the-shorter-the-WOD-the-longer-the-warmup really, REALLY applies here so make sure you’re sweaty.

 

The Set-up

Pretty simple here. Put your bar right in front of the right where you will be performing pull-ups. But of course, not so close that you run the risk of landing on it when you come off the rig from your pull-ups.

 

Go Time

Protect your hands. I know that rips are pretty much a rite of passage when you start CrossFit but let’s be real- they suck. They aren’t worth it. They f’ing hurt. You can’t shower. You can’t shake hands. It makes you prone to infection. You can’t live your life.

Are you going to The Games?

Regionals?

Exactly. Suit them up with grips, gloves or what have you and if you feel a rip coming on drop it like it’s hot.

 

This is a pretty quick workout but the ascending rep scheme means that athletes will have a tendency to go too hard right out of the gate. Don’t. Make sure you are moving at an efficient and speedy yet manageable pace.

 

Breathe. One technique for this on the thrusters is to inhale at the top of the rep when you’re fully locked out, hold it and exhale as you are pressing that weight back overhead. Mechanical and robotic.

 

You have room for exactly 0 no reps.

I repeat, you have room for exactly 0 no reps. That is wasted energy, effort and time. Also it’s mentally defeating. So make sure every single one of your reps count. If that means brief pauses or a slower pace so be it. But don’t hurry though a bunch of suspicious reps that will cause your judge to question the movement standards and no rep your ass.

 

Thrusters

For the sake of whatever higher power you believe in, squat clean that shit up.

You have 7 minutes and you do NOT have time to power clean it, adjust your feet, squat and press.

If you watched the announcement you may have noticed that Annie Thorisdottir wasn’t even standing all the way up on her clean. She was just standing up enough to pull the bar to her shoulders so that she could drop her hips below parallel for her rep to count before locking out overhead.

 

For RX Athletes

Chest to bar pull-ups

Kip, baby, kip. Actually butterfly if you can- way more efficient.

Whatever you do- let’s be smart.

If you can only link 3 pull-ups together don’t try to practice that 4th rep today. Yes- in the spirit of the open miracles happen. So maybe try for it once or twice. But if you aren’t getting it then stop risking it. Go with what your muscle memory knows because what was it that we talked about initially? Oh right- YOU HAVE 0 TIME FOR NO REPS!

 

For Scaled Athletes

Jumping chin over bar pull-ups

Make sure your arms are fully extended and use that jump!

 

For Masters

Chin over bar pull-ups.

Same suggestions for the C2Bs.

 

 

Takeaways

This is a quick and fun WOD for all levels regardless of ability or scaling so enjoy. It’s only 7:00 so make sure you give it your all. This should go without saying but no water breaks, make sure your shoes are tied, apply chalk when you are breathing- don’t take a breath to apply chalk, that kind of thing.

Thrusters and pull-ups are a CrossFit staple. Kind of like Georgia peaches, New York Pizza and things being bigger in Texas so regardless of your feelings towards the couplet you have to know that you will be seeing these 2 together again. Use 18.5 as just another opportunity to get comfortable with these 2 uncomfortable components and to prove to yourself that you are better than you were.