The CrossFit Open 18.1 Tips To Help You Survive (PS- Fuck You Dave Castro)

It’s hheeerrrreeeeee!

That special time of the year that we all eagerly await.

That time that we train for the 47 other weeks out of the year.

The time that tests our grit, willpower and how much we truly love one another.

No- not election season nor Christmas.

It’s The CrossFit Open. And this year has started off with a doozy. I’ll spare you the hype and get right to the tips because I know you’ve got to find 20:00 to invest into this thing.

18.1

20:00 AMRAP

8 Toes to Bar

10 Hang Dumbbell Clean & Jerks 50/35#

14/12 Calories on the Rower

What Do I Do?!

Relax.

The rounds are short but the total time to complete them all is long. (Dave, when are you going to quit playing games with my heart? And my mind.)

Also your forearms are going to be so pumped Popeye is going to need some extra spinach.

So here’s how we do this:

• Make sure you have the right set up. Complete T2B facing out so as soon as you come off you can take a few steps toward dumbbell and go. And then step right over to your rower.
• Approach Round 1 at 75-80% of your maximum effort. After Round 1 glance at the clock and see how long it took. Try to maintain this pace for the first 15:00ish minutes and then really push yourself for the last 3:00-5:00

On Your Toes to Bar

• Try to go unbroken if you can
• If you have to break it up then try to do so with larger set being first as in 6 and then 2 or 5 and then 3. The reason being because you want to save your forearms as much as possible before picking up the dumbbell

On Your Hand Dumbbell Clean and Jerks

• Make sure to stand up before dipping and going into your clean
• 2 options for placement
  1. In between your legs
  2. By your side
• Just as if you are holding a barbell dip keeping your chest up and make sure to fully extend and high pull your dumbbell to get it to your shoulder (instead of swinging it out like a kettlebell which is going to 1. take longer and 2. tax your grip)
• You could also hook grip (heads up- make sure your thumb nails are short)
• Receive the dumbbell on your shoulder with bent knees and go straight into the jerk (you can also get it overhead via a strict press, push press or split jerk)
• Make sure you stand up with DB overhead for rep to count
• The DB must touch your shoulder on the way up- not on the way down

On Your Row

• Gooooooo! Even if you are moving slow you’re still getting closer to those calories
• Don’t grip the handle too tightly
• Use your legs as much as possible and be efficient (ahem- if rowing isn’t your forte then check out these 5 tips to become a more efficient rower)

Overall

• PACE. You want to move quickly but not so quickly that you will gas out. 20:00 is a long time to give your all
• If you need to break something up let it be the T2B
• Try to make sure you are using the dip from the catch on you clean to go right into your jerk- just as if you were cycling a barbell
• Make your goal getting on the rower
• Have fun! If you find that you’re stressing out then take some time to consider why you are doing it and whether or not it’s worth it. At the end of the day no one is dying (I mean it’s 20:00 so we might see some close calls but you get what I’m saying). So while sure- it’s important know that it’s okay if what’s-their-face gets a few more reps