Open 20.1 Thoughts & Strategy
Open Athletes - if you haven't already, please watch the 20.1 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 (including Open & Masters, Rx & Scaled) prior to every athlete and judge starting their workout/heat. This one is about as simple as it gets, so it should be smooth sailing for us.
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 20.1 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 ("20.1") 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, but if you’d like to become one you can find the Judges Course here).
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 for you to follow. Please plan on showing up 10 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 & hips nice and warm, your heart rate elevated, and your blood pumping so that you put yourself in a good position to crush this workout.
20.1 is a great 15-minute AMRAP couplet designed to be simple yet potentially brutal for those who can really rack-up the reps. Strategy is not all that complicated — you mostly need to know your goal, the pacing required to get you in the neighborhood of that goal, keep the transitions between movements disciplined and quick, and whatever you do, don’t go out too hot!
This workout is filled with traps - namely the first set of snatches and burpees. At top speed, many of us can complete one round of this workout in less than a minute without even sprinting. The weight is light, there are only ten burpees, and it’ll feel great in the first round… UNTIL… BAM! Red line. The goal of this workout is to move with purpose, but keep the red line at bay by intentionally keeping your rhythm steady (if not actually slow).
Ground to Overhead
This movement requires taking a barbell from ground to overhead in any fashion. That said, AR rules dictate that this be a movement with a name - while we admire creativity we dislike sloppy barbell movements, so please stick to one of the movements listed here: You can choose a clean to press, push press, push jerk, or split jerk, or you can snatch, or even split snatch (if you want to be like Zach “the Natural” a la 2013).
For elite level CrossFitters this is a very light workout, but for some of us this may be a heavier working weight, so please strategize accordingly:
Barbell is light. If this is less than 50% of your 1RM snatch, you’ll have the option to do these 8 ground to overheads as unbroken snatches, or to break them up strategically. We’d suggest considering 1-2 strategic breaks (sets of 4-4 or 3-3-2) even from the beginning.
Barbell is medium. If this is between 50-70% of your 1RM snatch, plan to break the reps up into sets of 2 or even singles out the gate, and consider using a clean & jerk instead of a snatch, particularly if you’re a burpee ninja. Be mindful of technique on the snatch because even though the weight is medium, inefficiency will lead to excess accumulated fatigue over many reps. The best technique for moving the weight is also the most efficient. It’s a win-win!
Barbell is heavy. If this is above 80% of your 1RM Snatch (and especially if it’s above 80% of your 1RM clean & jerk), you’ll likely need to approach this as a weightlifting workout interrupted by some recovery burpees. Do the ground to overheads as focused singles, paying attention to the time on the clock to give yourself time to properly recover between reps. At high percentages you’ll likely need at least 20 seconds between reps to keep your technique solid. In this case, try to find an AR coach to judge you, so that your form can also benefit from the practice.
Burpees
Burpees are a simple movement which are notorious for testing fitness at every level, from beginner to elite. Each burpee requires touching your thighs and chest to the ground perpendicular to the barbell with hands and feet inside the width of the plates. Next, you’ll need to stand up (this can be crawling up, a split step, or a jump up with both feet) and jump over the bar (both feet leave the ground simultaneously, and you can’t touch the barbell, or it’s a no-rep and you have to start over from prone). Please note: if you’re competing in the scaled division you can step over the bar.
The key here is to pick a realistic pace and stick to it (be disciplined to slow yourself down even while you’re still feeling fresh) in order to preserve your heart rate and keep moving at that steady pace into rounds 4, 5, 6, etc. If you participated in the burpee box jump EMOM a couple weeks ago, that’s not a bad proxy for how this workout might go if you’re not careful - an initial pace of 10 in 45 seconds could easily become 10 in two minutes in later rounds (same as going from 12 down to 5 in that EMOM). Go slower than you think (and breathe!) in the first 5 minutes, try to hold the pace (and breathe!) for the middle 8 minutes, and then assess whether you should hold or gradually accelerate the pace in the last 2 minutes.
Scores
Elite/Professional CrossFitters will complete this workout in less than 10 minutes (aka 1 minute per round).
Finishing this workout requires 10 rounds of 90 seconds each.
Most of us will be scoring this workout in rounds plus reps.
Don’t do your first round in a minute.
And don’t do your first round more than 10% faster than your goal score requires. Your performance will be best (and your fitness will hurt least) if you pace this such that each round takes roughly the same amount of time, but you can’t really go any faster without taking a break.
Volume & Intensity
Despite this being the Open, and especially for beginners and/or those who may not have been working out 3-5 times per week in the last 6-8 weeks, it’s important to go into this workout with a realistic expectation regarding volume (total reps) and intensity (how much you’re willing to burn).
Volume
Each round of this workout is 8 reps of ground to overhead and 10 burpees. While the volume of each round may not seem like a lot, they’ll add up quickly - 5 rounds, for example, represents 40 reps of ground to overhead and 50 burpees which could potentially be a lot if you haven’t been working out lately or if you’re new to the ground to overhead movement. If you’re concerned about volume, choose a number of reps that seems appropriate to you (in the neighborhood of 10% more reps than you’ve done at that weight in a day recently) and stop there even if you have time left on the clock.
Intensity
While this is the Open, if you haven’t been working out 3-5 times per week over the last 6-8 weeks (and really even if you have), please hold yourself to our usual standard of going only a bit harder than you’ve gone lately. Yes, this is a competition, but more importantly this is a single workout intended to be fun, and only the first workout of the rest of your life. Now that we’re doing the Open for a 10th consecutive year, we can say with confidence that going harder than you are currently prepared to go could end up having long-term consequences, and that’s pretty much not ever worth it. Use this as an opportunity to be inspired. Dig a little deeper than usual. But please also keep your wits about you.
Workout 20.1 begins in…
WOD for 10-12-19:
10 Rounds for Time (15 Min Cap):
8 Ground to Overhead @ 95/65 lbs.
10 Bar-facing Burpees