Jay and I thought it’d be nice to put together a strategy page for you all. This is the same style of info that we’ve given out for each of the Open workouts in the past, but since we now have so many of you eagerly anticipating the WOD, we thought it’d be nice to see it in writing. So without further ado, here you go:
Set-Up & Mid-WOD Tips:
1) Double knot your shoes
2) Use the hook grip!
3) DON’T let the bar bounce all over the place.
4) Place the rope back down neatly, don’t just throw it down in a hurry to get to the snatches. This is a 10-minute couplet so lungs will be a huge limiter.
5) Don’t go faster on the DU than your skill level allows. If you’ve been doing single-single-double or alternating lately then stick with that. This is NOT the day to try something new. Remember, ONLY the doubles count!
6) You WILL get frustrated, especially with the double unders. Take a breath, relax, and do your best. Make up time where you can
7) GET UNDER THE BAR before it starts to feel heavy.
8) Meet the standards. Full extension, under control at the top of the snatch. Rope passes under the foot twice for the DU.
9) Stay at your station, don’t be a chalk monster, and just relax.
10) Use your hips and LEGS on the snatch – don’t just pull with your back!
Pacing Strategy:
Treat this as 3 x 3:00 WODs.
Pacing for the first 3 minutes should feel like you can do this forever. Break DU’s before you need to. Break snatches well before you need
to so that perfect form (read: most efficient technique) and a moderate pace is maintained.
Pacing for the second 3 minutes should be tough but doable. The breaks are probably going to be the same as the first 3:00 but it’s going to feel like work. Breaks should still be before you need to, probably at the same places as the first round. You’ll want to take those breaks now where you may not have wanted to earlier.
The third 3 minutes should be where the forced breaks will happen sooner and more frequently than the discretionary ones earlier. This is going to be the most difficult set. You will be uncomfortable, getting back on the bar before you are really ready. Form will start to break down and you’ll be making excuses to chalk up and towel off. Concentrate on using your legs and relaxing for the DU’s.
“But Jay, that’s only 9 minutes! This is a 10:00 AMRAP!” Well, that unaccounted for minute is spent in one of 2 ways. You can use it as
a 30 sec break between the 3 minute rounds. Thirty seconds sounds like a lot, but that’s about how long you break in Fran. Alternatively, and the way I’ll use it, is as the last 60 seconds “hold on for dear life”. This will feel like the round of 15 in Fran. I personally expect to have to dig deep and fight the urge to stop and breathe. It will move past “uncomfortable” into “hurt”. Forearms, shoulders, back, hamstrings will all be screaming “STOP!” Even your midline will feel tired. But it’s only a minute- you can do anything for a minute- and when that minute is up you’ll know, I’ll know, we did our absolute best no matter what the score is.
That last minute is where champions reside.
