@kchorne It depends on your skill level. For me, it was more advantageous to hold on for all 8 snatches vs breaking them up. If you feel like you are unable to hold on to a barbell that long, then definitely break it to 4 & 4 but keep rest to a minimum.
In the end, will holding on for 8 make you red line? If so, break it up. No more than 2 sets. The goal here is a quick consistent pace without redlining.
I’m not confident enough in my snatches yet to do them at 65lbs yet, although the weight is light for me, but I’m decent enough with c&j, if it was a normal WoD and amrap for 15mins, or 10 RFT I would c&j, but it’s my first open so unsure!
@chasingvisions If you're unsure you can do the whole open on scaled and get a good baseline this way.
C&J can go fast if you have a good speed technique (land in quarter squat and directly launch the jerk from there) but overall snatches make your life easier if you can
@jpett This...I tried snatches, but I haven’t been in the gym for three weeks and didn’t want to destroy my shoulders. So I did 4 snatches, then 4 quick C&J landing in the half squat then bouncing it overhead.
@chasingvisions Good C&J's will take you further than poor snatches. If you can throw around 65lb C&J's, I would tell my athlete to go RX. I had an athlete this morning who was overly confident with their snatching and after 2 rounds went C&J. I would have rather seen them go C&J the entire time.
Do you think you can get through at least 6 rounds going RX with C&J?
Your forearms are under load the whole workout really so breaking the snatches 4+4 from the start really helps even out the pace.
For burpees, if you can, I recommend jump-down/step-up. Letting gravity do the work on the way down is not only faster but easier on the muscles overall! Remember to alternate legs in the step up
@jpett The snatches is person to person. For me it was the easiest part, if I had broken them up it would slowed me down too much.
That burpee strategy is also another solid move. The reason I step down and up is consistency. Towards the end I picked it up and did that. I’d rather conserve early then red line at the end than red line early.
A lot of it comes down to knowing how your body handles the different moves which takes time.
@musicforerunner You might wanna try out singles. You can cycle out touch and go snatches at 2.5-3seconds a rep but you can cycle out singles at 4-5 seconds a rep, and it doesn’t take nearly as much of a toll on your cardio or grip so yo only doing the up motion with the bar. My guess is you’ll save 12 seconds in the snatch motion by doing touch and go vs singles. But that most likely will make you gassed for the burpees and transition times. Not saying singles doesn’t make you tired at all; it does, just not nearly as much as touch and go. You won’t need nearly as much rest time before or after. If you can go touch and go the whole time without taking big breaks in between rounds, touch and go is probably more beneficial. If not, consider doing singles.
@deanabiepepler Correct, im not as strong and ended doing fast singles clean/jerks instead of touch and go, and I felt much faster on the burpees. Now I have to re do it with singles from the beginning
@ace_of_spades Jump down means you jump directly from standing to the pushup position in one move. You sort of throw your feet back and land on your arm.
Step up means you step back up one foot at a time. Jumping back up means redlining for most people (including me!) if you're doing this many burpees
@musicforerunner I’ve only been doing CrossFit for 5 months and about to attack my first Open! 40 yr old guy, short at only 5 ‘7 and weigh 65kg. For me the lifting is going to be the issue in 20.1. No way I can snatch. Even if I go scaled and clean & jerk I think I’m going to struggle. Any tips?!
@leandroluthfi First off, congrats on starting CrossFit! Welcome to the family! Also, I'm only 5'8 on a good day, I feel your pain.
If the prescribed scale is still too heavy, work with a coach at your gym to determine the right weight for you. This should be a light weight that you can move quickly (more than 2 sets it's too heavy as a rule of thumb). If it's 45lbs, grab that 45lb barbell and own it!
Lastly, don't go in thinking you're going to struggle. Go in knowing you're going to be uncomfortable and that's okay. Best of luck and have fun!
@musicforerunner Thanks for the tips and warm welcome! I managed 20.1 with the scaled weight. Hit the time cap but managed 141 reps (7 rds + 15reps). Happy with that!!!
@nananreddy When it’s an AMRAP or x rounds for time with a time cap, you have to consider the wod like an emom. In this case not every minute on the minute but every 1:30, since 1:30x10 makes 15 minutes.
So if you want to finish the workout, you have to complete each round in 1:30 or less on average.
It’s wrong doing the first 3 rounds in 1:00 and the fall off a cliff doing the last 3 rounds in 2:00 each.
Grab a friend, make him take the times on each round or count how many seconds are left until 1:30 on each round.
This way you can know if you are on pace to finish it, and sprint on the last 2 rounds to shave some more seconds.
