Think you have what it takes to compete in this summer’s CrossFit Games? With the first workout of the CrossFit Games Open out on the table, we talked to a coach about the best way to tackle the sadistic mix of burpees and snatches.
If you’re one of the 120,000 CrossFitters registered for the 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open, we’re guessing you not-so-patiently waited in front of your computer last night, pressing refresh and stressing over what the first WOD would look like.
And then the workout was released.
17-minute AMRAP of:
40 Burpees
75-pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135-pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165-pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 Burpees
210-pound Snatch, as many reps as possible
Burpees and snatches? All we had to say was…holy $%#@&!!. But for a more expert opinion, we caught up with JP Perelmutter, head coach and owner of BRICK LA and BRICK NYC (opening summer 2013) to get his take on this particular WOD.
“I was surprised that the very first WOD of the Open was so intense,” he noted. “This sort of WOD will challenge even the fittest of athletes, as it calls for strength and conditioning thresholds to be pushed to the extremes.”
And that’s exactly what we saw during the CrossFit Games Open announcement last night, when two top CrossFit Games competitors Scott Panchik and Dan Bailey battled it out over workout 13.1. After an intense 17 minutes, Panchik defeated Bailey, completing 194 repetitions over Bailey’s 190 reps. (If you missed the face-off, you can catch it here).
Don’t think you’ll come anywhere close to 190 reps? We also hit up Perelmutter for a solid plan of attack to use in conquering the first WOD of the Open. He gave us these pointers:
Athletes with a solid endurance and strength foundation should pace their burpees and keep that pace throughout. Keep a 2-3 second count per burpee, and stick to it. It shouldn’t take you more than 2 minutes to complete 40 burpees.
As for the snatches, do the first 75-pound load in 2 sets of 15. If you make it to the 135-pound load, break that down into 10 sets of 3. And if you make it past that, I’d suggest dropping the reps down to singles.
Whatever you do, do not go to failure during this WOD. It’s hard to recover and press on after failing.
CrossFitters will have until Sunday, March 10 at 5 PM PST to perform this workout and submit their scores. See the full WOD details. And if you haven’t registered for the Open yet, don’t worry. There’s still time. Visit games.crossfit.com to sign up and stay up to speed on the four remaining Open workouts.
