17.5 Tips and Strategy

Thursday/Friday Preparation

  1. Calves/feet, quads
  2. Shoulders.
  3. Low back, hips

Pre-wod

  1. QUADS + CALVES: Make sure calves are stretched/warm but not over done. Take care of any lingering stickiness in your quads.
  2. SHOULDERS. If you have shoulder issues and EVEN if you don't, please do the FULL activation series of Crossover Symmetry. This will go a long way to making sure you don't overcompensate with improper sequencing when fatigued. Add basic swings, pushing, and pulling to continue warming them up.
  3. Perform any lower body maintenance as needed.
  4. Perform warm-up as listed below.

Warm-up

ISO-STATIC
3x 10s on/off Handstand Hold (utilize narrow, regular, and wide grip)
3x 10s on/off squat hold at deepest point of tension, regular stancee
3x 10s on/off Hip bridge with left leg extended
3x 10s on/off Hip bridge with right leg extended

DYNAMIC
10x Single leg hop left
10x Single leg hop right
3x Narrow-regular-wide-regular narrow air squats
10x Bodyweight air thruster

Primer

1 Round
FAST: 4 Smooth thruster @ workout weight + 10 Double-unders
45s easy: Walking lunges

1 Round
FAST: 10 Double-unders + 5 smooth thruster
45s easy: Inchworms

Rest 3-5 mins, then CRUSH 17.4!

Strateg5

RX + Scaled

Although somewhat a joke, the post by Josh Bridges sums this one up pretty well! This one is really the hardest to strategize, because of its simplicity.

However, in general. the goal should be, as always, plan an attack with full understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.

Did the workout. This is what I figured out! Glad the @crossfitgames open is done with! #timetopay #payhim

A post shared by Josh Bridges (@bridgesj3) on

If you excel at thrusters at this weight, I would suggest unbroken. This will allow you to buy alot of time to breathe into DUs. The downside to this is the potential of the thruster creating too much fatigue and causing you to reach your lactate threshold too soon. So if you're DUs aren't solid, there is a higher chance of tripping.

Luckily, even tripping once or twice isn't the end of the world, but it can definitely ruin workouts by creating frustration and disrupting rhythm. So, if your DUs are subpar...

Break the thrusters up into 2 quick sets, and focus on nailing those DUs while staying calm.

At the end of the day, this WOD becomes about managing your transition times, and making sure you are moving smooth throughout. Count breaths throughout the workout during transitions to manage how long you rest. Now here are some specific movement tips:

Thruster: Make sure the bar is not slamming on your shoulders on the descent. This can create sub-optimal positioning on the front squat, making the next thruster extremely difficult.

Keep the chest tall throughout the thruster, and stay calm and steady throughout the movement.

Double-unders: RELAX. Tension and frustration are your enemy here. If you were here last week for when Taylor & I talked about DU breathing and rhythm, you should be golden (see: Paige).

Work on keeping the shoulders relaxed, and create the spin from the wrist ONLY. Breath is extremely important, so be sure to manage that the entire way through.

Good luck to everyone on the final workout of the 2017 Open! 

Frank Nguyen