CrossFit Games 13.2 Strategy: The Greatest Hits

You’ve got a few days left to enter your score for the 2013 Crossfit Games Open workout 13.2.  There are a ton of different posts and videos on the web breaking down strategies for maximizing your score on these workouts. In an effort to beat my wife’s score I have dutifully read or watched every one of these tutorials (I also took the extra step of giving her a cold as a bit of insurance).  Based on my research here are the greatest hits:

1. Warmup
a. Warm Up for 30 minutes.
b. 10 minutes of generic warmup, including very light jumping.
c. Warm up the specific movements including going all out five times for a duration of 30-40 seconds. d. Cool down for five minutes prior to beginning the workout.

2. Shoulder To Overhead
a. push jerk from the beginning.
b. Keep your shoulders back/elbows out wide while in the front rack to ensure you can keep your chest open and get plenty of air into your lungs.
c. Keep a hand position which is wide enough to allow a seamless transition to the deadlift.

3. Deadlift
a. Do not release the bar when transitioning into the deadlift from the shoulder to overhead.
b. Move your hips to the bar, as opposed to leaning back and hinging only at the hips. Watch the video below for a demonstration from Kelly Starrett.

4. Box Jump
a. Word on the street is this is where this workout is won or lost…
b. There seems to be a pretty strong consensus that unless you’re a regionals level competitor, step-ups are the way to go as they are less likely to push your heart rate up early in the workout. For maximum speed with the step-up variation, step up then jump down.
c. Measure out 12 to 16 inches from the box and keep yourself within that range particularly as you fatigue to avoid having to shuffle forward to get into position.

 Sources

These tips were gleaned from a number of resources. I’ve posted links to the best sources below, with the links being vaguely in order of the most useful first.

I’ll call this the Super Friends video since it’s got the CrossFit All-Star cast (Diane Fu, Carl Paoli, Brian MacKenzie, and Kelly Starrett). There are good tips throughout but the first seven minutes are probably the best pound for pound.

The Outlaw Way’s tips spend a good deal of time talking about the box jumps.

The Outlaw Way – 13.2 Strategy And Tips

CrossFit HQ message boards. A good discussion on step-ups versus box jumps.

CrossFit – Competitions – 13.2 AMRAP tips and strategy