Friday, March 1st

WORKOUT 19.2 RX’D

Beginning on an 8-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

25 Toes to Bar 50 double-unders 15 squat cleans (weight #1)

25 toes-to-bars

50 double-unders 13 squat cleans (weight #2)

If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 Toes to Bar 50 double-unders 11 squat cleans (weight #3)

If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 Toes to Bar 50 double-unders 9 squat cleans (weight #4)

If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 Toes to Bar 50 double-unders 7 squat cleans (weight #5)

Stop at 20 minutes.

RX’D LOADING

Rx’d: (Ages 16-54) Men squat clean 135-185-225-275-315 lb.

Women squat clean 85-115-145-175-205 lb.

Masters 55+:

Men squat clean 115-135-155-185-205 lb.

Women squat clean 65-85-105-125-145 lb

WORKOUT 19.2 SCALED

Beginning on an 8-minute clock, complete as many reps as possible of:

25 hanging knee-raises

*50 single-unders 15 squat cleans (weight #1)

25 hanging knee-raises

*50 single-unders

13 squat cleans (weight #2)

If completed before 8 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 hanging knee-raises

*50 single-unders 11 squat cleans (weight #3)

If completed before 12 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 hanging knee-raises

*50 single-unders 9 squat cleans (weight #4)

If completed before 16 minutes, add 4 minutes to the clock and proceed to:

25 hanging knee-raises

*50 single-unders 7 squat cleans (weight #5)

Stop at 20 minutes.

SCALED LOADING AND VARIATIONS

Scaled: (Ages 16-54) Men squat clean 95-115-135-155-185 lb.

Women squat clean 55-75-95-115-135 lb.

Scaled Masters 55+:

*Men perform sit-ups, squat clean 65-85-105-125-145 lb.

*Women perform sit-ups, squat clean 45-65-75-85-105 lb.

With a very close resemblance to Open 16.2, this week we'll take on double-unders, toes to bar, and ascending weight squat cleans.

Thinking through three general buckets, we first have our Games athletes. Top scores of 2016 was Kara Webb finishing in the 15’s, and Ben Smith finishing in the 16’s. For Games-level athletes, this workout comes down to management of the barbell. The TTB and DU are the pacers, with the work being on the barbell. With 55 cleans in total, a disciplined approach in the beginning sets us up for success in the later rounds.

Our next bucket contains experienced competitors who are striving to finish the 3rd round, with big separations taking place with every extra single clean completed on the 4th barbell.

Our final bucket is for newer Open athletes. This may very well be a toes to bar workout for us, with 50 reps in the first four stations. A targeted goal here can be to come as close to finishing the second round as possible, effectively strategizing our efforts towards and AMRAP 8.

However, across all abilities, and across all divisions, there is a theme to our plan of attack:

We are not trying to put time in the bank.

This will be a common pitfall in 19.2 — trying to get ahead early.

Visualizing any given AMRAP, whether that be for 8:00, 12:00, 16:00 or 20 minutes, we would never come out guns blazing. We know that can only come back to bite us hard. Yet, the time windows in 19.2 can be deceptive. It creates a false sense of urgency in the beginning that tricks us into thinking that we need to get ahead of schedule. That we need to push our pace in these earlier rounds to have more time for the heavier cleans.

But it’s the opposite – we aren’t so much looking to maximize our time on the later rounds, as much as we are looking to maximize our ability there.

For the vast majority of athletes, we can identify, by beginning with the end in mind, the barbell that will bring the fight. The barbell that brings us to hard-earned, grinding singles. With the wrong approach, many athletes arrive to this bar wrecked, and unable to perform. This is where seconds disappear.

Our mission in 19.2, is to set ourselves up for success at this bar. Everything prior to it is in anticipation and preparation. Regardless if it’s the 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th barbell. We’re going to work hard to get there, but if we can begin with the end in mind, we can properly back plan our efforts to set ourselves up for our best performance. Let’s complete the exercise of self-evaluation, and take an educated guess as to which barbell we’ll find ourselves at in the finishing seconds. The plan may very well change on the move, but having a plan, is always better than no plan at all.

Looking at the individual movements, let’s move in order, starting with the toes to bar.

We have two parts to cover here: how big are our sets, and what’s our transitions like. On our sets, we want to break early, and often. Even Games level athletes want to strongly consider fast 5’s. Hanging on for larger sets increases the time under tension, and big sets lead to big breaks. A break off the bar can be short, and controlled… but that little brief moment off our forearms can go a long way with the larger picture in mind.

The second piece, is our transitions between sets. With fast 5’s or even fast 3’s, let’s practice our footwork. Drop, turn, set. Building this in as a methodical routine means we can turn our mind off, and just move. A controlled, manageable set, turn around, and complete the same. We aren’t looking to win the workout here, and we’re purely aiming for disciplined consistency. This drop, turn, set strategy can not only be applied to sets of multiples, but it can absolutely be applied to singles. This technique, with fast singles, can be an excellent plan for athletes who struggle with toes to bar. With a little bit of footwork practice, this can be a very fast cycle time. A warning however, is that is indeed more metabolic given the additional motion between. But, it is consistent.

Final mention here – grips versus tape. Knowing that we are transitioning to the jump rope immediately following, it may be best to consider taping the pull-up bar. If it were pull-ups, or bar muscle-ups, where there is far more rotation on the bar, hand tears would more of an issue. Here however, we are at a lower risk. And this can allow us to transition immediately without needing fumble with any grips.

Next is the jump rope. Much like the toes to bar, we recognize we aren’t trying to win the workout here. Staying relaxed and composed is the aim. After picking up the rope, give ourselves a moment of composure before beginning. When we finish, let’s be sure to set the rope down, versus the accidental bunch up that can cost us seconds in the next round.

Lastly, the cleans. Full warming and primers are listed in the CompTrain Pro write-up, but for a visual here, let’s focus on something very specific. Creating a systematical transition between repetitions, from the moment we drop the bar, all the way until we start the next rep. Similar to our toes to bar earlier, it’s a methodical process we can turn our mind off to, controlling our pace. Secondly, we can commonly find ourselves expending extra energy in a length setup. As we are hunched over the bar, we can’t breathe properly. It’s taxing. Practiced ahead of time, let’s dial in a setup routine that there’s no wasted time in the bottom. Stand tall and breathe between repetitions, and only bend down when it’s time to lift. It sounds simple, yet over dozens of setups, makes a significant difference.

Recognizing that our midline will be taxed in this workout, the second piece to cover here is maintaining connection to the bar. When we speak to maintaining connection, what we are striving to avoid, is allowing the bar to crash down onto us. With an already fatigued midsection, a sound and efficient catch in the squat is a must. As we move into our cleans, focus on lat engagement to keep the bar close and connected, and let’s go meet the bar in the catch position. Don’t wait for it, to come to you.

Lastly, seeing the inherent grip challenge 19.2 will bring, proper front rack positioning is a must. Most athletes will find that opening the hand in the catch will both improving the rack position with higher elbows, as well as relaxing the grip.

Breaking up these cleans is fairly straightforward for males. Quick singles from the onset is far and large the best approach for athletes. For competative females, sets on the first barbell may have merit, purely given how the barbell jumps about at this load. We may spend more time chasing the bar down, than if we were to hang on for steady sets of 3. Beyond that however, steady singles is the way to go.