Mark Vácha's tips for Open Workout 22.1

Author Marek Vácha and RUFF training team

Since last night's announcement of the first open workout, the 2022 CrossFit season has officially begun. In the following article, we'll take a closer look at this WOD and share some tips that can help you to successfully complete it.

CrossFit Open WOD 22.1 is a triplet, so it is made up of a combination of three movements. The workout is as follows:

AMRAP x 15 min.

• 3x Wall Walks
• 12x Dumbbell Snatch @1x 22.5 / 15kg
• 15x Box Jump Overs

... so your goal is to complete as many rounds of this combination as possible within the 15 minute time window according to the prescribed standards.

Warm-up

Don't underestimate sufficient movement preparation before you start the workout. Count on the fact that an AMRAP lasting 15 minutes in this combination of exercises will be very demanding on the entire arm, including the brachial plexus, but also on the entire "posterior chain". With a sufficient and meaningful warm-up you can make the whole WOD much easier. Try to focus on these parts:

General Warm Up

Or the basic warm up, in this part we want to get the blood flowing, warm up the shoulders and the whole body. Ideal free will be about 10-15 minutes of low intensity movement on any machine (preferably Air Bike or Row).

Specific Warm Up

This will be the part of the warm-up directly dependent on our combination of exercises, the main goal of this part should be to get enough movement in the OH position (= overhead, i.e. the position where your arms are extended at ear level... like in Wall Walk), the hips for easier hip flexion when moving with the barbell, the calf area for Box Jump Overs and of course activation of the mid-body.

For example, a combination of the following exercises can be used to move the hips and OH position:

1-2 Sets

• 10/10x World's Greatest Stretch
• 10x Foam Roller T-Spine Stretch

After completing this section, I would recommend doing another 2-3 sets of this combination of exercises:

• 10-14x Dead March
• 5-7x Walking Inchworms + Push Ups
• 10-14x Lateral Hops
• 10-14x Hollow Rocks

Next should be the combination from our workout, here I would do the following:

1 Set @ an easy tempo, just to test the movements

• 1-3x Wall Walk
• 8x Dumbbell Snatch
• 12x Box Jump Overs

2 min break

2-3 Sets @game pace = the pace at which you want to workout

• 3x Wall Walk
• 12x Dumbbell Snatch @1x 22.5 / 15 kg
• 15x Box Jump Overs

30-60 sec pause between rounds

... after this part I would take a break for about 5 min and start the workout

Efficiency of movement patterns

If you want to do the above mentioned combination as well as possible, you undoubtedly have to think about the technique of each exercise. The more efficiently you can perform each exercise, the more energy you will save and at the same time avoid premature exhaustion of certain areas (we are talking mainly about the shoulders / triceps and the lower back area). Let's try to quickly go through each exercise and make a few points about each one that might help you be more efficient.

Wall Walks

= From lying down, lift through the knees, not the entire push-up = so keep your arms at the starting line, knees on the ground, then move your hips back towards the wall. In this position where your arms are already fully extended you want to take a big step and get both feet on the wall in turn, as high as possible. Only at this point begin to back up towards the wall, trying to keep your arms extended and your chest pushed forward between them as much as possible. Once you have reached the final position, the next step is to go backwards, here you want to get both hands on the starting strap and then "fall" to the ground in a controlled manner. Don't try to do a push-up again, firm up your middle and smoothly drop to the ground so you don't get too tired.

Dumbbell Snatch

= Here, ideally try to keep your back neutral throughout the entire workout. The less you bend over your lumbar area, the more you can spare it, and later on in Wall Walks, this can help you to maintain a solid center more easily.

So in terms of movement, you ideally want to go Muscle Snatch, i.e. don't jump under the barbell (this will save your quadriceps), keep a straight back (go much more hip back in hip flexion).

Box Jump Overs

= according to the rules, you need to jump from both feet at the same time and then descend from the box. For the box jump, ideally focus on keeping a low squat position and try not to stay on the box too long.

Mindset

Only you know best how you are doing. You may have seen the pace at which elite riders have ridden a given WOD, and let's be honest, getting to a score of 11 rounds+ in this combination is only possible for a handful of seriously fit individuals. So get your workout going at the right pace right from the start, fluidity and consistency wins here! It's nice to go the first few laps at a mega fast pace, but if you start to get stale around minute 6-7 and start to slow down, that was definitely not a good plan. Think about it, 15 minutes is a long time ... in my opinion, the most time you can definitely lose on Wall Walks once you start to get tired is easily 30 seconds or more per lap, plus just on this exercise. And then it makes a significant difference in the outcome.

So think about the fluidity and efficiency of the movements. Keep one pace throughout the entire workout, try to breathe smoothly and regularly in all positions. If you know that your performance is not at such a high level yet, don't be afraid to take one longer break between exercises in each round (a little longer than the others, but not one minute breaks) and ideally divide Box Jumps into two - three parts.

Finally, I'll throw in an approximate score for each performance group here, as it's good to have a goal and a "game plan":

ELITE + RX categories:

• 8 RDS = 1:52 s per lap
• 10 RDS = 1:30 s per lap
• 11 + RDS = 1:20 s per lap

INTERMEDIATE categories:

• 5 RDS = 3 min per lap
• 6 RDS = 2:30 min per bike
• 7 RDS = 2:08 min per bike

Good luck!

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