2016 CrossFit Open WOD 16.2 Recap

There’s always that one Open workout with the crazy rep scheme.

Last two years, it was the overhead squats and pull-ups. We had to complete a certain amount of reps within the time limit to “earn” the “privilege” of continuing the workout.

This year, we had squat cleans, double unders, and toes to bar. The goal was to work fast so you could suffer more of the suck. 

This crazy ladder of ascending weight with descending reps isn’t terribly hard to explain in talking. Complete the reps within a four minute block and if you do you get four minutes more time to complete the next block. Keep going until you can’t complete your block within the given amount of time, or you reach 20 minutes. Whichever came first.

On paper though, it’s pretty crazy. Just look at the graphic below.

See what I mean?

The scaled version of this WOD used hanging knee raises for the T2B and single unders (skips) for the double unders. (If you’re unsure of some of these terms, click here) Also, the weight on the squat cleans was lighter (95/55, 115/75, 135/95, 155/115, 185/135).

Unlike workout 16.1, I knew going in to this one that I would be going fully scaled. My double unders are improving but 50 would still present a challenge, and the clean weight would’ve gotten heavy quickly.

I had worked on squat cleans only about twice before this 16.2 WOD. Seeing that I’m still working on my timing with cleans as far as my triple extension goes and pulling too early… trying to add in the squat was something I wasn’t too in a hurry to achieve. First… don’t pull too early. Second, hip extension aka give the bar a baby. Third, squat. I was still on step one. This will be interesting.

Side note, you could do a power clean with a front squat if you didn’t want to do a full squat clean. I figured this would be my method once I got to the 135 pound round.

After warming up I was ready to get after it. My goal was to make it past the third round, meaning through 15 squat cleans at 95 lbs, 13 at 115 lbs, and 11 squat cleans at 135. In terms of total reps, I wanted to get at least 264.

When the clock started I jumped up to the bar and began my 25 knee raises. I went unbroken on these and soon found myself at my jump rope for 50 single unders.

Bam. Went unbroken on those too! So far so good for this WOD.

Enter the barbell. A 95 lb squat clean in and of itself is not very tough. It’s made tougher with a slightly shot grip and elevated heart rate.

I stepped up to the bar and began my 15 reps. I completed 5 or 6 before I dropped the bar for a quick break.

Back on the bar, do a few more, stop and shake out the arms, then finish the set. I don’t remember my split time when I finished round one, but it was a decent time. Also, my squat cleans were decent to maybe even slightly above average. So far so good indeed!

Back to the rig for more knee raises. This time was definitely harder than the first. I broke this round into 13-12. Once I got to my rope I again got all 50 skips unbroken.

To the bar again I went.

Guys, this time was a lot worse than the first round, even though it was just 20 pounds heavier! I think breathing so much more now and grip being even more taxed… these squat cleans got spicy quick. I think I strung the first few reps before breaking into singles for the rest of the round.

You can see that I’ve got that premature pull going on here along with not enough hip extension. You can also see that my socks have leopard print on them which I needed to help channel my inner animal. Beast mode anyone? Roar!

When I started my third round I was absolutely feeling the suck. My grip was shot so I tried an alternating grip for my knee raises (one palm facing away from me, one palm facing towards me). I still had to drop from the bar a couple times before completing 25 reps. However, I am pleased to say that again I got all 50 single unders unbroken. Hooray for small victories.

From the get go this round I was going to do singles on the squat cleans. Don’t recall how much time I had to get through the cleans, but I remember thinking I had enough time to get my 11 reps before the clock struck 12 and I turned into a pumpkin.

You know how sometimes the same weight can feel lighter or heavier depending on everything else that’s going on in a workout? Well this 135 lbs on this day during this WOD was the HEAVIEST 135 lbs I’d ever cleaned. This may be a causality of the heavy (to me) cleans, but my squat cleans were actually half decent! Again, hooray for small victories.

Unfortunately, my out of control breathing and fatigued forearms got the best of me and I finished 3 reps shy of completing the round, giving me a total score of 261.

Man, so close!

I let those cleans get into my head. 135 lbs is a weight I can definitely manage. I was disappointed that I couldn’t pass the third round. I feel like the proper indication of my fitness level would be the fourth round. This is a workout I want to do again in the near future and make it into that fourth round. Actually… I think I will do it again soon! Stay tuned!

I don’t have any philosophical takeaways from this workout. This was a relatively fun workout – it presented the challenge of pushing hard enough to get to the next round while not pushing so hard that you blow yourself up and need to rest too much. When I repeat this beast I will probably go with the alternating grip from the start on the knee raises and get myself back to the bar quicker when I have to start doing singles on the cleans.

Two down, three more Open workouts to go. We haven’t had muscle ups yet. Or thrusters. Could those be coming next?

Your turn -> What’s the most confusing workout you’ve ever done? Tell me how your 16.2 went!