The CrossFit Open 13.3 workout was:
12 minute AMRAP of:
150 walls balls
90 double unders
30 muscle ups
My initial response to this workout was: “we’ve done this one before, and it wasn’t too bad.”
This was a workout from last years CrossFit Open.
I kind of like wall balls, my double unders improved significantly, and muscle ups have become much easier since last year.
Because 12 minutes is a fairly long workout, there’s some strategy that goes into it.
Strategy
My strategy was to do two larger sets of wall balls, then switch to sets of 5 wall balls at a time until the end.
For double unders, I wanted to do 30, rest, 30, rest, 30, done.
And muscle ups, 2 at a time for as long as I could.
The Workout
When CrossFit Open 13.3 workout day came around, I was nervous. The butterflies were flying for sure.
I warmed up with my mobility, 800 meters of running, several wall balls, double unders, and muscle ups.
Butterflies were still flying around in my stomach, but that couldn’t stop me from crushing this workout.
I was warm, I was mentally prepared, I was ready. Oh, and I had a judge ready to go.
The judge asked if I was ready. I have him a thumbs up, and the clock started. 3-2-1-Go!
It was game on!
I started tossing the 20 pound wall ball towards the 10 foot mark on the wall.
I have a strict strategy that I follow during the wall ball movement.
-start by picking up the ball with hip crease below top of knees.
-drive through your heals to get the most of your thrust from your legs.
-when you toss the ball, lean back slightly to use chest muscles (pecs) over shoulder muscles (delts). The chest muscles are larger and stronger than the shoulder muscles.
-after the ball leaves your hands, immediately drop hands back to shoulder level. Over the time it takes to do 150 wall balls, your arms will get tired just leaving them outstretched above your head. Let’s avoid that.
-straighten legs into your best resting position as the ball is in the air.
-wait in that position until the ball is about 1 foot away from your hands (coming down), then drop into your squat. Literally drop. This drop should be continued rest.
-catch the ball at shoulder level about 6 inches away from the bottom of your squat.
-when the weight of the ball hits your hands, apply muscle force to bounce off the bottom of your squat, and repeat.
My first set of wall balls got me to 30 reps. I took a 5 second break, and picked the ball back up for another 15 reps.
From reps 45-90 I did 5 reps at a time. When the ball hit the ground I took one breath, and picked the ball back up.
From reps 90-150 I did 6 reps at a time, via the advice of my judge. He said: “5 reps looks easy, try doing 6.” So I did..
The worst time during the wall balls was from reps 70-130. Those middle reps felt like they took forever! I just kept telling myself to pick up the ball, pick up the ball. Over and over. Then once I got to 130, I could almost taste the end of the wall balls. I knew it was almost done, and that gave me a renewed energy. Once I hit 150 reps, I turned around and saw that I finished the wall balls in just over 6 minutes. I was good with that pace.
It was time for the double unders… Double unders had been a hit or miss exercise for me during workouts. Sometimes they were clean and fast, and sometimes I could hardly do 5 in a row. I was unsure of what I’d get.
My goal was 30 double unders at a time. I started and got to 27 on my first set. That was a good start. I took about a 5 second break and started again. I got to 59 on the second set. Still feeling good, but knew this was the critical time. I started again, and got 5 reps. Crap! This wasn’t going to happen now. I started back up immediately. And I got to 90. Done!
Time for muscle ups.
I looked up at the clock, and realized that I had almost 4 minutes left. I was actually really surprised that I had that much time left.
I got up on the rings, and my judge said “3 reps.” So I went away from my plan, and did 3 reps. Then walked around, jumped back on the rings, and did 3 more reps (6 total). Last year I made it to 8 muscle ups, and I realized I was going to crush my old score. I felt new energy again and jumped back on the rings. 3 more reps (9 total). Must continue…
Rest
3 more reps (12)
Rest
2 more reps (15)
Rest
2 more reps (17)
Rest
Only 10 seconds left
Gotta get back on the rings
1 more rep (1)
Done!
I got 18 muscle ups.
10 more reps than I got last year. I was happy with that improvement.
This showed me the cardio that I’d been implementing was working. I never felt completely wrecked during the 13.3 like I felt during the first two workouts. It also showed me that I’d improved my wall balls, double unders, and muscle ups over the last year.
I was going to keep doing the extra cardio, and get ready for the last two CrossFit Open workouts.
If you missed the first or second CrossFit Open workout Experiences click here.
–CrossFit Open 13.1
–CrossFit Open 13.2
Stay tuned for the last two workouts.
