14.3 is upon us! You only get 8 minutes to get through this WOD...



14.3 is upon us! You only get 8 minutes to get through this WOD so movement efficiency and transitions are extremely important. Here are your tips and tricks to make 14.3 fly as smoothly as possible:

1. Set your station up so that you are toggling back and forth between your deadlift station and box jump station. It should be no more than a 180 degree turn and you’re ready to transition to your next movement.

2. Line (do not stack) your plates next to your bar in the order that they will be used.

3. An extra consideration for the boys to save on grip strength would be to use the smaller 35lbs women’s bar. You would simply load a 5lbs plate on the inside of the bar and then load the bar normally as you would a 45lbs men’s bar.

4. Mix grip the deadlift right out the gates to spare the forearms.

5. Have a belt nearby for when you feel the trunk start to go. This will help keep you together when fatigue starts to set in and spinal integrity starts to go. If you’ve never used a belt before, trying it in this workout may not be the best time to learn.

6. Depending on your capacity, start breaking up the deadlifts before you feel the back start to bow. For many, this could be as early as set 1 or 2. The goal is to keep away from the back barbecue. Once the back starts getting pumped out, you’ll start losing the ability to continue moving through the workout continuously.

7. I would actually advise against rebounding box jumps for the majority. Rebounding takes quite a bit of energy to cycle the rhythm down and up. We found during last year’s Open that, for the majority of our athletes, jumping up and stepping down or stepping up and stepping down kept a very similar pace to rebounding box jumps and allowed the athlete to spare energy towards the rest of the workout. To test for yourself, time yourself doing a set of 15 box jumps rebounding, 15 box jumps jumping up and stepping down, and 15 box jumps stepping up and stepping down. Take note of the time and energy cost of each set using this information to help create your strategy for 14.3.

#FuBarbell #CrossFitOpen2014 #crossfit