17.1 – Strategy of Amateur Athlete to Reach Top 5% in CrossFit Open 2017

24 Feb 2017

Find out my personal strategy for CrossFit Games Open workout 17.1 to reach top 5% worldwide!

CrossFit Games Open Workout 17.1 is …

Open 17.1

For time:
10 dumbbell snatches
15 burpee box jump-overs
20 dumbbell snatches
15 burpee box jump-overs
30 dumbbell snatches
15 burpee box jump-overs
40 dumbbell snatches
15 burpee box jump-overs
50 dumbbell snatches
15 burpee box jump-overs

Men use 50-lb. dumbbell and 24-in. box

Time cap: 20 minutes

CrossFit Games Open 2017 is finally here! And it is time to improve last year scores.

I am not 100% sure if I can improve my last year scores as I ended up in top 1.3% worldwide (I didn’t excepted so good result) and I also switched from training 5-6 times per week to only 3-4 times per week. New job and less free time doesn’t allow me to workout as much as I did before but I am still doing CrossFit on weekly basis to improve my overall fitness and stay healthy.

I hope that this year I will be able to finish in top 5% worldwide and maybe beat my last year result.

Let me show you how I will approach 17.1 to get into top 5% worldwide!

What is good time to beat in 17.1?

According to WOD Time Calculator good time to beat is 16:32 and that should be enough for top 20% athletes. As I want to reach top 5% I will aim for slightly better time of 14:00 or faster.

My strategy to hit top 5% in workout 17.1

I was so afraid of dumbbells but at the end Dave gave us dumbbell snatches which is my only favourite movement with the dumbbells!

Correct 17.1 strategy is all about pacing, you should have same pace throughout the workout. There is no reason to start fast and slow down after each round because it will make your overall time worse. Only time when you should push the pace is for last ~20 dumbbell snatches and 15 burpee box jump overs.

Dumbbell snatches

– They have to be alternating!
– If you are strong enough do muscle snatches as weight is relatively light and power snatch will slow you a lot.
– Steady pace, don’t rush! This applies especially to sets of 30,40 and 50.

Burpee Box Jump Overs

– You have to face the box and use two-foot take off.
– But there are no requirements on how you have to move on the top and how you have to get down.
– Don’t stand tall on top of the box as it is extra movement you can easily avoid.
– Stepping down will be also better as you want slower pace so you don’t need to slow down in later rounds.
– Step up from bottom position of burpees (check Vellner vs Fikowski), there is no need to jump them and rush.
– Don’t forget there are only 15 of them in each round, start with burpees immediately after last snatch.
– Go nuts in the last round! You can shave off about 15-30 seconds if you do last 15 burpees as quickly as possible.

Conclusions

17.1 is all about pacing, start slowly and hold that pace until end without resting between movements. Muscle snatches! Step down from the box! Push the pace during last ~20 snatches and during last set of burpees! I bet you will easily beat 15 minute mark if you have aerobic capacity for that!

Let me know if this strategy worked for you and don’t forget to return next week to find out strategy of next workout!