19.4 – Warm-Up and Strategy to get to the TOP 5% in CrossFit Open 2019

15 Mar 2019

Open 19.4
For time:

3 rounds of:
10 snatches 95/65 lbs
12 bar-facing burpees

Rest 3 minutes

Then, 3 rounds of:
10 bar muscle-ups
12 bar-facing burpees

The CrossFit Games Open WOD 19.4

The Open WOD with rest included? Why not. I love it!

Every athlete will have a very different experience with 19.4.

Beginners, average and advanced athletes without muscle ups will fight hard for the best time in the first part.
Average to advanced athletes with only a few muscle ups will take the first part slowly and then have a few tries on a bar.
Advanced with a lot of muscle ups will be smart about the first part and continue with the second part.
Elites will blaze through the first part as it is an easy warm-up and start working out in the second part.

Good time/score to beat for Open 19.4

In my opinion for the top 5%, you will need to finish or be close to finishing the second round of the second part.

You have to be great at bar muscle ups to reach this score. If you have a problem with bar muscle ups, you should fight for every extra rep you can do as each bar muscle up will move you a lot on the leaderboard.

Warm up for Open 19.4

The strategy for the top 5% will be to not rush too much during the first part so in this case there is no need to spend too much time with a warm up.

I would only focus on a little practice of bar muscle ups, small sets of touch and go power snatches and a few bar facing burpees. Some warm up like this should do the work:

Not For Time
4 rounds of:
1-2 Bar Muscle Ups
3 Power Snatches 95/65 lbs
5 Bar Facing Burpees

Strategy for the Open 19.4

The goal for the top 5% will be to don’t rush the first part.

It is not worth going all out (98-100%).

It is better to slow down a little to ~90% of your max effort and have time that will be ~20-30 seconds slower. This strategy should allow you to recover much more before the difficult second part and you could quickly catch that lost 20-30 seconds with a few extra bar muscle ups.

The First Part

As I said, you should go at 90% of your max effort pace. This means you should go hard in the first part, but you should not overextend the pace.

I think the correct pace is the one where your heart rate at the beginning of the second part is under 100 beats/minute even better if close to 80 beats/minute.

Power Snatches

Don’t go unbroken if your goal is to finish +20 bar muscle ups.

I would choose to do 5+5 even though the weight is easy.

Not going unbroken is part of the bigger plan of having the first part about 20-30 seconds slower which will allow you to score a slightly better score in the second part.

Bar Facing Burpees

As always, remember it is better to start slowly and finish quickly. The first round should be the slowest. You should speed up in the second round and sprint in the last round.

I would also definitely step up every burpee as it is allowed this year. Jump from the ground only during the sprint in the last round.

Rest

Enjoy the rest. Chalk up. Be ready on time.

The Second Part

Don’t overextend your pace during the first round, push in the second and if you make it to the last round give it all you got left.

Bar Muscle Ups

Don’t do bar muscle ups unbroken.

Split them more than you think. The first round after rest is going to be easy, but it is worth to not rush when the workout just started.

I would probably go for 3+3+2+2 while my max set of bar muscle ups is 12. If your max set of bar muscle ups is lower than 5, you may even consider doing singles.

You may mirror the set to 2+2+3+3 if you feel tired after burpees.

A little bit of extra energy from the first part should give you boost of a slightly faster recovery between those small sets.

Bar Facing Burpees

Choose a pace that is similar to the pace of the second round from the first part of the workout.

As you are resting a little longer on bar muscle ups, you should be able to make some extra time on burpees.