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

25 Oct 2019

CrossFit Games Open 20.3

21-15-9 reps of:
Deadlifts,
Handstand push-ups

♀ 155 lb. ♂ 225 lb.

Then,
21-15-9 reps of:
Deadlifts
50-ft. handstand walk after each set

♀ 205 lb. ♂ 315 lb.

Time cap: 9 minutes

What is the CrossFit Games Open 20.3 workout?

20.3 is repeat of 18.4. It is the two part WOD of deadlift and HSPU/handstand walk.

The first part is popular CrossFit WOD Diane 21-15-9 of Deadlifts and HSPU and the second part is like Diane on steroids 21-15-9 of heavy deadlifts and 50-ft handstand walk in each round.

Thankfully, there is 9 minutes time cap which will stop almost everyone.

What is a good score to beat for the 20.3?

There is total of 165 reps, 90 reps for the first part and 75 reps for the second part.

We can see from the 2018 results that beginner have chosen to scale, average athlete finished with 60 reps (15s deadlifts done + 3 HSPU), advanced athlete was able to get through the first part but got stuck in the first set with 14 heavy deadlifts, competitor was able to get to the second set of heavy deadlifts with 4 heavy deadlifts in set of 15 and elite athletes should be able to finish it in time cap.

My 18.4 estimate for the top 5% was finishing in the round of 15s deadlifts which was little overkill, finishing 21s deadlifts with some handstand walk should be enough for the top 5%.

	WTC app	18.4
Beginner	35:38	7:30 scaled (20 percentile)
Average	21:13	60 reps (50 percentile)
Advanced	12:14	104 reps (87.5 percentile)
Competitor	10:13	130 reps (97.5 percentile)
Elite	8:43	8:24 (99.999 percentile)

Warm-up and strategy for the 20.3

I will give you just short tips for 20.3 but if you want to read deeper analysis of each movement and warm up for 20.3 then check the 18.4 article.

The strategy is about the same as for 18.4 but I decided to split sets even more to save a little more energy for 315 lbs deadlifts.

1st Deadlifts

Save your back during first deadlifts as your goal should be to do as many reps as you can with 315 lbs. Use belt and do small sets since the first round.

Based on my experience with 18.4, I would go for 7 sets of 3, 5 sets of 3 and 3 sets of 3 on 225 lbs deadlifts.

It may look like you will waste a lot of time with this approach. Yes, splitting and using belt may take extra ~30-45 seconds but you will easily catch that up by doing extra 3-6 reps with 315 lbs.

HSPU

Don’t rush in this WOD, small sets, huge kip and make every rep count (follow standards).

Adjust number of HSPU in each set to your HSPU skill. I think even sets of just 3 reps should be enough if you have your max set of kipping HSPU under 15 reps. On other hand, if you have over 25 reps as max set, you can go for 7-12 HSPU in one set.

By the way, push pace in rounds of 9s HSPU if you are not aiming for handstand walk.

2nd Deadlifts

If you get there, good job!

Your back should be tired but still ready for heavy weights and you should have at least 2-4 minutes left.

I would personally choose to continue with sets of 3, as going touch and go makes reps a little easier and also sets of 3 won’t be very taxing.

If you struggle with 315, go for singles but make sure you don’t rest much between sets, try to get to the pace where you have same rest between reps for all 21 reps.

On other way, if you lift heavy (over 500 lbs deadlift) and you saved your back with sets of 3 on 225 lbs then you can go nuts here and finish 315 in like 2 sets in each round.

Handstand Walk

Getting on handstand walks gives you amazing score!

50 feet is not much if you are good at handstand walks. Make sure you are relaxed and prepared for them, you don’t want to fail there.

Split handstand walks to 2-3 quick sets but if you are feeling good during the walk just finish them in 1 set.