Towing the line…

Coach Choice Warm Up

Preparation for:

CrossFit OPEN Workout 15.4:

Complete as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
3 handstand push-ups
3 cleans
6 handstand push-ups
3 cleans
9 handstand push-ups
3 cleans
12 handstand push-ups
6 cleans
15 handstand push-ups
6 cleans
18 handstand push-ups
6 cleans
21 handstand push-ups
9 cleans
Etc., adding 3 reps to the handstand push-up each round, and 3 reps to the clean every 3 rounds.

Men clean 185 lb.
Women clean 125 lb.

CrossFit says:
Prior to starting this workout each athlete will need to stand against the wall and measure and mark their foot line for the handstand push-ups (details to the left). At the call of “3-2-1 … go,” the athlete will kick up into a handstand and perform handstand push-ups. Once 3 handstand push-up reps are complete they will move to the barbell for 3 cleans, then back to the wall for 6 handstand push-ups, then 3 cleans, etc. Each round, the number of repetitions of the handstand push-ups will increase by 3. After every 3 rounds, the number of clean reps will increase by 3. Athletes will continue following this pattern for as many reps as possible within the 8 minutes.

Your score will be the total number of repetitions completed before the 8-minute time cap.

T’s Rant
Notice that:
– standing tall and reaching overhead while facing the wall influence your HSPU Mark.

Toes against the wall (keeping heels/hips within shoulder width) while standing “tall” and placing your arms overhead with your elbows fully extended & thumbs touching.   OK   This mark is a HUGE but appropriate STANDARD (but did they say where your hip had to be? – if not – you could choose to arch your spine and contort your body a bit more to potentially lessen your shoulder extension and distance to the tape/chalk mark.   Josh Bridges missed close to 20 HSPU’s in his open debut.  I think he didn’t kip enough early in the WOD and his hand placements widened throughout the time and he didn’t get optimal shoulder extension.  For us training in the future consider keeping your thumbs within your shoulder width.  Yes – they’re harder but you’ll gain more strength through a more appropriate (CF HSPU) range of motion – which will turnover to better ROM in your pushups and dips.  Also, watch how Scott did a couple leg pops (created some stretch reflex) at the bottom of his kips to help his efficiency while kipping to the required height at full inverted extension.  I’m not a fan of resting your butt against the wall but doing it here is allowed – so go ahead.  We can chat about efficiency, mechanics and balance in the near future.

The Clean – If you can keep your feet on the ground (rather than the jumping wide and stomping) and do the “soft sneak under” it’ll work to your advantage early in the workout by keeping your HR down.  After the halfway point expect that you’ll have to get lower towards a squat clean unless your power clean is normally a good 25% above the 185/125lb mark. Dropping it accurately like Scott did is a good idea for most to reserve energy and grip.  Grab those old hard bumper plates that don’t bounce around too much.

All in all a great CrossFit Games Workout for week 4.  Get ready for burpees (maybe coupled w/ box jumps) and varied weights of thrusters next week.  Just my 1st prediction.  Or there may be some pistols and a wod similar to FGB. Who knows. Get ready

Tbear