14.4 is Here! Time to Get Chippy
Another week, another CrossFit Open WOD and this one will be a doozy. It’s a Chipper and those are always brutal (think Filthy Fifty if you’re not sure what a chipper is like).
Having a little fun this morning playing with the main movements in 14.4
Please note that the tips and tricks below are just mine (Craig). Alan, Brian, Jackie, or Piper may have some other ideas … take them for what they are … my incoherent ramblings :).
14.4
14 Minutes
60 Calories (row)
50 Toes to Bar
40 Wall Balls 20 lb./14 lb.
30 Ground to Shoulder 135 lb./95 lb.
20 Muscle Ups (hahahahahahahaha)
Snobby Olympic Lifting Pet Peeve Alert
Don’t call it a %&#$ing clean if a squat isn’t required. There is no such thing in Olympic Weightlifting competitions called a Power Clean, Muscle Clean, Power Snatch, etc. Those are great for training but shit for comps. Call it what it is … “Ground to Shoulder”.
Bitchinees over.
Tips & Tricks
Trick:
When the coaches aren’t looking, fill out the judging sheet. Give yourself 210 reps (don’t get greedy) and then run away from the gym like a bat at out hell!
Tips:
Well, if you’re going to be all official and not cheat, here are a few takeaways from a morning playing with 14.4.
Where the Pain At?:
In your gripper.
Yes, your legs/hammies will be sore and work. Yes, your core will be sore and worked. Yes, it’s going to aerobically suck donkey balls … and so on.
But, really, think about it:
Row ~1000 meters. Hang from a bar for 50 T2Bs. Throw a Wall Ball 40 times. Then 30 Ground to Shoulders. Then, if you can, 20 Muscle Ups?!?!
Um, yeah, HELLO forearms and grip!
So, stretch/mobilize them. I plan to actually do the standing version of those stretches as I transition from movement to movement.
T2B:
Naturally, if you can kip these, do it. No big secret there. However, if you cannot, try to curl your legs to your chest and kick your feet to the bar. Most non-kippers that I see tend to keep their legs straight and swing them wide to the bar. That’s a lot of extra work and you get much heavier (i.e., harder on the shoulders and forearms to hold you on the bar) the farther your feet move away from your body.
Pacing:
Tough call here. Two scenarios come to mind after this morning:
1) You can do a muscle up or two.
If this is you, try and get to the MUs as fast as humanly possible. Why? Because I know I want to rest for a solid minute or two before I try to just get 1 or 2. Remember, this is, in essence, the tie-breaker for most of us. Go look at the score board. How many folks are breaking 180 (rep 181 is the first MU)?
2) You cannot do a muscle up.
If this is you, get through the row as quickly as you can (with good form, of course!). Then break the T2Bs up*. Try to do as many Wall Balls as possible with as few breaks as you can (this is the closest thing we have to a gripper break in this WOD).
Ground to Shoulders will be really hard, but doable, especially going 1, short rest, 1, etc. Multi-repping cleans is not like Deadlifts, in my opinion. I think it’s much harder because it’s easier to get into the wrong position at the bottom and with a clean, the start is so key to the lift.
*Breaking Up T2Bs
My plan, should I go this route, is to do 7 rounds of 6 T2Bs and 1 round of 8. The break between the rounds will be EXTREMELY short, as in, drop from the bar, shake out my arms, count to 2 or 3 and get my ass on the bar again. Just a thought.
Rest up. Stretch. Drink lots of water. Eat well. Have a great weekend and see you all Sunday!
