We’ve made it. It’s time for the last week of the 2017 Open and as many of you guessed, we get to see thrusters and double-unders. This week brings a workout that has only two movements and is for time.
10 rounds for time of:
9 thrusters, 95/65 lb.
35 double-unders
Watching the games athletes complete the workout, it looked like it was a matter of just going through the motions and came down to how many misses there were on the double-unders. Don’t be fooled, this is going to be a tough workout and will feel much worse than what it looked like on TV.
This workout begins with the thrusters. The rep quantity might look small, but these are going to get tough. To put it in perspective, this is the same weight that is done for Fran, but will have double the reps. The strategy for the thrusters will depend on the fitness level of each athlete. If you are a top finisher, try and go unbroken on the thrusters. For you, there shouldn’t be many breaks in this workout and if there are, you don’t want to waste excess energy by picking the bar back up off the ground. For the athlete that is in the middle of the pack, you probably aren’t going to be able to go unbroken on the thrusters for all of the sets, but you should be able for the first few sets. Try to stay unbroken as long as possible, just keep in mind that if you take breaks during the thrusters, make sure they are short.
After the thrusters, we move to the jump rope for double-unders. If you are proficient at double-unders, make sure to relax and use as little shoulders as possible. The goal here is to move the rope as much as possible with your wrists, not your shoulders, and go unbroken. If you struggle with double-unders, this can easily be the worst part of this workout. Obviously, you will want to do as many as possible without missing, but that is easier said that done. Double-unders get harder the more fatigued you get, so take those extra couple breaths before you start the double-unders to get as many as possible. Try and stay calm, even if you are missing, there are 350 double-unders to do and getting frustrated is just going to cause more misses.
Overall this workout is going to be different depending on your skill level. For the best athletes, this is going to be a painful workout that had very little breaks. Push hard and stay focused on the double-unders. For the middle of the pack athletes, do as many thrusters as possible without burning out and try to go unbroken on the double-unders. Just remember, when you are done, you are done with the 2017 Open, unless you are the lucky few to move on. Congratulations and good luck.