13.4 It's either 'Fran'ish, leftovers or a big fat combo - my predictions

WHAT are they doing to us? It seems The Crossfit Games Open WODs have almost been complete repeats from previous years. Let’s look at the pattern so far, find out what we’re missing and I’ll predict 13.4.

That's me during WOD 1

So far in 2013
All AMRAPS and all combination or repeat
WOD 1 - burpees and snatch ladder - a combination of 12.1 burpees and 12.2 snatch ladder
WOD 2 - chest to overhead, deadlifts and box jumps - a combination of 12.3 and 11.2
WOD 3 - Karen, double unders, muscle ups - a repeat of 12.4

What’s missing
Well we haven’t seen toes to bar, cleans and overhead squats or 12.5 which is basically a variation of Fran (chest to bar pullups and thrusters).
Therefore the only thing left for the Crossfit gods to do is to combine these leftovers with Fran for 13.4. Alternately we could do Fran one week and a killer of a chipper for the next.
Now remember the WOD has to be done in a relatively small area that can be filmed and judged easily.

Here’s my predictions it’s either a little bit Fran, leftovers or a combo
Fran rep ladder 7 min AMRAP
3-6-9-12...
Thruster 45/30kg (100/65lbs)
Chest to bar pull-up

Leftovers
12 cleans 60/35kg (135/75lbs)
10 overhead squats 60/35kg (135/75lbs)
9 toes to bar

Combo
3-6-9-12....
cleans 60/35kg (135/75lbs)
overhead squats 60/35kg (135/75lbs)
chest to bar pull-up


Check in to see what it is, I’ll give it a go and we’ll predict the final WOD.

13.3 Ball Rash get used to it

BALL rash is something the entire crossfit community will have to get used to after 13.3 and that’s exactly what I’ve got right now.
    Let’s have a look at 13.3, we’ll talk strategy and I’ll give it a go.

13.3 the WOD - also known as Karen plus
150 wall balls men: 9kg to 10ft, women: 6kg to 9ft
90 double unders
30 muscle ups

The breakdown and strategy 
Well this is basically a revisit of 12.4 start with 150 wall balls, make sure you're nice and warm before you start this so you can get to the right depth in the squat before throwing the ball up the wall. Next up find a way to break it down many people do it in 10s. For me I go 50(2x25), 40(2x20), 30(2x15), 20(2x10), then 10 which you just smash out of the way or if you're really exhausted (2x5). Try not to drop the ball ever and catch it in a position where you don't have to adjust it before squatting and throwing again. Now if you're lucky enough to get through your 150 wall balls it's onto the double unders, find your rhythm and breath through it break it down if you have to but just get them out of the way. Then muscle ups you champ, if you've done these before (ever) just find your focus, 3, 2, 1. Now the top competitors are likely to get past those muscle ups and into the next set of wall balls as we've seen in previous years. Also there's a good chance you wont give this WOD another go in a couple of days, you'll see what I mean. However I do think if I ever do Karen in a normal class I'll just chuck on 90 double unders, why not!

My turn
Alright, due to some interesting weekend scheduling (parties and visitors) I gave this a go on Friday. The wall balls I broke it down as I said above and this year, they felt pretty good. I probably shouldn't have used chalk to cross it off. But it did give me focus. I had a few no reps, mostly for not hitting the wall, but that's always been my problem. I also dropped the ball after no repping, wasting precious time. The height however was not a issue so much usually at Crossfit Northside we aim for 10ft so 9ft was a bit of a walk in the park. Next up the double unders last year I didn't even finish these, I was so out of breath. This year I got through them doing on average 9 at a time simply because I was pretty tired from Karen. I finished them with 21 seconds to spare. So just for shits and giggles I attempted a muscle up. As I reached my arms up to the rings I was surprised at how sore they were. I simply did not have the power to get up. Also it would have been a crossfit miracle if I completed one because I never have before.

That's me getting ready for wall balls!

One day later
My legs are soooo sore and I have ball rash on my forearms and neck. Classy I know.

Come back soon and I'll give a prediction for next week's WOD we're over the halfway mark. Do you think they'll give us 12.5's Fran style WOD?

13.3 last years recap and my prediction

I’ve used all my psychic powers of guestimation to come up with this week’s WOD. First off lets look at previous WOD 3s, recap the movements so far and have a look at what to expect tomorrow.

Previous WODs
WOD 3 2011 was a
5 min AMRAP (men - 165lbs/75kg women - 110/50kg)
squat clean
jerk

Well it's not going to have running in it!

Meanwhile 12.3 gave us
15 box jumps
12 push press
9 toes to bar

Patterns...
Where does that leave us?
    • These two are completely different  however we haven’t had any squat cleans or toes to bar.
    • Other movements we haven’t seen yet include - pull-ups, muscle-ups, double-unders, overhead squats and wall balls.
    • We also know last week the weight was relatively light so we can expect something heavier this week.
    • If we look at the crossfit main website they had clean and jerk on Monday, but none of the others I have written in this blog.
    • The WOD has to be done in a small space and all on camera so no running.
    • There will be simple standards so no push-ups and I don't think we'll get kettlebell swings. There may have been some alleged no-rep issues with some of the scores in 12.2 (but we wont look at that here, I merely suggest the top 200 competitors video submit or they have an extra level comp (say districts) to make sure the every rep ‘actually’ counts and we don’t see any duds go through to the next level)

My prediction...
7min AMRAP
double unders and squat cleans...
50 double unders
15 squat cleans 75/45kg
10 toes to bar

Good luck! Check back and I’ll let you know how I go in my own attempt in 13.3