CrossFit Open Workout 22.2 | Pacing & Strategy Guide

ZOAR Competition Guide

What does it cover?

Movement Standards

Don’t overlook the workout’s movements standards.

Even if you have been doing this fitness thing for a long time, sometimes tweaks in the rules can make your attempt invalid, which can be devastating to your place on the leaderboard…and your season.

Noteworthy Standard 1: Bar-Facing Burpee Footwork

The Bar-Facing Burpee does not requires a two foot take-off, but the athlete does still have to jump.

Noteworthy Standard 2: Burpee Line

Make sure you put a line perpendicular to your deadlift barbell. Your feet and hands must be on opposite sides of that line at the initiation of each burpee rep.

Noteworthy Standard 3: No Gymnastics Grips

Gymnastics grips are not permitted to be worn in this workout.

Noteworthy Standard 4: Workout Start Position

Start the workout at the end the collar of your barbell, facing it during the clock countdown.

Noteworthy Standard 5: Touching the Barbell in the Burpee

Touching the bar in the burpee at any point is a no-rep, which means the entire rep must be completed again.

22.2 Standards & Scorecard PDF

Filming & Judging

You need to take time prior to when you walk into the gym to figure out the logistics of filming and judging.

First, reach out to someone at your gym or a friend and ask them to judge you, and to meet you at a specific time. Don’t just show up at the gym and hope someone is there. Pick a friend who is reliable, knows the standards and will project their voice so you can hear them.

Second, make sure you have the scorecard printed to give to your judge when you meet them.

Third, talk with your judge and give them permission to hold you to the standards.

Fourth, prior to starting your warm-up, setup your equipment and a clock where you plan on using it. Set up your camera making sure all stations are in frame with some extra space on the sides.

Put it on airplane mode; don’t let a spam phone call ruin your attempt. Make a mental note of where the edges are the frame are and make sure to avoid walking past that during transitions and rest during the workout.

Also, film your rehearsal.

Then during your rest prior to starting your test, review it to double check all movements are in frame and that you can clearly see movement standards are being met.

Lastly, before submitting a video watch it through to make sure reps were counted correctly, and that the video is quality enough to be judged online.

Even if you don’t plan on qualifying for the next stage in the competition, videos serve as an important resource as to How to Improve on a ReTest.

Live Announcement Lessons

The first thing to keep in mind is that you (probably) aren’t an elite athlete. The high pace that these athletes were able to hold is completely unrealistic for the everyday CrossFit athlete. Chances are your cycle speed and muscular endurance aren’t at that level.

I would suggest watching the best athletes at your gym take on this workout rather than the elites. This will help bring your expectations back into reality.

Be realistic with your current level of fitness based on the high-volume, high-power output demands of these two movements.

Saxon finished in 8:21 and Emma finished at the Cap+4 reps.

One thing that was clear was how much power output waned in the second half of the workout, especially for both female athletes.

The second fittest woman on earth resting between burpees reps should be a warning sign for most everyday athletes.

Pacing & Strategy

Tip #1: Mind the Volume

100 Deadlifts and 100 Bar-Facing Burpees.

Most of my athletes have done our benchmark 100 Bar-Facing Burpees for Time, so that’s a fantastic baseline for this workout.

If you know your 100 BFB rep pace, take that time and add 20%+ onto it to determine how long this portion of the workout would take you if you were to finish all 100 burpee reps in this workout.

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For me, it was 3.2s per rep for 100 reps = 5:20

5:20 (+ roughly 20% for pace degradation) = 6:24

10:00 – 6:24 = 3:36 remaining (ambitious to finish the workout)

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This will give you a realistic view of your fatigue level without factoring in the deadlift reps.

The goal of this is to develop some respect for the workout and pace accordingly.

Tip #2: It’s -likely- a 10min Workout

Unless you are a Semifinals or Games level athlete, do not plan to finish this workout.

Instead, think about it as a 10 minute AMRAP with a varying rep scheme.

Tip #3: 7 to 7 is the Workout

These rounds comprise of 116 of the 200 reps of the workout (58% of the total volume).

This is assuming an athlete finishes the workout, which most will not.

For athletes who do not finish, these rounds become even more crucial as they involve an even bigger percentage of the total reps.

Tip #4: Hinge & Hinge

Deadlifts are a hip flexion-based movement.

Burpees are a hip flexion-based movement where you bend twice, once on the lower and a second time on the raise.

This means you are bending in half at the waist upwards of 300 times in this workout.

With this much movement interference, it’s critical that you (A) prep you hinging mechanics and (B) maintain clean, technical reps as deep into the workout as possible.

Tip #5: Burpee Technique

Here a two great options when completing high volume burpees…

Tip #6: Deadlift Breathing

Here’s how to breathe most effectively for moderate weight TnG deadlifts…

Full Warm-Up & Cooldown

A. Thermo – 3 Rounds @ Smooth Pace
-1:30 Row
-10m Ostrich Walk

B1. Banded Good Morning (3 x 12) @40×0
B2. Alternating Lizards (3 x 8)
B3. Kneeling Burpee Plank (3 x 8-10 Breaths)

C1. Toy Soldiers (3 x 10m)
C2. Traveling Pogo Hops (3 x 10m)

D. Rehearsal – Complete @ Workout Pace
2:00 Row @ Ramping Pace
…
-1…2…3…4…5 Deadlift 225/155lb
-1…2…3…4…5 Bar-Facing Burpee

[Rest 4-6:00] Start Your Camera – Following All Guidelines

E. Test
Make the first attempt a good one!

F. Flush – 5:00 AirBike @ Recovery Pace

G. [10:00 Clock] Mobility; Self-Directed

H. Foam Roller Routine

Balancing Training During the Open

Don’t know how to optimally balance training during the Open?

If you don’t know how to structure your week and manage stress and recovery during the Open, it’s easy to find yourself underperforming.

Typically athletes -like you- err on either being fully recovered where their fitness starts to fade by the last week of the Open, or they train to much through the Open and aren’t recovered enough by the weekend to throwdown at 100%.

Let us take care of that for you.
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