Improving CrossFit 24.2 (Part 1)
Following up on our Train for the Open Blog Series from last week (hyperlink) here is another two part blog illustrating how we apply Training Think Tank’s philosophy and methodology to improving performance in CrossFitTM Open workout 24.2. Below you will find a long term approach to development of both general physical preparedness (GPP) and performance in the sport of CrossFitTM. We will elaborate using our academic and data driven approach to sport development. Part 1 will cover how we think about the movements that were tested in 24.2 and how to improve them over the long term. In Part 2, we will discuss how to refine these movement skills into athlete’s programs if you aspire to train CrossFitters.
Sport Performance versus GPP
As mentioned last week, there is an important caveat we feel we need to share in regards to training for CrossFit™. It is our opinion that all people in CrossFitTM should not train the same way. If someone intends to build GPP, we feel they are going to have a radically different approach to training than someone who is trying to be a competitive CrossFit Games athlete. For the competitor, training needs to change to become more intense. For GPP athletes, they need to learn how to better control their bodies in space before they start trying to lift heavy, move fast, and breathe hard in a competitive setting. As a result of this, part 1 of this blog will cover the basics of moving well for rowing, deadlifts, and double unders. Part 2 will cover strength, endurance, and sport-specific training to improve CrossFitTM Open workout 24.2.
Intro to the Workout
24.2 is…
HERE is TTT’s (LINKS):
Blog written to athletes to help with their execution
Improving Movement
If we look at this from the lens of GPP, this test challenges a variety of positions and patterns. Someone needs to be able to comfortably bend over with load, bound repeatedly, and coordinate the action of a rower for 20 minutes. This means that athletes need to have the structural resilience and movement quality required to appropriately race these movements. Someone performing between 6-9 rounds of this workout would be required to bound 300-450 times off the ground in addition to performing 60-90 deadlifts. To tolerate this type of volume at speed and while under fatigue, a GPP athlete needs to have a strong structure. Now, let’s look at each movement individually.
Rowing
The time spent on the rower in this workout is anywhere from 1 minute to 1 minute and 25 seconds. This means for most people that half of a working round is spent on the erg, which gives a lot of weight to improving mechanics to improve efficiency. We will talk about two different styles of rowing mechanics for the sport of CrossFit™: (1) Leg driven rowing and (2) upper body driven rowing. Since we are not coaching professional rowers, we want to be able to draw on different styles relative to the movement selection of the workout. For some, this may be relying on more of an upper body dominant pull because the deadlifts and double unders are overly taxing to their lower body. While for others, they will want to maximize their leg drive with proper rowing mechanics in order to get more force per stroke. The leg driven rowing style may create compounding fatigue when combined with the deadlift, overloading the quads, hips, and lower back. The upper body dominant style on the other hand, may rely more on lats, periscapular muscles, and arms. The last consideration between the styles is the relative compression needed which could impact breathing. Due to high respiratory rates from the double unders, using the more open hip (upper body style) may allow someone to expand their diaphragm better compared to the more closed (lower body style) rowing.
Leg driven
Upper body driven
The main improvements you can make for rowing will come primarily from technical training (see skill acquisition section for a detailed breakdown). Below is a table that details the movement demands for each style of rowing.
Rowing Movement Requirements
| Style | What is Needed |
|---|---|
| Rowing (leg driven) | Compression Tolerance (from a breathing perspective) Bilateral hip flexion Lumbar Flexion Shoulder Extension |
| Rowing (upper body driven) | Bilateral Hip Flexion Lumbar Flexion Shoulder Extension |
Some movement training tools to improve these qualities could be:
Seated Pike Compression (breathing)
DB Death March (loaded stretching/flow)
Pick Drill (technique training)
*These movement tools are taken from the TTT Movement Course. To learn more, click here.
Deadlift
To improve movement efficiency for the deadlift, there are three different techniques that you can use with different grip styles to offset fatigue and change which muscles are being loaded: (1) RDL/High hinge, (2) Deadlift, and (3) Straight Legged Deadlift (spinal flexion). There are images below to emphasize the differences in these movements, but the RDL will have a slight knee bend with a higher hip hinge, the deadlift will have more knee flexion to bring the center of mass closer to the ground, and the straight legged deadlift will require larger amounts of spinal and hip flexion. Each of the deadlift styles can be modified with a double overhand grip and mixed grip. The double overhand grip will keep things moving within the sagittal plane (flexion/extension) whereas the mixed grip will add a layer of transverse plane (rotation). The addition of the transverse plane means that individuals will have to rotate (internally rotate) into the supinated (underhand) side relatively more than the pronated (overhand) side. Depending on the movement capacity of the individual, this may mean that one side of their body is taking on more stress as they attempt to corkscrew themselves into a hinge position, especially as speed and fatigue are introduced.
The main improvements you can make for each of these styles is improving your client’s ability to flex their spine and hips, improving their hamstring flexibility, and improving their resiliency to flexion. Below is a table to show the movement demands for each burpee style.
Deadlift Movement Requirements
| Style | What is Needed |
|---|---|
| RDL / High Hinge |
|
| Deadlift |
|
| Straight Legged Deadlift (Spinal Flexion based) |
|
Some movement training tools to improve these qualities could be:
Pelvic Tilts (movement awareness/breathing)
PNF Hamstring Stretch (loaded stretching)
Standing Pike Stretch (loaded stretching)
Ostrich Walk (flow)
Strength
Deficit RDLs (strength training)
Kang Squat (strength training)
Good Morning(strength training)
*These movement tools are taken from the TTT Movement Course. To learn more, click here.
A Note on Back Pain
Low back pain is one of the most common forms of injury or pain seen in the gym, or really across all aspects of life. Due to the construction of this workout, those individuals with a previous history of lower back pain may be required to attack the workout with more awareness than those who have never experienced an injury. The contraction volume and speed may exacerbate someone’s previous injury. This is not to instill fear but rather to give you as a coach awareness of the conversations that may be necessary to have with your athlete. One of the primary predictors for injury is re-injuring the things we have injured before.
Double Under
For movement efficiency with double unders, we will only talk about one style as this movement requires a high level of technical training which will be further detailed in the skill acquisition section. Technical mastery aside, this movement will come down to limb proportions, bounding mechanics, and the ability to relax in the position. The relaxing portion of this is the ability to breathe and carry less tension in your upper body while spinning the rope. General movement requirements to stay relaxed in a double-under include a stacked rib cage, slight shoulder internal rotation, shoulder extension, and wrist freedom.
You will see in the images below, each of these athletes have their shoulders stacked over their hips, their shoulders are slightly rounded forward with their elbows pulled slightly back, and their hands are near their hips. This position allows them to maintain a low bounding displacement and breathe efficiently as their wrists move the jump rope. Deviation in these mechanics most often comes from a lack of skill both from a non-fatigue and fatigue setting, things you will see that should reinforce the need for breakdown drills are piking at the hips, bounding too high, too much flexion/extension from the elbow, and the hands tracking away from the body.
DU Shoulder Position
DU Elbow Position
DU Hand Position
In addition to the need to be stacked and fluid, individuals will need to develop the calf/achilles resiliency to sustain the volume of contractions required by this workout. Accumulating 100’s of bounding repetitions can create tissue damage through repetitive eccentric contractions, even though each individual jump is a relatively low level stressor.
Some movement training tools to improve these qualities could be:
Ankle CARs (joint rotations)
Reciprocal Row (breathing)
Pogo Hops (technique training)
Speed Ball Wrist Trainers (technique training)
Single Under Box Drill (technique training)
*The bolded words are movement tools taken from the TTT Movement Course. To learn more, click here.
Double Under Movement Requirements
| Style | What is Needed |
|---|---|
| Double Under |
|
Skill Acquisition
When teaching a new skill, you want to begin by showing the individual the whole skill so they understand the end result and then take components of the movement and teach them individually in a meaningful way. If you just train the individual pieces without understanding the end result, or what the intention is behind the individual pieces, then it’s going to be difficult for someone to understand why they are practicing broken portions of the skill. As a general rule for learning a new skill, you don’t want to over-cue or overcorrect someone. Below we will show example breakdown skill sessions for rowing, deadlift, and double unders.
Rowing
In this section, we are going to detail proper rowing mechanics and not worry about other variations. We would rather teach the most ideal scenario, then let the individual break those rules based on their own body and the workout construction.
For rowing, the order of operations is as follows (from the catch or starting position): legs, chest, arms, arms, chest, then legs.
Catch - push away with your legs as you will your chest over your quads. This position should resemble a deadlift.
Chest - as you near full leg extension, you’ll begin to open your chest as you complete the drive.
Arms - as your chest begins to open, you’ll finish the pull. Your arms to this point have merely been straps to the handle.
Arms - to initiate the return, you’ll let your arms extend back first to avoid hitting your knees and avoid changing the length of the chain.
Chest - as your arms reach extension, you’ll close the angle of chest so that you are leaned toward the rower monitor.
Legs - legs rebend as you pull yourself back into the catch.
Session 1:
A. Pick Drill
B. Row: 10 sets x 60s @ 20-22 spm, rest 60s.
*Focus is on executing proper mechanics - strong leg drive while maintaining chest over quads until reaching full extension
Session 2:
A. Pick Drill
B. Row: 12 sets x 60s @ 20-22 spm, rest 60s.
*Focus is on executing proper mechanics - strong leg drive while maintaining chest over quads until reaching full extension
Deadlift
Session 1:
A. Hip Hinge to Wall: Accumulate 20 reps.
*Stand 2” away from the wall, reach hips backwards to touch the wall as you allow your chest to become parallel to the ground. Over the reps, move further away from the wall.
B. KB Deadlift from risers: 2 x 8-12, rest 30s.
C. KB Deadlift from floor: 2 x 8-12, rest 30s.
D. Barbell Deadlift from risers: 2 x 8, rest 60s.
E. Barbell Deadlift from floor: 4 x 5, rest 60s.
Session 2:
A. Hip Hinge to Wall: Accumulate 20 reps.
*Stand 2” away from the wall, reach hips backwards to touch the wall as you allow your chest to become parallel to the ground. Over the reps, move further away from the wall.
B. KB Deadlift from risers: 1 x 8-12, rest 30s.
C. KB Deadlift from floor: 1 x 8-12, rest 30s.
D. Barbell Deadlift from risers: 1 x 8, rest 60s.
E. Barbell Deadlift from floor: 4 x 5, rest 60s.
Double Unders
Performing double unders consistently ultimately comes down to the technical proficiency and movement capacity of the individual. Using 24.2 as the example, skill capacity dictated what the limiter was in the workout. For those with limited skill, beginner to intermediate athletes, this was probably more of a double under workout even though from a time perspective, more of the workout is spent on the rower. Whereas those proficient with the movement were able to turn this into more of a rowing workout because they were able to relax and recover here. The more proficient someone becomes, or in other words how smoothly they can perform the movement, the less energy it costs them. Below you will find example movement progressions for different stages of athlete for double-unders.
Beginner
Pogo Hops - rhythm / jump height
Speed Ball Wrist Trainers - hand position / wrist movement
Single Under Box Drill - hand and elbow position / jump height / wrist movement
Around the World - rhythm coordination
Intermediate
Single-Single-Double - bridging the skill
Double Under Box Drill - hand and elbow position / jump height / wrist movement
Double Under EMOM - volume building
Pair with machines
4-Way Footwork - rhythm coordination
Advanced
Double Under Volume
See sport-specific section in part-2
Conclusion for Movement
Movement is the foundation for strength, endurance, and sport. Without adequate movement capacity, whether from a range of motion perspective or resiliency of the pattern, you are limiting your clients ability to grow and adapt. First, develop the freedom to achieve the patterns you want to train, then layer on strength, endurance, variability, and sport to develop your self-mastery. In Part 2 of this blog, we will discuss how to take this foundation and layer sports performance on top of it.
