Ladies and gentlemen, 18.2 has arrived! Patrick Vellner went up against Noah Ohlsen at R.A.W. Training in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania, for what ended up being one giant adrenaline rush. Ohlsen commented that for the first time, Dave Castro’s hint about the workout was pretty accurate: “It definitely burned,” he said.
In case you didn’t catch the workout, here it is:
How to Manage the Ladder
As always, CrossFit HQ Director of Training & Certification Nicole Carroll had some helpful hints to share. This workout might trick you, because the first few rounds go by fast and make it feel easier than it is. By round six-ish, be prepared to fight for it. As Carroll said, this gets significantly harder as you progress. Prepare yourself for that.
As both men did during the live workout, try angling the dumbbells so the weight rests a little behind you. This makes it easier to keep your torso up, which in turn makes it easier to breathe properly. Your body goes where the weight goes — carry the weight of the DBs in front of you, and they’ll pull you forward and down.
The goal is to leave yourself as much time as possible for the clean; but you don’t want to do the couplet as a full-blown sprint. Instead, focus on pacing yourself throughout the first part of 18.2. (This part serves as the tie-breaker, if you clean the same weight as another athlete!)
The Max Clean
You probably noticed the athletes changed shoes between 18.2 and 18.2 A and slipped on knee sleeves. Of course, this is because 18.2 calls for a lighter shoe, while the ideal shoes for 18.2 A (Olympic weightlifting) are quite different. For the first half of the workout, we’re going with the Inov8 F-Lite 195. It’s low and light as a feather — perfect for springy burpees and quick transitions.
For weightlifting, we LOVE the Adidas Adipower. These are a top pick amongst CrossFitters and strict weightlifters alike. If you don’t want to have to change shoes in the middle, the Inov8 All-Train is a good pick. We call it the Swiss Army knife of fitness shoes.
If you like lifting in knee sleeves, you can never go wrong with Rehband. Finally, if you’ve had plenty of practice lifting with a belt, this one’s our fav. It’s comfortable and ridiculously sturdy.
Ideally, you should start your cleans within a minute of finishing the couplet, although Vellner and Ohlsen rested for about two minutes. Remember: the cleans will feel way harder than normal, since your legs will already be so taxed. Plan to take more modest weights than you would otherwise. For this same reason, you should consider smaller weight jumps with less rest in between, instead of huge jumps with more rest.
For reference, Ohlsen did his first clean at about 60% of his one-rep max.
While this workout isn’t nearly as grippy as 18.1, you should still take care to protect your wrists — they’re going to take a beating. Don’t forget your wrist wraps when you head to the gym (and you will definitely want to chalk up).
Live Event Recap
For pros like Vellner and Ohlsen, the couplet was more of a race to the finish than it will be for the rest of us. By 1:40 into the workout, they were already through six rounds. Ohlsen maintained a slight lead the majority of the time, finishing in 4:05, while Vellner completed his last rep at 4:17. While his speed and endurance are undeniable, Vellner actually got no-repped a few times on the burpees! (On that note, make sure you brush up on the new movement standards for burpees.)
After a couple minutes of rest, Ohlsen approached the bar first, easily cleaning 225. With a few missed attempts along the way, he finished at 311. Vellner finished with an amazing lift at 325.
Don’t show up for 18.2 unprepared. We have everything you need to crush this workout! Shop with The WOD Life today — express and international shipping are available!
