Do you hear that? It’s the sound of millions of people quietly crying. 18.4 is here and, well, it’s a real doozy.
Two workouts in one? DOUBLE cool.
18.4 might be a wee bit heartbreaking to a lot of us, simply because handstand push-ups and handstand walks — the latter of the two making its first Open appearance — are so hard. In other words, a lot of us will either spend several minutes falling on our heads or you better get ready to scale this bad boy.
Overwhelmingly, there are two pools of people:
- People who know finishing Diane will be a challenge in and of itself (read: the general fitness population).
- People who know there’s a chance they could actually finish this workout.
As always, Nicole Carroll, HQ Director of Training & Certification, offers some sage advice. If you fall in the first pool, don’t stress about finishing. Instead, focus on getting as many reps as possible. If your aim is to finish Diane, go for it. Like, really go for it. You’ve got nine minutes, so it’s time to hustle.
If you fall in the second camp, then you’ll want to pace yourself a bit more, since you basically have double the work to do. Scott Panchik is the master of pacing, and we saw it work to his advantage during the live announcement — even with a few no-reps on the HSPUs. From the very first set of deadlifts, he was dropping the bar every five reps or so. His HSPUs were also much slower than Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson’s. And guess what? While Panchik was behind for a large portion of the workout, he ended up finishing way ahead — 7:11:70, compared to Gudmundsson’s 8:05:10.
Moral of the story? Break. Up. Those. Reps. Carroll suggests stopping your HSPUs when you still have one or two in the tank. Do NOT go to failure. Once you get to that second couplet, the deadlifts are going to feel like 10 tons of bricks. (BTW? Now would be a really smart time to belt up and take advantage of shin guards.) Even a seasoned pro will find the handstand walks challenging. Try not to get sloppy — keep that midline strong, push through your fingers and shoulders and squeeze your booty. Whether or not you get this far, consider wrist wraps for extra support. Any time you spend upside down on your hands is taxing, and wraps are a total lifesaver — yes, even for the folks doing the scaled bear crawl.
Regardless of what version you’re doing, 18.4 is so heavy on strategy. Plan ahead before you tackle it, make sure you’re crystal clear on the movement standards and give it all you got. GOOD LUCK!
Need a new belt, shin guards or any other gear before you can demolish 18.4 like a pro? We’ve got it all right here. Shop with TWL today — we have express and international shipping.
