CrossFit Open WOD 13.3 – Advice and Injury Prevention Tips

So, the CrossFit open WOD 13.3 is actually the same as CrossFit Open WOD 12.4 - in other words, you get a chance to see if you have gotten any better!

I have outlined some of my initial impressions and ideas concerning advice for the elite athletes and "enthusiasts" (aka the rest of the world). Otherwise, please take care and if you are new to CrossFit, find someone to help you sit on the toilet!

In case you don't know what 13.3 is...

As Many Repetitions/Rounds (!) As Possible in 12 minutes of:

150 Wall-ball shots

90 Double Unders (skipping)

30 Muscle-Ups

150 wall-Ball Shots to 10ft/9ft target:

General Advice:

• Use the narrowest stance you can - this will help wind your hips up and help you out of the bottom. Remember to squeeze those knees out!
• Use your legs to thrust the ball up and onto the wall
• Rest before your arms burn out and you get no-repped - I have found that once you hit fatigue, you need a longer rest. Take a predetermined rest before fatigue and then punch some more reps
• Last year, I couldn't sit down properly for a week - use your favourite strategies to deal with muscle soreness/DOMS - for me, it is ice baths, Skins Compression Garments, and very light, gentle massage - don't beat up your calves and quads with aggressive rolling until at least a  couple of days after the WOD

Suggested Prep/Warm-up:

• release the posterior hip to improve your squat
• 15/20kg bar thrusters
• front squat

Injury Concerns:

• Low Back - tight, fatigued hips will 'butt-wink' your hips under your back. Avoid this by keeping as upright as possible
• Necks - looking up at the target - support your neck, don't let it loll around in extension or it will jam up. Also, obviously, don't let the wall-ball hit you on the face!
• Shoulders - your shoulder will fatigue - be smart how you pace yourself through 150 wall balls
• Wrists - if you don't get your elbows out of the way, you can fracture a small bone in your wrist. This happens when your elbows crash into your knees - same as thrusters, front squats, cleans etc

90 Double-Unders:

General Advice:

• If you sustained a small calf tear after the box jumps, be careful
• this is only a transitional arrangement to make it harder for the guys that can do Muscle-ups...and weed out those that can't do double-unders
• If you are injured, ease in slowly
• Use a rope your are comfortable with - now is NOT the time to try a new rope "just for kicks"!
• If you can't do muscle-ups, go for broke here because your time will be what splits you from the rest of your non-muscle-up competitors

Suggested Prep/Warm-up:

• If you aren't warm from the Wall-Ball shots, then something is wrong...
• Skipping before the WOD is a good way to remember what you are meant to do 🙂
• If you do stretch the calves before the WOD, make sure you end your warm-up by bouncing a few times on your toes to ensure the best muscular function during the WOD

Injury Concerns:

• Calves - these may still be recovering from 13.2
• Jarring a joint because of fatigue
• lower limb injuries from self-inflicted whipping by poor skipping rope control 🙂

Muscle-Ups:

You either have these or you don't. Some people will get their first muscle-up during this WOD...I wish I could be one of them but alas, I have neglected my strength since last year!

General Advice:

• Aggressive pull - the high you can catch, the less fatigued you will be
• Big kip - why not let momentum help you up - just ensure you know what the movement standards are with relation to what constitutes a legal kip during a muscle-up
• Obviously stringing as many as you can together is useful from an efficiency point of view.
• Take smart rests - Doing 2-3 in a row will likely be quicker than doing 6-7 in a row but then having to wait because you fatigued yourself too much

Suggested Prep/Warm-up:

• Release the BACK of the shoulder - you need room for the shoulder to sit properly
• Roll out your ribs and thoracic spine - they need to provide a nice strong foundation for your shoulders to work
• Release your pecs

Injury Concerns:

• Shoulders - Losing it in the catch phase - this will often put lots of weight on one hand causing a shoulder injury
• Ankles - Just watch your landing - it sounds obvious but when you are in the middle of a WOD, things happen!