What You Need to Know About the CrossFit Open 20.4 Workout

The fourth workout of this season’s CrossFit Open has been announced, and our first piece of advice for 20.4 is this: start mobilizing your ankles and bulletproofing your shoulders. You’ll be doing box jumps, single-leg squats, and clean and jerks. Below, you’ll find the full workout and tips for approaching this 20-minute slugfest.

The Workout:

Time cap: 20 minutes

What’s the Deal With the CrossFit Open 20.4 Workout

According to Henning Langer, one of the two exercise scientists behind WOD Science, the two obvious sticking points are the heavy cleans and the single-leg squats, also called “pistols.”

If you don’t have the strength, skill, or mobility to do the latter, you have two options. You can scale the workout, which replaces the pistols with a 20-pound medicine-ball box step-up (and lightens the clean and jerks to 65-95-115-135-155-185 pounds). Or, you can consider just the first three sets your workout, pace accordingly, and start practicing the movement for next year.

Even if you’re a monster on the barbell, Langer says you probably won’t finish the clean and jerks at 315 pounds, the heaviest ever programmed in the Open. At last night’s 20.4 throwdown, only one of the three CrossFit Games athletes there, 2015 champion Ben Smith, was able to do all five. With that in mind, strategy is still crucial.

“Go with singles fairly early,” says Henning. “Not necessarily on the 95-pound round but surely for the round of 135, just because singles are not that much slower than going touch-and-go. The one break you take between your two sets of going unbroken is probably just as long as all the tiny breaks you would take between singles.”

Langer points out that, by the time you get to the clean and jerks at 185, you’ve basically done the CrossFit benchmark of “Grace,” plus 90 box jumps. “No matter how good of shape you’re in, you’re certainly going to be out of breath at that point.” As a point of reference, Langer compares 20.4 to running a 5k.

How to Do the CrossFit Open 20.4 Workout Without Burning Out

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To minimize the fatigue, Langer recommends taking advantage of a rule change for this workout, which allows even Rx athletes to also step up and step down on their box jumps. “I think a lot of people underestimate how much they can control their breathing and how much they can save energy by doing step ups and singles,” he says.

Regardless of your strategy, though, when you get to a clean and jerk that’s anywhere near your PR, approach it carefully. Just one failed rep can set you back (or worse, put you in danger of injury) and take a huge hit on your confidence. Unless you’re actually competing in the Open, think about cutting the weight to give yourself room to work.

So, make sure to warm up your shoulders and ankles, pace thoughtfully, opt for singles, step up and down, lift safely, and, as always, have fun. After this workout, there’s only one left.

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