18.2 is Fireworks

Well, we learned two significant things last night.

First is that HQ clearly could not care less about Castro's announcement and presentation skills. Come on, can't you spare the guy a couple bucks for some public speaking classes? We weren't sure if we should feel slightly embarrassed or if it was too comical watching him trying to awkwardly fit his chicken scratch on that chalk board.

The other thing we learned is that HQ doesn't mind big weights in the Open. Since 2015, the speculation has been that the max clean and jerk event weighed too heavily towards the heavy hitters and didn't favor the "prototypical" athlete they want advancing to Regionals. It looks like there is no truth to that as 18.2A features another 1 rep max clean. We love it. 

Fireworks

I've coached over a dozen athletes through the workout so far, and one thing that is holding true is that the athletes feel that 18.2 is actually priming their legs for 18.2A. I've seen a number of PR's already, so assuming you aren't sprinting as fast as Noah and Velner, expect to be strong on the clean.

With that being said, DO NOT dog 18.2 to save yourself for 18.2A. They are seperate workouts and seperate scores, so you have to attack the squats and burpees with everything you have. My recommendation: Pace yourself at about 75-80% through rounds 1-7, and then pick it up on rounds 8/9/10. These final three rounds actually contain 50% of the total reps of the workout, so don't kill yourself on the early rounds. 

Transitions are key again, you'll be messing with the dumbbell a total of 20 times (picking them up and then putting them down). Keep them close to the barbell, I recommend right behind the bumper plates on either side so you can quickly drop into your burpees. And don't forget to breathe on the burpees.

For the max clean, I'd recommend warming up to about 70-80% before hand. Noah and Pat both started at about 60% although I believe that was a little light. Take a solid minute or so of deep belly breaths to slow your heart rate, and then get ready to move some weight. The real limiting factor on the clean is your heart rate, not your leg fatigue or grip fatigue. 

Other than that, its another pretty straight forward and simple workout. Move fast in 18.2 and then move some weight in 2A. We love it and couldn't be more excited about the big weights coming back. Have fun guys!