WZA Qualifier - WOD 2

Death by 8s

• 8 burped box jump overs
• 8 hang snatches 95
• 8 thrusters

Score: 4 rounds + 20 reps

Intermediate

Pacing

This workout is all about pacing. It’s actually paced for you because you can only do 1 round every 2 minutes max. The question becomes how much of a work to rest ratio can you sustain for the longest?

The forced rest can be tricky to deal with. If you sprint through the work to give yourself more time to rest, but then stand still, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Just like going from rest to max effort can shock your body, so can the opposite. Standing still and waiting for the next round to start will make you feel worse. At the very least, walk around, move a bit, keep your blood flowing so that your muscles can work to flush out the lactic acid.

My general recommendation, and my personal goal for the workout, is to keep each round between 1:35 and 1:40. That should be enough time to calmly get all of the work done, and give you just enough time to get a few deep breaths before the next round begins. 

Transition from Snatch to Thruster

This transition poses an interesting situation because the snatch finishes with the barbell overhead, but the thruster begins in front rack. My suggestion is to practice transitioning directly from one to another. I was fairly easily able to slide my hands in while dropping the bar from overhead to front rack. Know how to do that, be comfortable with it, then put it in your back pocket because it might not be necessary. 

Consider the snatches and thrusters as 16 reps, and not two sets of 8, then divide the reps accordingly. Are you great with moving a barbell and thrusters are your jam? Consider going big and hitting all 16 unbroken. Want to split it in half, 8 and 8? Perfectly reasonable, and minimal extra work because you will have to do the deadlift no matter if you snatch the weight or clean it. Think you might need 3 sets to get the work done consistently? Here’s where that transition will come into play. Something like 5 snatches, 3 snatches + 3 thrusters, then 5 thrusters might be a great thought, and being comfortable with that transition will be important. I don’t recommend any more than 3 sets, there’s simply not enough time.

Burpee Box Jump Overs

Needless to say, I was happy that step ups were allowed in intermediate. I was able to keep all my rounds of burpees at just about the same pace by walking through the reps.

The question here is how fast do I need to go? Depends on your bar work, but go as slow as you can afford. I did each round of burpees at right about :45s which would have been perfect for me if my thrusters weren’t such a mental block. But :45s is a pretty good starting point for everyone to figure out their pace from. 

If you spend :45 seconds on burpee box jump overs, :05s transition to the bar, and :45s on your bar work, you’re right at 1:35 per round, which is the faster end of my recommendation.

Good luck!

Coach Matt