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The 2023 CrossFit season got underway on Feb. 16, 2023, with the release of workout 23.1 — the first of three workouts in the 2023 Open. The Open has long been touted as the world’s largest online competition, in which anyone worldwide can participate. For most in the CrossFit affiliate space, or garage gym CrossFitters, the Open is a chance to test oneself and see how one has improved year-over-year against a worldwide leaderboard.
The programming for the 2023 CrossFit season is handled by Adrian Bozman, and his first order of business was using workout 23.1 as a repeat of workout 14.4. Below is the Rx’d version of the workout — an intense 14-minute chipper — followed by tips on how to best approach it:
*Athletes who complete their 20 ring muscle-ups in 23.1 return to the rower and repeat the workout to achieve as many reps as possible.
[Related: PRVN Fitness Adds Olivia Kerstetter, Thuri Helgadottir, and Sasha Nievas to Its 2023 CrossFit Roster]
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.
Attacking Workout 23.1
None of the movements in 23.1 are individually daunting. The 20-ring muscle ups stand out, but a muscle up variation has been in every Open since its Inception. The challenge isn’t the muscle-ups themselves but what happens when you reach them.
After doing this event in 2014 and seeing athletes do it again on release day, I have three important tips and tricks to help you get your best score possible:
1. Break Early
TIP: Break up all of the non-rower movements into smaller sets.
Other than the 20 ring muscle ups, many gym goers might think doing big sets would be helpful. Most people could do 40 wall balls in one set — maybe in two sets to break it up conservatively. Toes-to-bar may be difficult for some people, but many above average athletes will likely hit a big first set and then chip away at the remainder.
The cleans aren’t too heavy. That means Plan A could be big sets to leave more time for the muscle-ups. Howver, just because one can do large-rep sets doesn’t mean that it’s optimal, particularly with the muscle-ups afterward.
If you did 10 sets of five reps of toes-to-bar with a five-second rest in between each, that would total 45 seconds of rest. While that might sound like a lot, most gymnastic movements will necessitate even more rest after too big of a first set. Twenty-five reps on the first set is potentially doable, but then how long does it take to get back to the bar? How small are the sets going to be after that?
Pick a number that you could easily do with a regimented short break in between to keep moving without getting overly fatiguing the core, lats, and hips that will be needed for the muscle-ups.
[Related: CrossFit Star Brooke Wells Joins Podium Nutrition’s Athlete Roster]
That same recommendation goes for the wall balls. While 20 unbroken reps is possible, it’s easier to do 10, then take a five-second break, and repeat. It may be a few seconds slower, but you’ll be fresher for the cleans.
Wall ball shots are a full squat and a throw — these movements use larger muscles groups that will pull oxygen out of the bloodstream, leading to heavier breathing and increased heart rate. Do the small sets with a short rest intervals to allow your heart rate to level out.
Unbroken barbell cycling can feel good. The same tip of breaking early and often holds true. Maintain a rep range per set that is repeatable — three to five is likely a reasonable range.
Some people might opt for 30 single reps. While that eases tension off the back, it locks those people into 30 straight single reps unbroken. Since rest is built into that strategy, there isn’t a need to stop. Small sets of multiples with this lighter weight can allow for wiggle room on breaks. They need to be regimented, but the flexibility to adapt on the fly is valuable.
2. The Muscle-up Fence
TIP: The tiebreak for this event is the time at which an athlete finishes the cleans. If you are someone who doesn’t fare well in muscle ups, then race everyone to them.
If you don’t have a reliable muscle up, then the “break early” tip above is a tactic to throw out the window. Your job is to get to the muscle-ups as fast as possible.
This doesn’t mean empty the tank on the row. It means not conserving heart rate and fatigue level for a technical gymnastic movement you might struggle with. Be aggressive to even a touch reckless.
Embrace the suck and get after it!
For those who have a decent amount of muscle ups, the object is to be as fresh as possible for them. If that means additional rest to recover once done with the cleans, take it.
If you can do three muscle-ups every 30 seconds continuously when fresh, then rest enough to accomplish that. Thirty seconds to a minute of rest can do wonders for your muscle-ups.
Once to the rings, assess your ability to how much time is left. If you rarely get a single muscle-up, use all the time you have to score one or two. Try not to fail any reps — it takes too much energy and too much time to recover from.
The muscle-up maniacs will have their time to shine. Athletes who can do 20 reps in one or two sets should do it. Short stature athletes will likely fall behind during the row and the wall balls, so the muscle-ups are the time to make up that difference.
3. The Wrap-Around
Elite-level athletes will make it through the muscle ups and back onto the rower. The pace should be entirely different than the pace on the first 60 calories. The first 60 calories were about pacing in preparation for the ring muscle-ups.
Go HAM during the rowing in the second round!
Close your eyes and disappear while your body pulls that cable as hard as it possibly can on each stroke. These are expensive calories — one or two calories can alter hundreds of ranks on the leaderboard.. so you need to give it everything you got!
[Related: Comeback Season — 20 Women Athletes Eyeing Returns or Debuts for the 2023 CrossFit Games]
Final tip: Walk the Line
High volume body weight or lightweight movements lead to athletes’ tendencies to go as fast as possible since it’s a race. Pushing tempo involves shortening the range of motion, but reps can’t be expensive because the volume is too high. Make every rep count by speeding through execution rather than moving fast but sloppy.
There are differences in wall ball standards. Doing wall balls in training for the past five years doesn’t mean they meet the movement standards in this event. The entire ball has to be above the 10 or the nine-foot mark. A rep won’t count if the middle of the ball hits the line. Practice a couple of reps ahead of time, so you know exactly where that ball is supposed to go.
Have Fun
Workout 23.1 will be a grind, but that’s exactly what the CrossFit Open is all about! Get together with your CrossFit friends, turn the music up, and have someone yell, “three, two, one, go!” If you’ve done this workout before, good luck comparing your past scores to the new ones. If it’s your first time, we will see you on the other side! GOOD LUCK to everyone!
Featured image: @crossfitgames on Instagram
The 2023 CrossFit season got underway on Feb. 16, 2023, with the release of workout 23.1 — the first of three workouts in the 2023 Open. The Open has long been touted as the world’s largest online competition, in which anyone worldwide can participate. For most in the CrossFit affiliate space, or garage gym CrossFitters, the Open is a chance to test oneself and see how one has improved year-over-year against a worldwide leaderboard.
The programming for the 2023 CrossFit season is handled by Adrian Bozman, and his first order of business was using workout 23.1 as a repeat of workout 14.4. Below is the Rx’d version of the workout — an intense 14-minute chipper — followed by tips on how to best approach it:
*Athletes who complete their 20 ring muscle-ups in 23.1 return to the rower and repeat the workout to achieve as many reps as possible.
[Related: PRVN Fitness Adds Olivia Kerstetter, Thuri Helgadottir, and Sasha Nievas to Its 2023 CrossFit Roster]
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.
Attacking Workout 23.1
None of the movements in 23.1 are individually daunting. The 20-ring muscle ups stand out, but a muscle up variation has been in every Open since its Inception. The challenge isn’t the muscle-ups themselves but what happens when you reach them.
After doing this event in 2014 and seeing athletes do it again on release day, I have three important tips and tricks to help you get your best score possible:
1. Break Early
TIP: Break up all of the non-rower movements into smaller sets.
Other than the 20 ring muscle ups, many gym goers might think doing big sets would be helpful. Most people could do 40 wall balls in one set — maybe in two sets to break it up conservatively. Toes-to-bar may be difficult for some people, but many above average athletes will likely hit a big first set and then chip away at the remainder.
The cleans aren’t too heavy. That means Plan A could be big sets to leave more time for the muscle-ups. Howver, just because one can do large-rep sets doesn’t mean that it’s optimal, particularly with the muscle-ups afterward.
If you did 10 sets of five reps of toes-to-bar with a five-second rest in between each, that would total 45 seconds of rest. While that might sound like a lot, most gymnastic movements will necessitate even more rest after too big of a first set. Twenty-five reps on the first set is potentially doable, but then how long does it take to get back to the bar? How small are the sets going to be after that?
Pick a number that you could easily do with a regimented short break in between to keep moving without getting overly fatiguing the core, lats, and hips that will be needed for the muscle-ups.
[Related: CrossFit Star Brooke Wells Joins Podium Nutrition’s Athlete Roster]
That same recommendation goes for the wall balls. While 20 unbroken reps is possible, it’s easier to do 10, then take a five-second break, and repeat. It may be a few seconds slower, but you’ll be fresher for the cleans.
Wall ball shots are a full squat and a throw — these movements use larger muscles groups that will pull oxygen out of the bloodstream, leading to heavier breathing and increased heart rate. Do the small sets with a short rest intervals to allow your heart rate to level out.
Unbroken barbell cycling can feel good. The same tip of breaking early and often holds true. Maintain a rep range per set that is repeatable — three to five is likely a reasonable range.
Some people might opt for 30 single reps. While that eases tension off the back, it locks those people into 30 straight single reps unbroken. Since rest is built into that strategy, there isn’t a need to stop. Small sets of multiples with this lighter weight can allow for wiggle room on breaks. They need to be regimented, but the flexibility to adapt on the fly is valuable.
2. The Muscle-up Fence
TIP: The tiebreak for this event is the time at which an athlete finishes the cleans. If you are someone who doesn’t fare well in muscle ups, then race everyone to them.
If you don’t have a reliable muscle up, then the “break early” tip above is a tactic to throw out the window. Your job is to get to the muscle-ups as fast as possible.
This doesn’t mean empty the tank on the row. It means not conserving heart rate and fatigue level for a technical gymnastic movement you might struggle with. Be aggressive to even a touch reckless.
Embrace the suck and get after it!
[/quote]
For those who have a decent amount of muscle ups, the object is to be as fresh as possible for them. If that means additional rest to recover once done with the cleans, take it.
If you can do three muscle-ups every 30 seconds continuously when fresh, then rest enough to accomplish that. Thirty seconds to a minute of rest can do wonders for your muscle-ups.
Once to the rings, assess your ability to how much time is left. If you rarely get a single muscle-up, use all the time you have to score one or two. Try not to fail any reps — it takes too much energy and too much time to recover from.
The muscle-up maniacs will have their time to shine. Athletes who can do 20 reps in one or two sets should do it. Short stature athletes will likely fall behind during the row and the wall balls, so the muscle-ups are the time to make up that difference.
3. The Wrap-Around
Elite-level athletes will make it through the muscle ups and back onto the rower. The pace should be entirely different than the pace on the first 60 calories. The first 60 calories were about pacing in preparation for the ring muscle-ups.
Go HAM during the rowing in the second round!
[/quote]
Close your eyes and disappear while your body pulls that cable as hard as it possibly can on each stroke. These are expensive calories — one or two calories can alter hundreds of ranks on the leaderboard.. so you need to give it everything you got!
[Related: Comeback Season — 20 Women Athletes Eyeing Returns or Debuts for the 2023 CrossFit Games]
Final tip: Walk the Line
High volume body weight or lightweight movements lead to athletes’ tendencies to go as fast as possible since it’s a race. Pushing tempo involves shortening the range of motion, but reps can’t be expensive because the volume is too high. Make every rep count by speeding through execution rather than moving fast but sloppy.
There are differences in wall ball standards. Doing wall balls in training for the past five years doesn’t mean they meet the movement standards in this event. The entire ball has to be above the 10 or the nine-foot mark. A rep won’t count if the middle of the ball hits the line. Practice a couple of reps ahead of time, so you know exactly where that ball is supposed to go.
Have Fun
Workout 23.1 will be a grind, but that’s exactly what the CrossFit Open is all about! Get together with your CrossFit friends, turn the music up, and have someone yell, “three, two, one, go!” If you’ve done this workout before, good luck comparing your past scores to the new ones. If it’s your first time, we will see you on the other side! GOOD LUCK to everyone!
Featured image: @crossfitgames on Instagram
Click here to view the article.
The programming for the 2023 CrossFit season is handled by Adrian Bozman, and his first order of business was using workout 23.1 as a repeat of workout 14.4. Below is the Rx’d version of the workout — an intense 14-minute chipper — followed by tips on how to best approach it:
*Athletes who complete their 20 ring muscle-ups in 23.1 return to the rower and repeat the workout to achieve as many reps as possible.
[Related: PRVN Fitness Adds Olivia Kerstetter, Thuri Helgadottir, and Sasha Nievas to Its 2023 CrossFit Roster]
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.
Attacking Workout 23.1
None of the movements in 23.1 are individually daunting. The 20-ring muscle ups stand out, but a muscle up variation has been in every Open since its Inception. The challenge isn’t the muscle-ups themselves but what happens when you reach them.
After doing this event in 2014 and seeing athletes do it again on release day, I have three important tips and tricks to help you get your best score possible:
1. Break Early
TIP: Break up all of the non-rower movements into smaller sets.
Other than the 20 ring muscle ups, many gym goers might think doing big sets would be helpful. Most people could do 40 wall balls in one set — maybe in two sets to break it up conservatively. Toes-to-bar may be difficult for some people, but many above average athletes will likely hit a big first set and then chip away at the remainder.
The cleans aren’t too heavy. That means Plan A could be big sets to leave more time for the muscle-ups. Howver, just because one can do large-rep sets doesn’t mean that it’s optimal, particularly with the muscle-ups afterward.
If you did 10 sets of five reps of toes-to-bar with a five-second rest in between each, that would total 45 seconds of rest. While that might sound like a lot, most gymnastic movements will necessitate even more rest after too big of a first set. Twenty-five reps on the first set is potentially doable, but then how long does it take to get back to the bar? How small are the sets going to be after that?
Pick a number that you could easily do with a regimented short break in between to keep moving without getting overly fatiguing the core, lats, and hips that will be needed for the muscle-ups.
[Related: CrossFit Star Brooke Wells Joins Podium Nutrition’s Athlete Roster]
That same recommendation goes for the wall balls. While 20 unbroken reps is possible, it’s easier to do 10, then take a five-second break, and repeat. It may be a few seconds slower, but you’ll be fresher for the cleans.
Wall ball shots are a full squat and a throw — these movements use larger muscles groups that will pull oxygen out of the bloodstream, leading to heavier breathing and increased heart rate. Do the small sets with a short rest intervals to allow your heart rate to level out.
Unbroken barbell cycling can feel good. The same tip of breaking early and often holds true. Maintain a rep range per set that is repeatable — three to five is likely a reasonable range.
Some people might opt for 30 single reps. While that eases tension off the back, it locks those people into 30 straight single reps unbroken. Since rest is built into that strategy, there isn’t a need to stop. Small sets of multiples with this lighter weight can allow for wiggle room on breaks. They need to be regimented, but the flexibility to adapt on the fly is valuable.
2. The Muscle-up Fence
TIP: The tiebreak for this event is the time at which an athlete finishes the cleans. If you are someone who doesn’t fare well in muscle ups, then race everyone to them.
If you don’t have a reliable muscle up, then the “break early” tip above is a tactic to throw out the window. Your job is to get to the muscle-ups as fast as possible.
This doesn’t mean empty the tank on the row. It means not conserving heart rate and fatigue level for a technical gymnastic movement you might struggle with. Be aggressive to even a touch reckless.
Embrace the suck and get after it!
For those who have a decent amount of muscle ups, the object is to be as fresh as possible for them. If that means additional rest to recover once done with the cleans, take it.
If you can do three muscle-ups every 30 seconds continuously when fresh, then rest enough to accomplish that. Thirty seconds to a minute of rest can do wonders for your muscle-ups.
Once to the rings, assess your ability to how much time is left. If you rarely get a single muscle-up, use all the time you have to score one or two. Try not to fail any reps — it takes too much energy and too much time to recover from.
The muscle-up maniacs will have their time to shine. Athletes who can do 20 reps in one or two sets should do it. Short stature athletes will likely fall behind during the row and the wall balls, so the muscle-ups are the time to make up that difference.
3. The Wrap-Around
Elite-level athletes will make it through the muscle ups and back onto the rower. The pace should be entirely different than the pace on the first 60 calories. The first 60 calories were about pacing in preparation for the ring muscle-ups.
Go HAM during the rowing in the second round!
Close your eyes and disappear while your body pulls that cable as hard as it possibly can on each stroke. These are expensive calories — one or two calories can alter hundreds of ranks on the leaderboard.. so you need to give it everything you got!
[Related: Comeback Season — 20 Women Athletes Eyeing Returns or Debuts for the 2023 CrossFit Games]
Final tip: Walk the Line
High volume body weight or lightweight movements lead to athletes’ tendencies to go as fast as possible since it’s a race. Pushing tempo involves shortening the range of motion, but reps can’t be expensive because the volume is too high. Make every rep count by speeding through execution rather than moving fast but sloppy.
There are differences in wall ball standards. Doing wall balls in training for the past five years doesn’t mean they meet the movement standards in this event. The entire ball has to be above the 10 or the nine-foot mark. A rep won’t count if the middle of the ball hits the line. Practice a couple of reps ahead of time, so you know exactly where that ball is supposed to go.
Have Fun
Workout 23.1 will be a grind, but that’s exactly what the CrossFit Open is all about! Get together with your CrossFit friends, turn the music up, and have someone yell, “three, two, one, go!” If you’ve done this workout before, good luck comparing your past scores to the new ones. If it’s your first time, we will see you on the other side! GOOD LUCK to everyone!
Featured image: @crossfitgames on Instagram
The 2023 CrossFit season got underway on Feb. 16, 2023, with the release of workout 23.1 — the first of three workouts in the 2023 Open. The Open has long been touted as the world’s largest online competition, in which anyone worldwide can participate. For most in the CrossFit affiliate space, or garage gym CrossFitters, the Open is a chance to test oneself and see how one has improved year-over-year against a worldwide leaderboard.
The programming for the 2023 CrossFit season is handled by Adrian Bozman, and his first order of business was using workout 23.1 as a repeat of workout 14.4. Below is the Rx’d version of the workout — an intense 14-minute chipper — followed by tips on how to best approach it:
*Athletes who complete their 20 ring muscle-ups in 23.1 return to the rower and repeat the workout to achieve as many reps as possible.
[Related: PRVN Fitness Adds Olivia Kerstetter, Thuri Helgadottir, and Sasha Nievas to Its 2023 CrossFit Roster]
Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.
Attacking Workout 23.1
None of the movements in 23.1 are individually daunting. The 20-ring muscle ups stand out, but a muscle up variation has been in every Open since its Inception. The challenge isn’t the muscle-ups themselves but what happens when you reach them.
After doing this event in 2014 and seeing athletes do it again on release day, I have three important tips and tricks to help you get your best score possible:
1. Break Early
TIP: Break up all of the non-rower movements into smaller sets.
Other than the 20 ring muscle ups, many gym goers might think doing big sets would be helpful. Most people could do 40 wall balls in one set — maybe in two sets to break it up conservatively. Toes-to-bar may be difficult for some people, but many above average athletes will likely hit a big first set and then chip away at the remainder.
The cleans aren’t too heavy. That means Plan A could be big sets to leave more time for the muscle-ups. Howver, just because one can do large-rep sets doesn’t mean that it’s optimal, particularly with the muscle-ups afterward.
If you did 10 sets of five reps of toes-to-bar with a five-second rest in between each, that would total 45 seconds of rest. While that might sound like a lot, most gymnastic movements will necessitate even more rest after too big of a first set. Twenty-five reps on the first set is potentially doable, but then how long does it take to get back to the bar? How small are the sets going to be after that?
Pick a number that you could easily do with a regimented short break in between to keep moving without getting overly fatiguing the core, lats, and hips that will be needed for the muscle-ups.
[Related: CrossFit Star Brooke Wells Joins Podium Nutrition’s Athlete Roster]
That same recommendation goes for the wall balls. While 20 unbroken reps is possible, it’s easier to do 10, then take a five-second break, and repeat. It may be a few seconds slower, but you’ll be fresher for the cleans.
Wall ball shots are a full squat and a throw — these movements use larger muscles groups that will pull oxygen out of the bloodstream, leading to heavier breathing and increased heart rate. Do the small sets with a short rest intervals to allow your heart rate to level out.
Unbroken barbell cycling can feel good. The same tip of breaking early and often holds true. Maintain a rep range per set that is repeatable — three to five is likely a reasonable range.
Some people might opt for 30 single reps. While that eases tension off the back, it locks those people into 30 straight single reps unbroken. Since rest is built into that strategy, there isn’t a need to stop. Small sets of multiples with this lighter weight can allow for wiggle room on breaks. They need to be regimented, but the flexibility to adapt on the fly is valuable.
2. The Muscle-up Fence
TIP: The tiebreak for this event is the time at which an athlete finishes the cleans. If you are someone who doesn’t fare well in muscle ups, then race everyone to them.
If you don’t have a reliable muscle up, then the “break early” tip above is a tactic to throw out the window. Your job is to get to the muscle-ups as fast as possible.
This doesn’t mean empty the tank on the row. It means not conserving heart rate and fatigue level for a technical gymnastic movement you might struggle with. Be aggressive to even a touch reckless.
Embrace the suck and get after it!
[/quote]
For those who have a decent amount of muscle ups, the object is to be as fresh as possible for them. If that means additional rest to recover once done with the cleans, take it.
If you can do three muscle-ups every 30 seconds continuously when fresh, then rest enough to accomplish that. Thirty seconds to a minute of rest can do wonders for your muscle-ups.
Once to the rings, assess your ability to how much time is left. If you rarely get a single muscle-up, use all the time you have to score one or two. Try not to fail any reps — it takes too much energy and too much time to recover from.
The muscle-up maniacs will have their time to shine. Athletes who can do 20 reps in one or two sets should do it. Short stature athletes will likely fall behind during the row and the wall balls, so the muscle-ups are the time to make up that difference.
3. The Wrap-Around
Elite-level athletes will make it through the muscle ups and back onto the rower. The pace should be entirely different than the pace on the first 60 calories. The first 60 calories were about pacing in preparation for the ring muscle-ups.
Go HAM during the rowing in the second round!
[/quote]
Close your eyes and disappear while your body pulls that cable as hard as it possibly can on each stroke. These are expensive calories — one or two calories can alter hundreds of ranks on the leaderboard.. so you need to give it everything you got!
[Related: Comeback Season — 20 Women Athletes Eyeing Returns or Debuts for the 2023 CrossFit Games]
Final tip: Walk the Line
High volume body weight or lightweight movements lead to athletes’ tendencies to go as fast as possible since it’s a race. Pushing tempo involves shortening the range of motion, but reps can’t be expensive because the volume is too high. Make every rep count by speeding through execution rather than moving fast but sloppy.
There are differences in wall ball standards. Doing wall balls in training for the past five years doesn’t mean they meet the movement standards in this event. The entire ball has to be above the 10 or the nine-foot mark. A rep won’t count if the middle of the ball hits the line. Practice a couple of reps ahead of time, so you know exactly where that ball is supposed to go.
Have Fun
Workout 23.1 will be a grind, but that’s exactly what the CrossFit Open is all about! Get together with your CrossFit friends, turn the music up, and have someone yell, “three, two, one, go!” If you’ve done this workout before, good luck comparing your past scores to the new ones. If it’s your first time, we will see you on the other side! GOOD LUCK to everyone!
Featured image: @crossfitgames on Instagram
Click here to view the article.
