20.5 – Warm-Up and Strategy to get to the TOP 5% in CrossFit Open 2019

08 Nov 2019

CrossFit Games Open 20.5

For time, partitioned any way:

40 muscle-ups
80-cal. row
120 wall-ball shots

♀ 14-lb. ball to 9 ft.
♂ 20-lb. ball to 10 ft.

What is the CrossFit Games Open 20.5 workout?

The WOD 20.5 is a triplet of Muscle-Ups, Wall Balls, and Calories Row with a unique catch. It can be partitioned any way.

Partitioning means that you can combine movements, reps, and rounds, however, you want.

I love this type of WODs as it allows you to create WOD that best suits your capabilities, and you should be able to finish the prescribed amount of work at the best possible time.

What is a good score to beat for the 20.5?

My estimate for both elite and competitors should have no issue finishing this one in a 10-15 minute window.

Advanced should be able to finish just inside a time cap or end with a few MUs left.

Average should be able to finish 200 reps in about 15 minutes and beginner will struggle getting 200 reps in 20 minutes time cap.

The following data from the WTC app is for 10 rounds of 4 MU – 8 cal – 12 WB.

Beginner	36:07 (without MUs)
Average	16:31 (without MUs)
Advanced	20:16
Competitor	13:16
Elite	11:09

My guess for the top 5% is between 18-19 minutes.

Warm-up for the Open 20.5

I would suggest doing simple movements full-body warm-up at low intensity.For example:

5 rounds of
5 Pull-Ups
7 Push-Ups
9 Air Squats

+ 5 min practice of Muscle Ups and WB

Strategy for the Open 20.5

From my experience with partitioned Murph, correct partitioning can make your time at least 20-30% faster compared to wrong partitioning.

I think the best strategy is to do many small sets of couplet of Wall Balls and Muscle-Ups with an occasional Row.

This approach will help you get through Muscle-Ups quickly in small sets without the need for a break while recovering on small sets of Wall Balls and eliminating rower transitions that can eat a massive chunk of your final time.

If you can’t do any muscle-ups, do 8 rounds of 10 calories and 15 wall balls (6+5+4) to get the best tie break possible.

I will try to go through some partitioning that I have in my mind and that I think should work well — starting with the suggested one.

Important

All strategies are counting with the possibility that you are going to finish the WOD in 20 minutes. If that is not the case, you can still follow them, but remember that you want to complete all WB and Row Cals before the time cap.

The rule for this is simple you should have X minutes left for X*20 reps of WB+Cal if you want to finish those movements under the time cap.

For example, at 15:00, you have 5 minutes left and still need to do 50 Cals, 48 Wall Balls, and 16 Muscle-Ups. 5*20 = 100, and you have 98 reps left. This is the correct time to ditch MUs and start doing only WBs and Row.

My recommended strategy

3x Row + 20x(2 MU + 6 WB)

27 cal Row
10x (2 MU + 6 WB)
27 cal Row
10x (2 MU + 6 WB)
26 cal Row

It may look crazy at first glance, but let me explain why I think you can get the best possible time with this strategy.

The goal is to eliminate rower transitions while keep you moving without needing to split large sets.

Calories rows are split into 3 equal sets of 27-27-26. These sets are small enough to be finished in 90 sec (less than 1200 kcal/hr average) while not accumulating enough fatigue to break your Muscle Ups or tire your quads for Wall Balls.

If you are good at rowing, you can instead do 15-15-50 but choose to do this only if you can finish strong with 50 Cals @ 1350-1500 Cals/hr pace.

There is a total of 20 rounds of 2 MU and 6 WB. I decided to suggest 2 Muscle Ups because the second MU is always easy and fast as you don’t start from the dead hang while avoiding over accumulation of fatigue from large sets.

You will ‘rest’ between MU sets with 6 Wall Balls, which is just big enough set to justify extra transitions while being small enough to avoid muscle fatigue.

With this strategy, you should be able to hold the pace of 40 seconds or faster per 1 round and finish each row in less than 90 seconds, which should lead to a time of 17:50 or quicker.

Other recommended strategies

1) 20x (2 MU + 6 WB) + 2x Row

10x (2 MU + 6 WB)
20-40 cal Row
10x (2 MU + 6 WB)
40-60 cal Row

This strategy is very similar to the previous one. It will suit better to people who are weaker with MUs as you start with them, then in the middle of the WOD row, small calorie set, and finish with large calorie set.

2) 40x(1 MU + 3 WB) + 1x Row

40 x (1 MU + 3 WB)
80 cal Row

This strategy is for those of you who are weak on MUs but still want to finish under the time cap. Don’t forget to follow rule 20 reps/minute rule mentioned above to make sure you finish all WBs and Cals before the time cap.

Other strategies

Starting with a long Row over 40 cals

In my opinion, this is not a good idea as Row strongly affects your Muscle-Ups pulling power and fatigue the quads that you need for Wall-Balls.

Finishing with a long Row over 40 cals

On another hand, this is a good idea because you can go all out as it is your last movement.

Starting with a large set of Muscle Ups

It can eat a massive chunk of MUs from your workout, making it much easier to finish, but don’t do this unless your best-unbroken set is over 20 reps, and you are very confident you can easily do 40 inside the time cap.

Ending with a large set of Muscle Ups

This strategy is impossible for most of the athletes, but go for it if you are Muscle Ups ninja, and you are confident you can easily finish the last 10 MUs unbroken.

Starting or ending with a large set of Wall Balls

I think it is not worth doing, for example, 60 Wall Balls in the first or last set as with correct partitioning strategy, you are using WBs to rest between sets of Muscle Ups.
Go for the large set at the end only if you are ditching MUs so you can finish under the time cap.