The first workout of the 2022 CrossFit Open turned us all on our heads — literally. After an AMRAP of wall walks, dumbbell snatches, and box jump-overs, CrossFitters across the globe now have a more simple but equally taxing challenge in 22.2.
On March 3, 2022, five-time Fittest Man on Earth®, Mat Fraser announced the workout: a couplet of bar-facing burpees and deadlifts using an ascending and then descending rep scheme. “That’s it?” You may be thinking to yourself. Don’t be fooled. This workout is brutal. The tips below can’t do the work for you, but they may be the tools you need to make it through.
22.2 (Rx’d)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps for time of:
Time cap: 10 minutes Age
Groups 55-59, 60-64, and 65+ for Rx’d divisions perform the same workout as above, except men use 185 pounds and women use 125 pounds for the deadlifts.
Girls 14-15 use 95 pounds, and Boys 14-15 use 135 pounds for the deadlifts.
Related: For the Adaptive, Foundational, and Scaled workouts, check out our 22.2 workout announcement.
22.2 Workout Tips
That there are only two movements in this event — and the highest number of reps you perform is 10 — lures you into thinking it won’t be difficult. However, some simple addition will quickly debunk any notion that this workout is easy. This workout contains 100 deadlifts and 100 bar-facing burpees. That’s 200 total reps, or one rep every three seconds if you take the entire 10 minutes. Justin Medeiros completed 22.2 in 7:53, meaning he logged one rep every 2.3 seconds. Geez.
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Alright, you may not be as fast as the 2021 CrossFit Games winner, but no one will knock you for trying. Here are the tips.
Break it Up
Pacing is a crucial consideration in any WOD. You technically have five minutes to complete 100 deadlifts and another five to complete 100 burpees. The deadlifts should take less time than the burpees, which most people will try to blow through from the jump. But go too fast too soon, and you’ll blow yourself out.
Instead, break the event up into four segments.
- Segment 1: Start with a fast but comfortable pace in the first segment. Don’t worry about what round you’re in or start high-fiving yourself because you feel so good out of the gate.
- Segment 2: For the second segment, you want to stride out. Make sure you start to segment your deadlifts if you need to early rather than smoking yourself out and having to recover in the middle of the short race.
- Segment 3: The third segment will determine whether or not you paced correctly on the front half. If you feel as though you were a little too reserved, then now is the time to pick it up. If you feel as though you went to hot, then be intelligent slow your pace down just a tad to finish.
- Segment 4: Do not stop. This doesn’t mean that you need to pick up the tempo unless you’re able to, but you have to be like the Terminator and power on through.
Note: If you’re an elite-level athlete looking to compete in the Semifinals (or even the CrossFit Games), then you’re only allowed one speed: fast. For the cream of the CrossFit crop, 100 reps of each of these movements should not be too difficult. Your objective should be to rest as little as possible between transitions.
Know Your Deadlift Style and Adjust
If the deadlift is a strength of yours, you’ll want to perform rapid-fire touch-and-go reps as often as possible. This workout is a race against time, after all.
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However, some folks (this author included) likes to go a tad slower to maintain tension throughout each set. In this instance, it may be a good idea to break up your deadlift sets into three to five-rep increments.
The main takeaway: You want to remain consistent. If you are performing 10 unbroken deadlifts, it means you’ll only be able to muster sets of two later on, then find a comfortable middle ground.
Spare Your Legs During Burpees
To keep your burpees more efficient, avoid squatting and kicking your legs out. You’ll fatigue your lower body. Instead, hinge at your hips, bring your hands to the ground, throw your legs back until your knees touch the floor, and then drop your chest.
On the reverse, do a push-up to your knees and either pop your hips to get to your feet or step one foot up at a time toward the bar. The closer you can get your feet to the bar for the hop over, the less energy you’ll need on the jump.
A few more quick burpee tips: Keep your chest down as you jump over the bar to avoid standing up fully (hey, every detail matters). Also, try alternating the legs you first step back up with to prevent over-fatiguing one side.
2022 CrossFit Open Workout Announcement Schedule
There is just one more workout in the 2022 CrossFit Open to go. It will be announced at the following time:
Workout 22.3 — Live from Tennessee
- Announced — Thursday, March 10, 2022, 3:00 p.m. EST
- Submissions Due — Monday, March 14, 2022, 8:00 p.m. EST
The 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games will be held Aug. 3-7, 2022, in Madison, WI. Five-time reigning Fittest Woman on Earth®, Tia-Clair Toomey, who made the Open workout 22.1 announcement, will attempt to become the all-time winningest Individual athlete in CrossFit history should she qualify for the Games.
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