The second last workout of the 2020 CrossFit Open season has been announced.
On Thursday night, Diablo CrossFit in Pleasant Hill, California hosted the live reveal and Games athletes Ben Smith, Jason Carroll, and Sean Sweeney all battled it out. This week’s workout is a chipper and already top athletes and coaches have been sharing their advice and tips for tackling it.
Before we dive into some of the strategies, here is the official Open Workout 20.4.
CrossFit Open Workout 20.4
For time!
- 30 box jumps
- 15 clean & jerks (65/95lb)
- 30 box jumps
- 15 clean & jerks (85/135lb)
- 30 box jumps
- 10 clean & jerks (115/185lb)
- 30 single-leg squats
- 10 clean & jerks (145/225lb)
- 30 single-leg squats
- 5 clean & jerks (175/275lb)
- 30 single-leg squats
- 5 clean & jerk (205/315lb)
Time cap: 20 minutes
Box jump height: (20/24)
CrossFit Open Workout 20.4 Movement Standards
Box Jump
- Start with both feet on the ground and face the side of the box.
- Jumping OR stepping onto and off the box is permitted.
- Only the feet can make contact with box, using hands to push into legs to get up onto the box is not permitted.
- The rep counts when: Both feet are on top of the box, hips and knees are fully extended, and the head and shoulders are over the hips.
the box. - Reaching extension mid-air is a no rep.
Clean & Jerk
- Every rep must start with the barbell on the ground. Touch and go does not count.
- There is no bouncing, dropping, and catching the barbell on the rebound.
- If the barbell is dropped, it must settle and be still before the next rep begins.
- Power cleans, squat cleans, and split cleans are allowed. Hang cleans are NOT allowed.
- The lift must have two distinct phases: the clean and the jerk.
- Snatching is NOT permitted.
- The barbell has to make contact with the shoulders.
- The rep counts when: The barbell is locked out overhead, and arms, hips, and legs are extended. The bar is over or slightly behind the center of the body, with feet in line. A press, push press, push jerk, and split jerk are all allowed as long as the finish position is accomplished.
- There is no assistance allowed besides the loading adjusting.
Single-Leg Squat
- At the beginning and the end of each rep, the hips and the knee of the working leg are extended.
- The non-working leg has to be in front of the body (can’t pass beyond the profile.)
- Holding the leg that is working is not allowed.
- If any body part besides the support foot touches the ground before the lockout, the rep doesn’t count.
- Legs must be alternated after each rep. Before moving to the next leg, a successful rep has to be accomplished before alternating.
Check out the full list of movement standards and scaled standards on crossfit.games.com.
Top 3 CrossFit Open 20.4 Tips
Cole Sager — Don’t Forget Mobility
By now, we know that Sager is going to kick-off his video with several tips to get in a solid warm-up. For this one, he really emphasizes the warm-up being about the hips and shoulders. The more mobile the better! Moving into the workout, his biggest point is to be fast on the barbell, and smooth on everything else. By doing this, you’re going to set yourself up to really chip away at the work one piece at a time.
Dan Bailey — Pay Attention To The Movement Standards
CrossFit Games veteran Dan Bailey took on the workout before sharing his tips. This video was a great way to watch his technique and pacing, and then hear the full breakdown at the end. Some of his main points were to pay attention to the standards on the box jumps. It is easy to feel like you are properly standing up and in line after a box jump, when in reality you could easily not be in a straight line. One of his tips is to bring your hands behind your body once you stand up onto the box and look out in front of you (toward the horizon) to guarantee and clean line.
CrossFit Invictus — Don’t Be Afraid To Step It Out
Bern Prince and Justin Wright are back at it again with their entertaining live commentary and stellar Open workout tips. They made a good point that no matter how strong you are, there is a lot of work here, and some of the hardest work (and heaviest weight) isn’t until the end. They recommended doing a solid ankle warm-up beforehand, and even switching shoes mid WOD. In terms of box jumps, their big tip was to not be afraid to step up as opposed to jumping. They mentioned it really won’t slow you down that much, and might even save your shins some cuts!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqmiNGhAKVM&feature=youtu.be
That is all for the tips this week, so be sure to keep an eye out for all the 20.4 attempts and times throughout the next five days.
Featured images via CrossFit Games on YouTube
