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After all those burpees and snatches, aren’t you happy that 13.1 is over? Now you’ve got Open Workout 13.2 to look forward to: a 10-minute AMRAP of 5 shoulder-to-overheads (115/75), 10 deadlifts (115/75), and 15 box jumps (24″/20″).

This is a classic CrossFit triplet that will test everyone’s threshold. Have no fear, though, as we’ve reassembled our all-star line-up of coaches — with the addition of a few more! — to help you approach and embrace this week’s pain. Read on for valuable tips and insight from these seasoned coaches on how to do your best on this sprint of a workout.

Also, it might be a good time to re-familiarize yourself with our past articles on shoulder-to-overhead, deadlifts, and box jumps. Even though this is predominantly a conditioning test, every bit of technique/mechanics will ensure efficiency and minimize the risk of injury.

MobilityWOD Dream Team (San Francisco CrossFit, MobilityWOD)

Paul Estrada (CrossFit Elysium)

This week 13.2 is a classic CrossFit triplet. Nothing fancy or complicated with the movements. If you have a decent strength base, this workout should essentially be 10 minutes of box jumps with some barbell movements thrown in for some active recovery. If 115/75 is heavy for you, then get on a good strength program so it isn’t anymore. 115/75 for anyone who is hoping to make Regionals is going to be rather light for only 5 reps of shoulder-to-overhead and especially for the deadlifts. Knowing that, pacing the movements will come in handy.

For athletes who want to fly through the barbell movements as quickly as possible, remember to breathe. Use that time to catch your breath and get things level for the box jumps. Figuring out how to approach the box jumps is what I think will win the workout. For some people jump up step down may be a faster route at the end of the day because it may save your legs from the impact and be a more reliable way to do it. If you are good at bounding box jumps, however, I would warn against flying through the first 3 or 4 rounds in 2 minutes and then hitting a wall. Start steady and finish with a sprint.

I would not advise doing this workout more than once because of the wear and tear you may cause to the ankles. What I do advise is trying interval sprints with the same rep scheme but with different variations. Maybe some sort of a 2.5 minute round test with some rest in between, where you do the first round with bounding, second with jump up step down, third with jump up jump down to full land. Use the interval set up to test how fast you can actually move in that time frame and also how winded you get. That way when you are faced with ten minutes straight, you can better monitor yourself and tell when you are redlining. Trying the different methods of box jumps will allow you to test how much faster one is over the others and how much of an impact they have on the body. You may find that stepping down may not be that much slower than bounding. If that’s the case, why not just step down if that will allow you to keep your heart rate down and steady for the other movements?

Lastly, I would strongly advise everyone to make sure your ankles, Achilles and every part of your calves are nice and warm and flossed. Spend time making sure you prep your legs for all of the jumping they are about to do. Lots of lacrosse ball, barbell rolling, and flossing should be happening before and after this WOD. MobilityWOD has tons of great stuff on how to prep your ankles for WODs like this, so make sure to check them out.

Melody Miser (Paradigm CrossFit)

I think 13.2 is a classic! It’s one of those WODs that gets the strongmen out there thinking it’s a lightweight nothing, and then when attempted, tears them down one bodyweight box jump at a time. It’s really a box jump WOD. How efficient and speedy you are at this one skill will largely determine your performance.  If you are strong enough to push press all the way through the 10 minutes, you will have an additional edge as well.  A few tips (because yes, I already did it):

1. Take your time warming up, but do not fatigue any one body part.

Calves, shoulders, and hammies (despite the light weight!) will all be taxed a bit. Since it’s a shorter WOD, take a little extra time with your warmup, including plenty of mobility and explosive drills. If you are pretty sure you will need to revert to push jerking during the WOD, practice your rhythm on both the push press and the push jerk so that your pace will not be thwarted when you have to change skills.

2. Your score will largely be determined by your rhythm: how fast yes, but also how consistent you will be.

I slowed down during this last quarter, which is something I plan on changing next go around. Start with the push press and maintain as long as your strength allows, as it IS faster. If and when you have to jerk, keep a fast consistent and clean rhythm, with minimal foot movement. Try not to mix up push press and push jerk within the same set as it throws off your mojo (trust me, I tried).

3. Box jumps: obviously only resort to box stepping if you have an injury that requires you to do so, or your rhythm is poor on this skill.

Best case scenario: jump, stand, and rebound on the floor. If you need a tiny pause, take it on top of the box.  Feet closer on the ground and slightly further apart on the box. Use your arms! Throw yourself up there.

4. Your rest is simply getting from the box to the bar, vice versa, and no more.

I stuck to this pretty well till about 2/3 of the way through, when I got discouraged because this WOD simply burns (bad!!) But in hindsight, when I hit that wall of frustration, there were only about 3 minutes left on the clock…short enough to push through (which I intend to do 2nd time!)

5. One of the luxuries of the Open is that you get to arrange your play area as desired — take advantage of this during 13.2!

Keep your bar close to the box, and face away from the box while on the bar so you simply have to turn around to jump (instead of stepping over the bar). While taking a longer walk to get over the bar is nice, you simply don’t have time during 10 minutes if you want a solid score. If you are a corner box jumper, turn the box accordingly. Keep your workspace compact — you don’t need to violently drop the bar after rep 10 on the DL, and setting it nicely will ensure it is where you want when you return.

6. HANDS ON for all 15 reps on the bar.

Avoid dropping the bar at all costs. After Shoulders to Overhead, tap once on the thighs, and go straight into your unbroken, speedy deadlifting. Out of the three skills, the DL is the least taxing — at least for me at this weight. If you are good at maintaining a set back, this crazy speed for 10 reps will not fatigue you much at all. I did the WOD nearly 4 hours ago and my low back feels great.

7.  As much as I don’t want to redo this one… this is the kind of WOD that you are nearly guaranteed to better the 2nd time around.

It is low skill and high will power. After the first time, you will better understand your own rhythm, and you will find pockets during that 10 minutes where you will be able to squeeze out a few more reps. And we all know after week one that even a few precious reps matter on the 2013 leaderboard! Go eat some fish oil, study your game, and give it another go — it’s just 10 minutes of your life, right? Good luck!