I Found Out in 16.4 That Deadlifts Are Bae

I completed Crossfit Open Workout 16.4 this morning and out of all the workouts thus far, this was my favorite!

16.4 workout was as follows:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:
55 deadlifts
55 wall-ball shots
55-calorie row
55 handstand push-ups

Men deadlift 225 lb. and throw 20-lb. ball to 10-ft. target
Women deadlift 155 lb. and throw 14-lb. ball to 9-ft. target

Since I did the scaled version, the deadlifts were 95 lb, the wall-ball shots were with a 10 lb ball, and instead of handstand push-ups I did hand release push-ups.

My Strategy:

For this workout, since it was a high number of reps for each movement I wanted to make sure I paced myself so I didn’t get winded too quickly. I knew that the deadlifts, if I went too hard too fast I would be struggling through everything else so I broke them up into sets of 10 with a final set of 5 and between each set I took a couple second break just to catch my breath.

For the wall-ball shots I wasn’t too worried because I can do wall-balls for days. I have the most strength in my legs and I’m also like 5′ 10″ so when I throw the ball I’m already like 3/4 of the way to 9 ft when full extended. I can usually get through them and not be too fatigued so I wanted to break them up into sets of 10 reps as well because my shoulders and arms start to get tired around 10 reps.

I am terrible at rowing so I knew the 55 calorie row would be the hardest part for me and I didn’t really have a strategy other than breath a lot and try to use my legs as much as possible to get through it.

I wasn’t too sure if I would make it to the push-ups so if I got there any reps I got would be bonus 🙂

How It Actually Went Down:

Initially when I started the workout I was like “This weight is light! I should go hard!” but I restrained myself and stuck to my plan. I did 10 rep sets and took about 5 seconds in between each set to breath and bring my heart rate down. Because my heart rate didn’t shoot up I was able to finish all my sets super fast but still have plenty of energy for the next step.

As predicted, the wall-ball shots weren’t too bad for me. I stuck with my ten rep pace and I also got through these relatively quickly. I think the biggest thing for me was making sure I got deep enough in the squat before chucking the ball in the air. I usually train with a 14 lb wall-ball so the 10 lb ball seemed especially light which was a bonus.

The rowing was difficult for this workout. Since it was calorie based rather than time or distance based it was hard for me to find what the right pace was. I kind of took my time in the beginning but my coach pushed me to quicken my pace. It took me about 4 minutes total to get through the rowing so I was glad I had gotten through the deadlifts and wall-balls early.

I was super excited when I actually made it to the push-ups! I have like no upper body strength so I was just determined to get through as many as possible. I think I had about 90 seconds left on the clock when I finished the rowing and got to the floor and I really tried to keep my core tight and just push through each push-up. My shoulders and arms were burning by the end of it but I got through 31 push-ups when the clock finished.

Unfortunately for this workout I didn’t have anyone to photograph me actually doing it, but here is the aftermath of 16.4:

Overall I really enjoyed this workout and I found out what some of my strengths are (deadlifts and wall-ball shots) and some areas I need to improve on (upper-body everything). I finished with a score of 196 reps which means I got through 55 deadlifts, 55 wall-ball shots, 55 calories on the row machine, and 31 hand release push-ups.

I’m really excited to see what the workout will be for 16.5! I know that most people I’ve talked to are expecting thrusters since they haven’t appeared yet in the Open but I’m really hoping we don’t have to do box jumps because I am sooooo scared of them.

If you’d like to see how I’m ranking in the Crossfit Open you can see me on the leader board by clicking here.