Monday 12.11
Name game: What are you excited about this week?

Warm up: 6 minute EMOM
Odds: row (slow no straps/moderate no straps/fast)
Evens: AMRAP 10 glute bridges, 10 stiff leg deadlifts, 5/5 active lizard

Strength: deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

WOD: 1k row time trial (two heats if needed)

Objective: The deadlifts today operate on the same principle as the 5×5 on 12/1: start your working sets around 70% of your max, and continue building provided your form stays solid. The workout is a quick, benchmark row test that is slightly longer than an all-out sprint. Pace the start slightly faster than your 2k PR pace and aim for negative splits, meaning a faster time for the second half than the first.

Score: deadlift weights & time to complete

Tuesday 12.12
Name game: Who is the hardest person among your family/friends to find holiday gifts for?

Warm up: 2 minute bike/row then rounds of 10 air squats, 10 rocking tables, 10 pass throughs with a reverse lunge

WOD: For time *30 minute cap
10-20-30-40
medicine ball cleans 20/14
handstand push-ups
Then,
40-30-20-10
alternating pistols
handstand walk (meters) OR 80-60-40-20 bear crawl (meters)

How to scale: This is a long workout with a decent amount of volume. Have a backup plan for movements where muscle failure is a possibility.

Med ball cleans: Use a lighter ball and reduce the reps if needed.

Handstand push-ups: Reduce the reps; go to 1-2 ab-mats; or sub pike push-ups or z-press. You should be able to do sets of at least 5 reps at a time if you’re aiming to complete all 100 reps.

Pistols: Go to or from a box or elevate your heel on a plate, and reduce the reps if needed. If using a ring or the rig for balance, make sure you’re only using it for that and not to pull yourself up. Sub shrimp or skater squats only if you cannot do a scaled version of a pistol.

Handstand walk/bear crawl: Most people can do some version of this as written — including doing a combination of both (e.g., 10-10-10-10 HSW plus 60-40-20-0 bear crawl) if you can do some handstand walking but not all 100 meters. Reduce the length of the bear crawl if you can’t make it at least 10m without stopping.

Objective: This is a long one, consisting of an ascending then descending couplet of a squatting skill and a handstand skill. Get into a rhythm completing sets of at least 5 to 10 reps at a time and avoid taking long breaks. A pace of 13-14 reps per minute gets you in under the cap.

Score: time to complete (or note reps completed at cap)

Wednesday 12.13
Name game: If you had a magic button on your desk to bring you whatever you wanted, what would it summon?

Warm up: for 4 minutes complete rounds of :30 bike, 5 scap pull-ups + 5 kip swings, 5 tuck jumps

Skill: max height box jump

WOD: 20 minute EMOM
Minute 1: 5 toes to bar + 5 chest-to-bar + 5 bar muscle-ups
Minute 2: 15 box jumps 30/24
Minute 3: 15 calorie bike
Minute 4: rest

How to scale: Find an amount of work you can get done in under :55 for the first two stations. Work all the way to the end on the bike.

Minute 1: Mix and match from the suggestions below. No bands.
Advanced: 5 toes to bar, 5 chest to bar, 1-3 BMU or attempts
Intermediate: 5 knees to elbow, 5 kipping pull-ups, 5 C2B pull-ups
Advanced beginner: 5 knees to chest, 5 jumping pull-ups, 5 kipping pull-ups
Beginner: 5 knee raises, 10 jumping pull-ups or 10 ring rows

Minute 2: Jump to a lower box or do step-ups.

Objective: After a quick test of jumping skill — see 10/13/22 and 6/21/22 for past max box jumps — the focus of the day is an EMOM-style workout that offers another chance to work on high skill gymnastics under fatigue in two ways: as the skills increase in difficulty throughout the complex and as your overall fatigue builds from the box jumps and bike. Try to finish the first two stations with 5-10 seconds to spare, but push all the way to end if needed on the bike to get as close as possible to that 15 calorie target.

Score: max box jump & total reps (max is 225)
*If you do the Rx movements, your score is Rx whether or not you finish all 225 reps

Thursday 12.14
Name game: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen a stranger do in public?

Warm up: coach-led barbell

Strength: Every 1:30 for 8 rounds
1 hang power snatch + 1 hang squat snatch
*First 3 rounds – 2 complexes each interval; last 5 rounds – 1 complex each interval

WOD: Three 3-minute AMRAPs, resting 1 minute between
6 hang power snatches 95/65
6 burpees over bar (lateral)
*pick up where you left off

How to scale: This workout is 3 sprints. Pick options you can do quickly and unbroken.

Hang power snatches: Reduce the weight so that you can consistently do 6 reps unbroken.

Burpees: Do straight-arm burpees and step over the bar or remain in place.

Objective: Hang snatches are the focus today. Dial in your technique during the EMOM so that you’re able to move smoothly and efficiently throughout the workout. The WOD is three quick sprints with even quicker rest. Try to keep moving and stay unbroken as much as possible.

Score: max snatch complex and rounds & reps

Friday 12.15
Name game: What’s something outside of Crossfit you want to get better at?

Warm up: 2-3 minutes jump rope drills/double under practice, then coach-led thruster prep

WOD: Open 17.5
10 rounds for time (no cap):
9 thrusters 95/65 (Masters 55+ 65/45)
35 double unders

How to scale: The official scaled version is 10 rounds of:
9 thrusters 65/45
35 single unders
That said, you’re getting a lot of time to complete this, so it’s a good day to take a risk and push your thruster weight and double under scaling — or even go for Rx.

Post WOD: couch stretch, calf stretch, shoulder stretch

Accessory (optional): 2-5 rounds for quality
10/10 DB seesaw press
10/10 alternating DB bicep curls
10/10 single arm DB rows

Objective: Today we’re revisiting a workout from the 2017 CrossFit Open. As originally published, this workout had a 40-minute time cap, which served as an enticement for everyone to not only finish, but to perhaps do so even with a heavier weight or more double unders than they had previously attempted. That’s the goal today: rather than sprinting through a scaled version, challenge yourself to work outside your comfort zone. Average times for this are 16-18 minutes, but they range from under 7 to 23+. If you finish quickly, take your time cooling down, then (optionally) start on the accessory work. 

Score: time to complete

CarlosWOD: 12 Days of Christmas
Note: This is a different workout from the “12 Days of Christmas” that will be done in regular classes on Saturday, December 23.

Saturday 12.16
Name game: What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for?

Warm up: coach-led funzies

WOD: With a partner, 6 rounds, 5 minutes each, for max reps
Partner A: 10 pull-ups + :30 active hang
Partner B: 15 burpees
Switch (B – pull-ups & hang; A – burpees), then max reps remaining time:
Power cleans 155/105
*Partners work simultaneously on pull-ups/burpees, then one at a time on cleans. Alternate each round who starts on pull-ups and who starts on burpees.

How to scale: Modify to get to the cleans with at least 2:30-3:00 to go each round.

Pull-ups & hang: Sub banded or jumping pull-ups or ring rows and reduce the length of the hang and/or use a band so you can do it unbroken.

Burpees: Do straight-arm burpees or reduce the reps so you can finish each set in roughly 1 minute or faster.

Cleans: Pick a weight you can do for quick singles or sets of up to 5 touch-and-go at a time. Go from the hang if needed.

Objective: You and your partner will work simultaneously for the first half of each of these intervals, then it’s up to you how you approach the barbell cleans to maximize your total output. Aim to spend no longer than about 2 minutes on the pull-up and burpee buy-in so you get close to 3 minutes on the cleans. There’s no rest between intervals, so keep in mind that an optimal strategy may be to stop working slightly before the end of each round.

Score: total power cleans

Sunday 12.17
Strength: Back Squat: 3 sets of 8 reps – 70% of 1RM
Front Squat: 3 sets of 8 reps – 60% of 1RM
Bulgarian Split Squats: 3 sets of 10 reps per leg (Barbell or DB)
Farmer’s Walk: 4 sets of 1 minute