CrossFit Open 19.1 – Preliminary Analysis & Strategies

This is part of a series on the CrossFit Games 2019 Open Workouts. For more, checkout: 19.1 Final Analysis.

Another CrossFit Games Open season is upon us. 19.1 is a 15 Minute AMRAP of wall balls and rowing for calories.

We’ve had thousands of ambitious competitors put their 19.1 scores in on CrossFit btwb already (thanks!). This gives us enough data to calculate some preliminary percentiles you can use for targets. Historically, these numbers have ended up being within 1 or 2 percentiles of the final numbers. If you’re a Scaled or Master’s athlete, we’re still waiting for more results to come in. Keep an eye out Saturday afternoon for some Master’s preliminary numbers.

Rx’d Individuals

Scaled Individuals

Masters Divisions

Row Pacing Guide

On a Concept 2 Rower, there is a direct relationship between 500m Pace and Cals/hr. If you’re more comfortable thinking about rowing pace in terms of meters, this chart will help you convert the Cals/hr pace that will be on your display to the more familiar 500m pace.

One interesting thing this chart reveals is that when rowing for calories, the slower you row, the more meters you have to row. For example, rowing a 1:30/500m pace saves you over 100m per round compared to a 2:06 pace. It also saves you 40 seconds per round. Good luck with trying to hold that pace though!

Contrary to popular belief, setting your damper to 10 and rowing like a madman doesn’t give any secret advantage in calories. If that strategy allows you to row your best splits over the course of possibly 2000+ meters, then have at it. Otherwise we recommend trying to start with a pace that is somewhere around your 2km row average. The machine only rewards big pulls if they translate to a faster pace.

Tips & Strategies

Below is a collection of different leaders in the community dropping a little knowledge for the CrossFit Games Open 19.1 workout.
Official Links

Warm-Up

Strategy

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