15.1 | Here we go.......

Here is what the Kitbox Athlete’s think of 15.1 and 15.1a



Kitbox (KB) – Hi guys, what were your first thoughts when seeing the announcement?

Pippa Alford (PA) - 15.1 – gulp! As I woke up this morning, I knew it wouldn’t be long until I found out the long anticipated news. I sat down to breakfast with Dave Castro’s announcement streaming on my TV. A 9 minute AMRAP followed by a 1RM clean & jerk. Yikes! Something heavy in the first wod, that is what I was dreading! A nice little twist by HQ to have a two-part workout, a way of keeping it fair amongst those who have a good engine, and those who are good lifters.

Joe Cowen (JC) - How good is your grip? I’m no Rich Froning or no regional athlete I am a Rocket category Rainhill competitor so my prep and strategy is going to be a bit different than Rich’s.

KB – What do you think of the WOD(s) itself?

Chloe Barrett (CB) – For me personally this WOD is going to be all about grip strength, I am in the process of getting back to full strength after a spectacular snatch fail that left me unable to use my upper body for just over 4 months. My grip strength is poor currently. I am confident with the barbell movements so will aim to do these all unbroken.

PA - My first impressions are that my grip is going to go, it tends to be my limiting factor on bar movements. 9 minutes doesn’t sound too bad, but I’m sure it will feel longer once I’m doing it! I think the key is to pace this part.

Josh Saville (JS) - So 15.1 and 15.1a ??? Well on the Wednesday before the open workouts got announced I went for a 1rm clean and jerk and tweaked my shoulder, so you can see my joy then I saw the 1rm clean and jerk!

KB – Will you be doing an special prep?

JS- My prep this year has been hit and miss! I've been out for a few months, dipping in and out of training...

JC - My prep for this will be like any other training session get nice and warm on the assault bike or row and then start to mobilise. I will concentrate on my lower back (as that is my biggest weakness - GLASS BACK), hip flexors and shoulders.

PA - In a perfect world, I would hit 15.1 twice, but this weekend I’m only going to have one opportunity to get it done. That’s really going to build up the pressure of hitting a good lift in the second part!

KB - How are you going to game the WOD?

PA - Although I can do 15 unbroken toes to bar, I will probably aim to break them down from the beginning, to save my precious grip! Perhaps 3 sets of 5, with the aim of maintaining this pace throughout. Deadlifts shouldn’t be a problem, and this will probably be where I will catch my breath. Snatches I will aim to go unbroken. It will be about going to that dark place and staying there for 9 minutes, sat right on the limiter. I’m getting goosebumps just writing about it!

CB - I am going to break my T2B in to fast sets of 5 through out, a number I should be comfortable with and able to maintain

JS - I'm going to attack this wod from the get go! Break the ttb but everything else touch and go... The gloves may come out!

JC - My strategy for 15.1 is as always work to my strengths which in this case is toes to bar. I would like to get 2 rounds unbroken on the TTB then split it 8/7 and finally into 5’s. Fingers crossed I won’t die too much and have to split up even more. With having a glass back anything over 30 reps for the deadlift movement and I have a tendency to blow up big time! But with it only being 50kg I’m hoping I’ll be ok to keep them unbroken all the way through and definitely mixed grip from the go. For the snatch I am going to go fast singles from the beginning just to save my grip for the TTB and eventually the clean & jerk.

KB – And the C&J……..

CB - Heading into the 1 Rep Max C+J I am going to ensure that I have warmed up and lifted the weight that I want to hit as my first lift, I am aiming to lift 90% of my current 1RM as a first safe lift and then aim to hit 2 more lifts in the time. Again a heavy jerk is something I am not 100% confident in again yet so I will be playing it by ear and listening to my body and more specifically my elbow through out this whole work out.

JC - The clean & jerk with no grip, sweating like hell and breathing out of my ass… this is going to be fun, one thing is certain to you ‘NEED’ to know your one rep max c&j ! I will start by taking at least a minute to get the bar set, shake out my arms and calm my breathing down. I will be looking to then make a maximum of 4 lifts, so treating Part A like a long EMOM. My max clean is 135kg but my jerk is easily my weakest movement and can only jerk 112.5kg so I will be aiming for anything around 105 – 110 after 15.1!

PA - For the clean and jerks, I am going to aim for slightly below my 1RM. I think it will be tough to match it when fatigued. I already have four weights planned that I want to hit, I doubt there will be much time for more. This will be the toughest part for me, as I’m still trying to develop my strength. As soon as the Opens are done, I’m going to hit a bit strength cycle to try and boost my lifting numbers.

JS - And for my clean and jerk well let's just say there is going to be lots of rock tape on my body ha

KB – Any final thoughts or messages?

PA - Best of luck to everyone who is going to give it a go. See you on the other side…!

JC - Average Joe’s Open… ‘LET THE GAMES BEGIN’ Have fun and HOOK grip like never before… Looking forward to hitting it Sunday !

KB - Look out for next week when we catch up with how they all got on and look forward to 15.2