Prep, Strategy and Recovery for CrossFit Open Workout 17.4 (and Micro Greens Giveaway)

Fat Loss, Physical Performance | 346 comments

Past the mid way point, two dumbbell workouts and a heavy snatch ladder later, and here we are primed for the Crossfit Open Workout 17.4! No surprise that we have a repeat here of CrossFit 16.4.

If you didn’t catch our posts from the last three weeks, we’re doing this massive guide for each workout to help you dominate as much of the CrossFit Open as you’re capable of. The whole team has been on fire since after the CrossFit 17.4 workout announcement to get all of this guide ready for you!

In this post, you’ll find all of our prep, strategy and recovery tips for the CrossFit Open 17.4 workout. We’ve also formatted all of this information into an easy to read PDF infographic that you can take with you to the gym or use it on your mobile. Just pop your information in below to download the free PDF guide now!

BONUS: To get everyone ready for the open, we’re doing an exclusive giveaway and promo each week! This week, we’re giving away five bags of our micronutrient greens powder for free, and you’ll be automatically entered when you download your guide below!

Winners will be announced on Monday 3/20.

And if you want to stock up, make sure to use code MICROGREENS17PT4 for 15% off our micronutrient greens blend

CrossFit Open 17.4 Workout Announcement Details

Okay we have a repeat workout. 17.4 is 16.4! This workout is pretty grueling, so prepare yourself to relive the pain.

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

Time to see how far you’ve come in the last year and retest your skills at this repeat of CrossFit 16.4!

How to Prep for CrossFit Open 17.4 Workout

To make sure that your movement prep and warm up for the CrossFit Open 17.4 is at the best it can be, we’ve partnered with our good friend, Dr. Ryan DeBell, from The Movement Fix to show you how to prepare yourself and warm up for the 17.4 CrossFit Open.

Perform the following sequence about 5-10 minutes or until you are warmed up and prepped for CrossFit 17.4!

1: Straight Leg Raise

The active straight leg raise drill, in the same way of 17.1 and 17.2 prep, prepares the hip and posterior chain to go into flexion, which is useful for any lift where you are bending forward (deadlift, clean, swing etc.). If you haven’t done this yet, as the name suggests, it is active, making it more powerful than passively stretching the hamstrings. That is why we prefer it warm-up warm up sequence before lifts. This is so you are able to work through the right motor patterns of the deadlift and rower. Make sure to keep your core engaged and get all the motion at your hip joint and not in your low back. These reps should be done slow and controlled, not ballistically, so you can control the movement efficiently in yanking on the rower and as well as pulling on those deadlifts.

2: Lateral Lunges

We’ll need to make sure that you can actively get into the bottom of the wall balls here. The lateral lunge is an active drill that helps prepare for any squatting variation. It primarily targets the hip adductors, which need to perform well for squatting. Additionally, it loads one leg at a time into a squatting pattern. The straight legged foot can either remain fully on the ground or you can turn your foot so that you are on the heel. The most important thing is that there is no pinching in the hips. Stand fully up between reps and then descend down actively as far as you can each rep. Make sure those hips are opened up for the wall balls so you don’t get no repped!

3: Deadlifts

Working through a deadlift at a light weight here should not be for speed or power, but to practice the movement. This is a movement where if it goes, you’re toast. You don’t want to blow through your low back. Tighten up your core before you pick up the weight, not as you pick up the weight. The motion should be coming from the hips and the hamstrings, not the low back. Work slow and steady, especially as you lower this weight, while keeping your core rigid. Add weight as you go through and progress through the warm-up.

4: Down Dog Push Ups with Scap Thrusts

This movement will help you get prepped for both the arm portion of the wall ball shot as well as the HSPUs in 17.4. Start in a push-up position, keep a nice stiff core, and push to a down dog position. After you’re in this position, think about pushing the ground away from your body and lock out on the overhead position. This will help hit the target in the wall ball as well as make sure you get your feet past the line in the handstand pushup.

That’s our prep for 17.4, on to strategy for the workout.

Strategy and Tips for the CrossFit Open 17.4 Workout

If you don’t have a 17.4 strategy, you’re going to find yourself missing out on a lot of potential reps. Below are the top tips for 17.4:

1: Efficient Reps
You have to do 55 reps of each movement in 17.4 so make sure that they count. There is no room for wasted movement here. Make sure they are efficient and form is 100%. If you are getting sloppy form, slow down. If that doesn’t help, stop and breath. You will waste way too much energy trying to fight through bad form here so take your time and prep properly

2: Hand Care
Just like in 17.3, this is something you should be mindful of. We’ll still have another week after this 17.4 workout, do not rip and take care of those hands! Make sure that you are taking the time to take care of your hands before the workout and make sure that you are chalking up enough in between reps and using the right bars so you do not rip. All of the yanking on the deadlift and rower is not going to help here.

3: Slow and Steady
Pacing in this workout is incredibly important! Make sure that you’re taking your time and not blowing yourself out in the first few minutes. Slow and steady will win the race here. If you are starting to get going and you want to increase the pace a little bit then do it slowly. Any sprints in this workout and you’re going to be toast.

4: Fuel Up
Strategy for 17.4 involves some fueling up. This is a grueling 13 minute workout and you’re going to be burning through some glycogen, so make sure that you’re preparing the day or so before by hydrating and eating enough food. Add some carbs if you perform better on that, and tons of fat if you’re trying to do this keto.

How to Recover from The CrossFit Open 17.4 Workout

Your 17.4 recovery is just as important as anything else. We’ll have another workout in the CrossFit Open after this, so we need to be smart on how we approach the time between the workouts and make sure that we’re recovering strong to finish strong.

1: Hand Care
We’ve had a lot of abuse to our hands and palms the last four weeks, haven’t we? Make sure you’re taking some time to take care of your hands after all that pulling on the rower and deadlift. This includes shaving the calluses down, using lotion, or just plain giving them a rest in between the recovery from 17.4 and when you do 17.5. This seems super basic, but if you can’t grab onto a barbell or a pull up bar, good luck on trying to perform at a high level.

2: Refuel Appropriately
We are four weeks through after finishing 17.4 and we still have a little bit to go. Make sure that you’re getting some proper nutrition as this is an often neglected way to recover. Your body may be sore and that’s all you think about, but feeding what you need is super important. This five-week competition is a marathon and not a sprint, so make sure you’re eating the right foods and giving your body the raw materials it needs to help recover all of the broken down tissues. You are burning through tons of glycogen in this 13 minute AMRAP, so eat some carbs and replenish that store as soon as you can after the workout. Treat yourself after next week with your donuts and beer, we still have 17.5 to finish before we cross the finish line.

3: Go For A Long Walk
This may seem a little boring and not really useful as a recovery tool for 17.4, but it has been a long four weeks. You’re probably a little stressed and your nervous system is probably feeling the effects of the workout. Take it easy. Head outside, rain or shine, and get a good 1-2 hours of walking in to get some light blood flow and keep moving as much as possible. Avoid devices if possible, bring a friend, and do like humans are meant to and walk for a long distance. CrossFit 17.4 is officially over, but we still have another in the books!

Have any more questions, comments or need any more personal attention?Reach out to me at anthony@equipfoods.com before you hit this workout and I will try to respond ASAP if I can help!

BONUS: Don’t forget to download our FREE CrossFit 17.4 strategy PDF below and enter our giveaway for FIVE FREE BAGS of our micronutrient dense greens powder. If you want you can use code MICROGREENS17PT4 to get 15% off now.