17.5 Workout Analysis

March 28, 2017

Jonathan Kinnick of Beyond the Whiteboard

17.5 by the numbers. 

Week 5 of the 2017 Reebok CrossFit Games Open brought us barbell thrusters (90 reps) and double-unders (350 reps).

The streak of thrusters in the final week of the Open has continued, this time paired with double-unders. For top competitors, the weight on the thrusters (95/65 lb.) was light, which made this workout more about double-under proficiency and gas (and more specifically, double-under proficiency while gassed). Every trip on the jump rope could easily cost you 5 seconds, if not more. With 10 rounds in the workout, just a 5-second difference per round made a 50-second difference in the overall time.

Distributions and Percentiles

There was a huge spread of times for this workout. The vast majority of Individual Men finished the Rx’d workout in over 10 minutes, with 28 percent finishing Rx’d in over 20 minutes. Eighty-two percent of men performed the workout as Rx’d and 18 percent performed it scaled.

 

 

For the Individual Women, 37 percent of all competitors finished the Rx’d workout in under 20 minutes, with 27 percent finishing it as Rx’d in over 20 minutes, and 36 percent performing the scaled workout.

 

 

The average Rx’d finish time was 19:04 for men and 20:54 for women, which was pulled up by a lot of scores scattered in the 20- to 40-minute range. The largest concentration of scores was in the 12- to 16-minute range for both men and women.

 

 

Below is the percentile table for all divisions, which also includes the respective Rx’d vs. scaled percentages. One thing to note, is that the scaled workout times were significantly faster than the Rx’d times across the board. Men also finished this one quite a bit faster than women overall.

It’s interesting to look at the new 35-39 Masters Division, and how it compares to the Individual Division. For example, you had to log a time of 9:24 to score in the 95th percentile for the Individual Rx’d Men, compared to 11:13 for the same percentile in the 35-39 Masters Division. That’s a pretty surpising dropoff for the young masters group, which gives further support for the addition of that division.

 

ANALYSIS BY: 

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