16.5 is upon us…the last week of the CrossFit Open. It’s do or die for a bunch of athletes near the Regionals cut line. We’ve seen two new movements introduced to the CrossFit Open this year, the overhead walking lunge and the bar muscle-up. We’ve also seen two of the longest workouts in CrossFit Open history, both 16.1 and 16.2 were 20-minutes (if you were strong and fit enough to make it to the last round of 16.2).
Familiar faces fill the top of the leaderboard sprinkled with new faces we’ve probably not heard of before. Jamie Greene sits atop the women’s leaderboard (read her interview on The Barbell Spin here) and Kyle Frankenfeld is in third on the men’s leaderboard. Both athletes are surrounded by multiple-year CrossFit Games veterans.
But with one week left, what does Dave Castro have planned for Rich Froning, Ben Smith and Mat Fraser at The Ranch? We’ve said it before, but thrusters have always been programmed in the last week of the Open and it looks to hold true again this year. Will we see another movement programmed with thrusters or will it be 100 thrusters for time?
Here are the movements that we’ve seen and have yet to see so far:
| What We’ve Seen | What We’ve Yet to See |
| Bar Facing Burpee | Box Jump |
| Bar Muscle-Up | Clean and Jerk |
| Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up | Ring Muscle-Up |
| Deadlift | Overhead Squat |
| Double-Under | Shoulder-to-Overhead |
| Handstand Push-Up | Thruster |
| Overhead Lunge (new movement) | |
| Power Snatch | |
| Row | |
| Squat Clean | |
| Toes-to-Bar | |
| Wall Ball |
Thrusters obviously stand out in the right column, but will we see them paired with overhead squats, ring muscle-ups or box jumps? Let’s take a look at what some top-level CrossFit athletes think we’ll see this week.
Travis Williams (2nd in the South Central)
“100 Thrusters for time (135/95)”
Dex Hopkins (Team MAXIMUS 2nd in the Central East)
“I’m hoping for shoulder-to-overhead, overhead squat and box jump overs. Some ascending ladder rep scheme for time…maybe 9-12-15-18-21. And I’m praying for a 1-3RM lift. Don’t even care what it is. Help the big guys out who dug a big hole Week 1.”
Jordan Cook (3rd in the South Central)
“Sumo Deadlift High Pull and Thrusters”
Lauren Herrera (12th in the South East)
“Thrusters, Overhead Squats, Ring Muscle-Ups and Box Jumps”
Cassidy Duffield (10th in the South West)
“I’m thinking an Open wouldn’t be complete without some Thrusters and Ring Muscle-Ups.”
Jamie Hagiya (6th in Southern California)
“I think it’s Thrusters and (Ring) Muscle-Ups, and then a max Clean & Jerk.”
Aaron Hanna (12th in the South East)
“Thrusters, box jumps and a heavy Overhead Squat. Or Kalsu.”
Talayna Fortunato (11th in the South East)
“Overhead Squats and (Ring) Muscle-Ups. And maybe, just maybe, some burpees to make it a repeat (of 11.4).”
Daniel Tyminski (4th in the North East)
“Lol Thrusters.”
Jamie Greene (1st Worldwide)
“27-21-15-9-3 of Dumbbell Thrusters and Box Jump Overs. Plus, a Strength Part B.”
Sarah Scholl (2nd in the North East)
“Thrusters, Shoulder-to-Overhead and Overhead Squats.”
Jared Enderton (18th in the South West)
“21-15-9 Box Jumps, Thrusters and Pistols.”
Kyle Frankenfeld (3rd Worldwide)
“I don’t like to predict, but I would like to see Thrusters.”
Andrew Rape (45th in the South East)
For time:
12,9,6,3 reps of:
Muscle-Ups
Thrusters (135/85)
Then, 6-minutes to establish 1RM Snatch
Jennifer Jones (6th in the South Central)
“I’m guessing some thrusters. I’m hoping they don’t use them but I think they will show up.”
Brooke Wells (2nd in the North Central)
“I’m going to go with two parts. First part is something with box jump overs and thrusters. Second part is max bench press….maybe 2RM.”
The Barbell Spin Prediction
For Time:
21-15-9
Thrusters
Ring Muscle-Ups
What are your predictions? Add them to the comments below!
As we wrap up our last “prediction” article, we would like to thank all of the athletes who have given their predictions each week. To all the athletes who have a shot at making Regionals, don’t put that bar down. Fight for each rep. And finally, to all athletes, Rx or scaled, congratulations on pushing yourself each week.
