After completing 13.2 once on Thursday I was not pleased with my performance so I set plans to repeat on Sunday.  I reset my goal to 7 complete rounds and went in with a decent strategy.

At first I had planned to only step up the first 3 then jump then step up the final 3 of each round of box jumps just to get my breath back doing into the jumps and then going into the push presses.  In my warm ups I tried to work on my cadence and it just wasn’t where I wanted it to be.  So after my warm-up I judged another athlete who stepped his entire workout and improved greatly.  This made me change my strategy, I was going to step the entire time!

After some final prep it was my turn again..3-2-1..GO!   With the first time in my rear-view I knew to not go balls out on the first round.  I slowed my deadlifts and then stepped every single one of my box “jumps”.  I looked up at the clock and I was at 1:05…PERFECT!  I wanted to try and stay a little over a minute pace for the first few rounds if at all possible so I had some kick left at the end.  In addition to pacing better, I took much less time picking the bar up and decreased my push in the push press a bit to save my legs.  Again, it worked.  I got no-repped I believe about 3 times because I did not open my hips at the top of the box which was frustrating for me (not because of the judge, but more because I was too boneheaded to open up).

In the end, I improved by almost a round (21 reps) and finished with a score of 222 reps.

I was pretty happy with the score, but in typical fashion I am not thrilled and was mad at myself for two rest periods before picking up the bar.  I have to set higher goals and push myself more towards them.

 

I noticed a lot of people improving with the step-up strategy.  Even digital mustard KILLED the workout the second time around with the step-up.  I am shocked they allowed it but it was within the rules so it’s not cheating.

 

Can’t wait til 13.3 is released!