Legs of Cement: CrossFit Open 17.4 tires out the Pike13 competitors

55 deadlifts, 55 wall-ball shot, 55 calorie rows, 55 handstand push-ups. 

It’s just another day in the 2017 CrossFit Open.

Our two Pike13 competitors, Jake and Jesse, agreed that 17.4 was the most grueling workout yet.

Jake and his training buddy Millie show off a post-workout flex.

“17.4 hurt,” says Jake. “Anytime you start a workout off with 55 deadlifts, you know you’re in for some pain. Once I got to the row, I started to feel my legs slowly turning into cement blocks. When I got to the handstand push-ups, I was knocking out sets of 5 consistently, until I wasn’t. Holy arm pump!! I was definitely out of commission for a while once that one was done.”

With just one workout left in the CrossFit Open, the athletes are prepared to give it everything they’ve got. It’s the last chance to qualify for the CrossFit Regionals, which begin on May 19th. The Regionals are the on the path to the summer CrossFit games and the competition only gets harder.

“17.4 was incredibly draining,” says Jesse. “I had a tough time with the rowing because the first two exercises were so tiring. The weight has been a limiting factor for me, and it’s frustrating. But it’s also made me more determined to work over the next year to up my weight limit.”  

The athletes won’t be getting any kind of break for 17.5—the thrusters and double-unders promise to be, as Jake puts it, “brutal.”

“The double-unders will be the most challenging for me,” says Jesse. “I’ll probably end up with a lot of red whacks on the back of my head.”

Red whacks aside, just getting through all five workouts of the CrossFit Open will be a huge accomplishment. Good luck to Jake and Jesse this weekend!

Recaps: 
Announcement 
Weeks 1 & 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5