CrossFit Open workout 24.2 has landed, and it’s worlds apart from week one’s lethal pairing of single-arm snatches and burpees.
The workout was revealed by current WWE world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins during 2024’s second CrossFit Open live announcement. The wrestler has competed in the CrossFit Open for the last 12 years, and stepped in for Dave Castro to share the second test: a 20-minute AMRAP of rowing, deadlifts and double-unders.
Two-time fittest man on earth Justin Medeiros and fan favorite Colten Mertens were the first to face the test in Medeiros’s home gym, with their efforts live-streamed on the CrossFit Games website and YouTube channel.
Scroll down to discover how to do CrossFit Open workout 24.2, and find out how to get your best score with tips from experienced CrossFit coach and head of PZL Programming Alex Conroy.
How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.2
As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:
- Row x 300m
- Deadlift x 10 (185lb/83kg for men and 125lb/56kg for women)
- Double-under x 50
Count up your reps (every 10 meters on the rower is worth one rep) and that’s your score.
One complete round is 90 reps.
How To Do CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Scaled
As many reps as possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:
- Row x 300m
- Deadlift x 10 (135lb/61kg for men and 95lb/43kg for women)
- Single-under x 50
The scaled version of CrossFit Open workout 24.2 is similar to the RX one. It's still a 20-minute AMRAP, and you'll still face rowing, deadlifts and skipping.
The only changes are that the barbells you use are lighter (135lb/61kg for men and 95lb/43kg for women) and you'll perform single-unders rather than double-unders.
The workout changes slightly for the foundations version of the test. Perform a 20-minute AMRAP of 30 strokes on the rower, 10 deadlifts and 50 single-unders or jumping jacks. The listed weights for the deadlift is 75lb/34kg for men and 55lb/25kg for women.
However, the CrossFit Games website states that this load is a “suggested starting point” and any athlete completing the workout in the foundations division is “free to decrease or increase the load as your skill level allows”.
CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Standards
In prior Opens, CrossFit has issued floor plans for each workout, detailing how far each piece of equipment used in the workout needs to be. There are no such stipulations at the Open stage of the competition this year, so arrange the rowing machine, barbell and skipping rope as desired.
However, there are still form standards that must be met when completing 24.2.
Rowing standards: The monitor on your Concept2 RowErg must be set to zero at the start of each stint—you can ask your judge to do this for you. You must also remain seated on the rower until the monitor shows 300m, so no relying on carry-over meters.
Deadlift standards: Sumo deadlifts are outlawed—your arms must be outside of your knees—and the rep only counts when your hips and knees reach full extension, and your head and shoulders are behind the bar when viewed from the side.
Double-under standards: If you trip on your tenth rep then you’ll only be credited with nine—attempts don’t count. In the 24.2 scorecard, CrossFit also specifies that “spinning the rope backward” will be a no-rep, just in case anyone is considering going a little wild with this one.
How To Get A Good Score On CrossFit Open Workout 24.2
By CrossFit Open standards, this is a long workout. You won’t be able to go flat out for the full 20 minutes, so it pays to approach this test with a plan of action. To help you with this, I asked PZL Programming’s head CrossFit coach Alex Conroy for his advice on how to get your best possible score.
- “This workout isn't about winning the first round, it’s about finding a pace that's a little uncomfortable, but one you can sustain—remember, 20 minutes is a long time!”
- “Try to keep your pace consistent. Don’t fall into the trap of going too hard then sitting with your hands on your knees, as before you know it you’ll have lost 45 seconds. Instead, try to save your big push for the end."
- “There are a lot of transitions, so keep these smooth to save yourself valuable seconds. Lay your rope out neatly after each set of double-unders, and keep the foot straps tidy on your rowing machine. Don’t stress about getting them really tight at the start of each round, you’ll lose time if you're messing around with this.”
- “The rowing machine is where you’re going to spend the majority of your time during this workout. Remember that, over 300m, holding a 1min 35sec/500m split rather than a 1min 55sec/500m split isn’t going to earn you a huge amount of time, but it sure will spike your heart rate and fatigue you for the rest of the workout.
- “Aiming to row at a 500m split pace that’s a couple of seconds slower than your 2km pace was my immediate instinct after seeing this workout."
- “Relax your grip on the row during the recovery phase of each stroke.”
- “The deadlift loading isn’t too heavy or too light. You could be doing a lot of reps and, when coupled with the row, this will be a lot of work for the muscles in your posterior chain. [To limit fatigue] make sure you warm up thoroughly and focus on moving well throughout.”
- “Don’t get to a point where you fall apart on either the deadlifts or the double-unders. Instead, if you need to, plan to break these moves up early—and do so on your own terms.”
- “Manage your breathing throughout; be purposeful and take a breath or two as you get off the rower to move to the barbell, and do the same before the rope."
What can we learn from Justin Medeiros’s CrossFit Open workout 24.2 performance?
Two-time CrossFit Games champion Justin Medeiros came out on top in his 24.2 live announcement showdown with Colten Mertens, finishing with a score of 930 reps. But how did he do it?
The breakdown above from The Progrm training camp shows how he kept his paces fairly consistent throughout the test. In all his 10 completed rounds he spent between 1min 3sec and 1min 11sec on the rower, and 11sec and 16sec doing the deadlifts.
All but one of his sets of double-unders took between 28sec and 33sec. The exception was round five, which took 38sec after he mistakenly finished a couple of reps early and had to return to his rope to see out the set. The lesson here: don’t come out too hot. Find a maximum sustainable pace that you can hold for the first 18 minutes or so, then look to empty the tank in the remaining time with whatever you have left.
Another thing to note from Medeiros’ performance was how smooth his transitions were. He took deliberate strides between the rower and the deadlifts, picking the barbell up as soon as he was in position behind it. He also placed his rope down carefully after each round of double-unders so he wouldn’t have to untangle it, and didn’t touch the foot straps on his rower throughout. Instead, he made sure the straps were loose enough to slide his feet into, but tight enough to allow him to row effectively. These small tricks add up over the course of 20 minutes, helping you post your best possible score.
What is a good score for CrossFit Open workout 24.2?
Watching the CrossFit Open live announcements and seeing pro athletes crush the test can make it tricky to gauge what’s a good score to go for, particularly if you’re one of those aiming to make the quarter-final cut-offs (the top 25% in each individual division).
Luckily, the team at the Beyond The Whiteboard (BTWB) training app has been popping together some handy graphics to inform your pacing plans.
As of Thursday, March 8, the team estimates that to make the top 25% in their division, men will need a score of 702 reps and women will need to reach the 639 mark.
If you want to reach the quarter-final standard from prior years, which saw the top 10% progress, BTWB predicts men will need to hit 947 and women will want 702 reps.
Finally, it predicts the top 1% of men will achieve 837 reps or more, while the top 1% of women will hit 783.
The first recorded scores for CrossFit Open workout 24.2 are 930 reps for Justin Medeiros and 922 reps for Colten Mertens, according to the CrossFit Open leaderboard at the time of writing.
"Both athletes completed over 10 rounds, with Medeiros’ first round taking 1min 46sec and his second round being done by the 3min 35sec mark," says PZL Programming head coach Alex Conroy.
However, unless you have eyes on a trip to Fort Worth, Texas, this summer for the CrossFit Games, you might want to set your sights a little lower.
“For us mere mortals, a solid score will be five to seven rounds," says Conroy. "And for those looking to push into that previous quarter-final target, finishing in the top 10% of their division [the cut-off was raised to 25% for the 2024 season], I'd anticipate that you'll need to be looking at eight-plus rounds.”
CrossFit Open Workout 24.2 Submission Deadline
You have until 5pm PST on Monday, March 11 (1am GMT on Tuesday, March 12) to submit your scores for CrossFit Open workout 24.2. Before this time, you can redo the workout and resubmit your score as many times as you like.
To enter the annual online fitness competition you first need to register for the Open, which costs $20. You can then submit your score to the online leaderboard.
If you do the workout at a CrossFit-affiliate gym, submitting your score is simple. You just need to add it to the leaderboard via the CrossFit Games app or website, then have it validated by the affiliate manager at the site where you completed it.
If you’re not doing the workout at a CrossFit-affiliate gym, you'll also have to film yourself completing it. The video needs to be uploaded to a common hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo, then there will be a prompt to input the link as you add your score on the CrossFit Games app or website.
Your video may be assessed by the CrossFit internal review team, who can accept, modify or invalidate your score based on whether you meet the set standards for the workout. The Wodproof app is the easiest way to film your workouts as it comes with a template for each CrossFit Open test including an on-screen timer.
