2018 Reebok CrossFit Games Open

Dakota Rager Did 18.3 Twice And Finished In 13:30 And 13:25

Dakota Rager Did 18.3 Twice And Finished In 13:30 And 13:25

Armen breaks down Dakota Rager's world's best 13:30 on CrossFit Games Open 18.3.

Mar 14, 2018 by Armen Hammer
Dakota Rager Did 18.3 Twice And Finished In 13:30 And 13:25

If you're like the other hundreds of thousands of people participating in the 2018 CrossFit Games Open, you probably hit 18.3 this past weekend. And if you're like pretty much everyone, you didn't get anywhere near finishing. 

Unless, that is, if you're Josh Bridges and Dakota Rager.

In fact, Rager didn't just finish it once. His first attempt (13:30) was good enough for the best time in the world, but why stop there? Rager took a second stab at it and got 13:25. Let's take a look at each attempt.

Daktor Rager 18:3: Take 1


So that first big takeaway is that Rager went unbroken here. One more time for effect: Dakota Rager went unbroken the entire time. On top of that, he finished and just walked away like, "Huh, 13:30. That's pretty good, I guess."

Here's a breakdown of his rounds and movements on his first attempt:

Round 1

Double Unders
53.71
Overhead Squats
37.76
Double Unders
62.08
Ring MU
41.34
Double Unders
61.32
Dumbbell Snatch
52.26
Double Unders
60.01
Bar MU
41.1
Total Time
6:49


Round 2

Double Unders
57.3
Overhead Squats
35.89
Double Unders
61.1
Ring MU
43.47
Double Unders
61.78
Dumbbell Snatch
47.41
Double Unders
60.86
Bar MU
33.22
Total Time
6:41


Averages

Double Unders (Round 1)
55.505
Overhead Squats
36.825
Double Unders (Round 2)
61.59
Ring MU
42.405
Double Unders (Round 3)
61.55
Dumbbell Snatch
49.835
Double Unders (Round 4)
60.435
Bar MU
37.16
Double Unders (Overall)
59.77


Aside from doing the whole workout unbroken, Rager put together negative splits on just about every part of the workout during the second round. His double unders stayed consistently at 60 or 61 seconds every set, and his transitions sped up along with his cycle time on the remaining movements.

Let's take a look at his second attempt:

Dakota Rager 18.3: Take 2


So guess what? Rager DIDN'T go unbroken the second time around. In fact, he messed up twice on the double unders: once in the seventh set and once in the eighth set. So where did he find those extra five seconds? He actually made up 10 seconds in the first round, but was five seconds slower on the second round compared to his first attempt.

Round 1

Double Unders
53.24
Overhead Squats
36.64
Double Unders
60.03
Ring MU
41.7
Double Unders
61.55
Dumbbell Snatch
51.33
Double Unders
59.14
Bar MU
35.79
Total Time
399.42


Round 2

Double Unders
58.13
Overhead Squats
37.13
Double Unders
57.98
Ring MU
41.13
Double Unders
66.57
Dumbbell Snatch
49.76
Double Unders
60.21
Bar MU
35.19
Total Time
406.1


Averages

Double Unders (Round 1)
55.685
Overhead Squats
36.885
Double Unders (Round 2)
59.005
Ring MU
41.415
Double Unders (Round 3)
64.06
Dumbbell Snatch
50.545
Double Unders (Round 4)
59.675
Bar MU
35.49
Double Unders (Overall)
59.60625


So Rager made up 10 seconds on his first round compared to his first attempt, and it was almost entirely on the transition from his last set of double unders to his bar muscle ups. On his second round, he was actually on track to be even faster but messed up his double unders twice, resulting in a 66-second and a 60-second round on his last two sets of double unders.

Answering The Age Old Question: Unbroken Or Nah?

Dakota is a fascinating athlete for a lot of reasons, but here it's because he gives us the opportunity to see if going unbroken is faster than breaking up our sets. Everyone asks all the time: should I try to go unbroken on XYZ? Now we know, for a fact, that it's not actually necessary to go unbroken. Yes, you could go faster if you go unbroken, but you could still mess up or break up your sets and still make it a fast event.