Earlier this month, Mat Fraser, the five-time CrossFit Games champion, officially retired from the sport. He wasn’t exactly clear what his next move might be, but he did mention a big move and some potential video content in the near future.
Fraser is wasting no time making his next moves. He recently started his own YouTube channel, FRA5ER, with his wife Sammy. And now, he’s posted his first workout challenge for his followers.
Called “Just Hang On”, it’s a four-round AMRAP-style workout. If you want to give it a go yourself, you’ll need a rower, a sturdy pullup bar, and a dumbbell. If you understand CrossFit, you’ll get the workout description—if not, take a moment to watch Fraser demonstrate the moves first. Don’t hesitate to scale it to your abilities.
Just Hang On
4 rounds; 2:30 on, 1:00 off
RX
Scaled
*If you don’t have a pullup bar, you can scale to lying v-ups or knee tucks
“Strategy going in… these aren’t small sets,” says Fraser. “For the 30 row, you do have to pace it a little bit. I’m probably going to try to target my 2K pace, maybe a little bit under.” He suggests keeping the row at a pace between 1:10 and 1:15.
The transition is important, according to Fraser. He suggests leaving the straps loose on the rower, and already having your grips on for the toes to bar. He adds that by round 4 it may be “difficult to go unbroken, but it definitely is possible to go unbroken on this.” He suggests making sure you get to the dumbbell by 30 to 35 seconds.
“Try to keep a good cadence. Almost start your recovery (in the snatch). Take that second pause at the top. It’s not a quick burn. You’re going to have 4 rounds, 10 minutes worth of work all together,” he says. “I’m going to pace the first round to get more of a gage for it, and then the last round I hope will be my highest score.”
Fraser gets to it in his fully decked out garage gym, and after Round 1 his score is at 16 for the snatches. Round 2, his score is 17. After Round 3, his score is 17. And finally, his fourth and final round, he clocks in with a score of 18, for a total of 68 reps.
“I did a little better than I thought I would,” he says as he recovers on a stationary bike. “I maybe paced the first round a little too much. I think I lost too much time on the transitions, but I didn’t buckle my feet in during the last 2 rounds to save some time. I switched my grips to the backs of my hands for the TTB, so that saved me a second or two. So I was able to increase throughout all the rounds.”
As he finishes up his cool down, he is gassed. “Oh man, oh my lungs,” he says. “I got a little dizzy after that last round.”
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