Pat Barber Talk CrossFit Open Workout 12.2

Pat “The Manimal” Barber recently posted a video detailing his thoughts and advice on the CrossFit Open workout 12.2. It’s a thorough run down of what to except and how to prepare if you are considering taking this one on.

Pat’s first impression of workout 12.2, “its awesome! It’s a really cool test and it’s a drastically different test than the last workout. While both are totally valid things, I personally enjoy this more and it’s going to be incredibly fun… hopefully, while at the same time being super painful”.

Pat took the time to watch Baily and Froning’s demonstration of the workout and from what he says, “I think it was a deceptively easy video.” He went on to explain, “those guys are two of the best in the world and they move really well and are both incredibly strong. So I think the numbers that we’re going to see are going to be different than necessarily those two numbers, even though it was the first time they both did it.”

He noted that “Jason Khalipa seems to think 100 is possible” which Pat agrees with. “I think if you’re a big enough dude and you can blow through and get to that 210 fast enough and 210 is well below your 1-rep max snatch, I think it might be.” Although prior to doing the workout he said he did not see “anyone doing much more than that.” However after completing 12.2 he changed his mind predicting that he could “see some sort of beast coming out of nowhere and getting like 110, maybe 111.”

Barber thinks much of the separation in the leader board will be based on those who are able to progress up the snatch ladder to the next round of weight. As he notes, “I think where the big jumps are going to be made is if you can make one rep or two reps into a set which you think is a little bit beyond what you think you can do.”

His advice for those attempting the workout: “if you can get passed the 30 at 75-pounds, move into the 135 and if that’s a hard thing for you to do, get at least one, spend all your time, rest it up, hit one nice and hard then I think that’s where your going to make most [of] your money because a lot of people simply wont be able to do that.”

Yet if you are trying to make it into the top 50 of the world rankings Barber also has some advice. “I think where the real men’s from the boys separation will be the people who get passed the 165, anyone who can get “a” 210 pound snatch, I think is going to be in the top 50 of this workout. Top 50 globally.”

We here at The Rx Review are big fans of Pat, even more so after interviewing him last year. He is not only an interesting character but also an extremely knowledgeable person to speak to. If you have the time and are thinking of undertaking this workout we highly recommend taking a few moments to watch the video below. Alternatively if you like to read our interview with Pat you can read that [here]

Pat ended up scoring 84-reps.