- February 6, 2019
DON’T DO THE CROSSFIT OPEN
Now, before you get your proverbial panties/tighty whiteys in a bunch, let me explain such a statement. I would like everyone to test their fitness and participate in the open, but in their own terms.
There is a lot of stigma that is associated with the Open; I am not in good enough shape, I am not competitive/Games Athlete, I don’t want to be judged, I’m not paying 20 dollars just to workout, etc.
We hear you!
Everything listed above is a valid enough reason but the CrossFit Open is just 5 normal weekend workouts that you will participate in on a normal Saturday morning, nothing changes. So lets dig into above.
I am not good enough shape.
Good enough shape for what? To work out on a Saturday morning like normal? The Open has many divisions: Rx, Scaled, Rx Masters, Scaled Masters, Teens, Teens Scaled.
Here is an example of the first weeks workout from last year and the many iterations of it.
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AMRAP in 20 minutes
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8 Toes-to-Bars
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10 Dumbbell Hang Clean-and-Jerks (50/35 lb)
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14/12 calorie Row
Scaling: The Open offers a prescribed and scaled version of each workout for any age group. If you are unable to complete the prescribed version, try the scaled version for your age.
Variations:
Rx’d: (Ages 16-54)
Men use 50-lb. dumbbell
Women use 35-lb. dumbbell
Scaled: (Ages 16-54)
Men perform hanging knee-raises, use 35-lb. dumbbell
Women perform hanging knee-raises, use 20-lb. dumbbell
Teenagers 14-15:
Boys use 35-lb. dumbbell
Girls use 20-lb. dumbbell
Scaled Teenagers 14-15:
Boys perform hanging knee-raises, use 20-lb. dumbbell
Girls perform hanging knee-raises, use 10-lb. dumbbell
Masters 55+:
Men use 35-lb. dumbbell
Women use 20-lb. dumbbell
Scaled Masters 55+:
Men perform sit-ups, use 20-lb. dumbbell
Women perform sit-ups, use 10-lb. dumbbell
You have all done some variation of the above before. This is no surprise.
I don’t want to be judged.
Then don’t! At 8:30am every Saturday we will performing the Open workout for that week like a normal class with no judge. Toss that score into Wodify and give your coach a high five and you’re done. You rock! You can’t make the 8:30 class? Still not a problem. From 9:30 till 11:30am we will be running heats of the workout. Pop your name on the whiteboard for a heat time and workout. Just tell us that you will not be needing a judge. Easy peezy lemon squeezy.
I am not competitive/Games Athlete
Neither are 99.9% of everyone. Trust me, I have coached enough Games athletes to know that they are just as and/or even more nervous than you. They have trained outrageously hard and are more fit than most and still are as neurotic as they come. The point being is that you do not need to be competitive to participate. Do it for yourself. Be the intrinsic athlete that we want you to be. It’s a good thing!
I don’t want to pay 20 dollars just to see how bad of shape I’m in.
I love this one. It always has the most visualization in my mind. I imagine that someone is forcing you against your will and shaking you for cash to participate. Again not to seem like I’m beating a dead horse but don’t pay. It’s no big deal to us cause we don’t see any of it.
So Why do it?
Signing up to participate lets you see where your fitness level is on the world stage. You can even drill deeper and see State and local as well. You can rank yourself on your own personal leaderboard with just a few of your friends or against the whole gym. Also, this is your chance to be judged on your standards as it relates to competition. Are you hitting depth of your squats? Is your pull up getting above the bar?
If this isn’t your first rodeo then it lets you look at how your fitness has changed over the year(s). It also is a great analytical tool to see what holes you have in your fitness. Do you need to be stronger, better Aerobic capacity, gym-nasty?
The takeaway of this is to do this for YOU and to have FUN. Sign up OR Don’t sign up. Get judged OR don’t get judged. What you DO need to do is to set time aside for 5 weeks and SHOW UP.