Posts Tagged ‘CrossFit Games Open’

It feels like it’s been a while since I got to visit a new gym, but when I stopped to think about it, it was only last December that I dropped in to a few spots out of town. To me, it’s so fun to see and visit different gyms!

Last week I went to the booming metropolis of Indianapolis, Indiana. The purpose was to cheer on my Alma Mater as they competed in the NCAA Division III Swimming Nationals (ok, swimming AND diving). There were some mind-blowing swims, but that wasn’t the only competition going on at the time. The 2012 CrossFit Games Open still had 3 days left!

I attempted Workout 12.5 once on Wednesday, but after doing some research learned that I had done worse than when I did it last year as WOD 11.6. I did not feel good about doing worse a full year later, so I decided to give it another go! After searching for the best CF Gym in Indy, there was a clear favorite… CrossFit NapTown was the clear winner, so that’s where I was going to get in my final WOD of the Open.

CrossFit, Smashby Training, CrossFit NapTown

CrossFit NapTown!

Not only was the gym awesome, but the coaches were incredibly nice (letting me do the workout in the middle of one of their classes, while one of the owners judged me), and the members were incredibly supportive before, during, AND after I was done with the workout. Stand-up people there, thank you guys so much for the encouragement!

CrossFit, Smashby Training, CrossFit NapTown

Part of their awesome space. Thanks again, guys!

The best news of all, is that even with a late night the night before (c’mon, it was a mini college reunion for me!), I still improved my score to end the Open on a high note. CrossFit NapTown = Awesome!

Alright, everyone… the final workout has been released! It just happens to be the same workout that ended the Open last year. Interesting, huh?

My advice and strategy video is featured below. GOOD LUCK!!

I had to give it a go last night because I leave for the airport in a few minutes for a weekend trip, so here is that attempt. I checked my score from last year after I had completed it, and I actually got two MORE reps last year…. not exactly the improvement year-over-year I was looking for, BUT I don’t think I paced myself properly last night. Here’s to hoping I get around to trying it again, and can get a few more reps if I do!

The first workout of The Open (which consisted of 7 straight minutes of burpees) was one that, in theory, “favored” smaller, lighter guys. The second one, however, favors those who can just throw around a LOT of weight! The gist of it, is that you complete as many snatches as you can in 10 minutes, where the weight increases (significantly) every 30 reps. The first set is 30 reps at a “light” weight, the second 30 reps bump up the weight to a medium/heavy load, and the final set of the 30 is to be completed at a weight that I think is heavier than any HQ-written Snatch WOD I’ve ever seen! Oh yeah… in the event that athletes make it through those 90 reps, the final weight is so heavy, that I would say only the top 5% of athlete in the world will even be able to complete a singe rep. We might as well call it, the Snatchtastic Voyage,….. or something like that…

In my “strategy” video for this one, I talk about the WOD itself, how I think many people in the region will do, and then some basic strategy for how I think it should be approached. If you have any questions about the workout, please don’t hesitate to ask!

The second workout of the 2012 CrossFit Games Open (copied directly from the Games website) is pasted below:

Workout 12.2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min.

I’m a huge CrossFit Nerd and my friends know that. However, to be honest, many of the “CrossFit Games” videos that are put together don’t do it for me. They’re comprised of clips that I’ve seen a million times, with the story I watch as it unfolded… it’s just not exciting enough for me.

This video below is AWESOME though. In under 3 minutes, everyone can see just how FAST the CrossFit Games event has grown over the last 5 years. This stuff is so cool. Last year, 26,000 people signed up to compete. I can’t even imagine what this year is going to bring!

The 2012 CrossFit Games Beta website has been released, and the official sign-ups go live on February 1st! THAT’S ONLY 9 DAYS AWAY!!

Are you curious about the dates for this year’s competition? Here’s the excerpt directly from the website!

“The 2012 CrossFit Games season is almost here! Registration for the Open begins on February 1. We will announce the first Open workout on February 22. After five Open workouts, one each week, the top 60 men, 60 women, and 30 teams in each region will qualify to compete at one of 17 Regional competitions.

This year, Regionals will take place over the course of five weekends from April 27 to May 27. The venues have not been announced yet. Many venues are different from last year, so don’t book your travel yet. Regional locations will be announced in early February.

The Regional competitions will follow a similar format to 2011. Over the course of three days, the Region’s best men, women, and teams will compete for a precious few Games qualifying spots. The Regional workouts will be released on Wednesday, April 18.

This year, all athletes who hope to compete at the Games will compete at Regionals, so make sure you get out there and see the stars in action. Volunteer registration for Regionals will open up the Games site in February.

Below are the dates for each Regional:

April 27-29 (South East, South Central, Canada West)

May 3-6 (Mid Atlantic, South West, Africa, Asia)

May 11-13 (Central East, SoCal, Canada East, Latin America)

May 18-20 (North Central, NorCal, Australia)

May 25-27 (North East, North West, Europe)”

Yep, nerves are starting to build already. Only one month to go.

As someone who celebrates Christmas, it feels like Christmas morning! If you don’t celebrate (or like) Christmas, pretend that it’s the morning of something that you really do like and look forward to… because that day is right now!

CrossFit has released the schedule for the 2012 CrossFit Games!! And not just the dates of the big show (the CrossFit “World” Games), but every step along the way.

We’re only 143 days away from the Open! GET READY!!!

Snapshot for you guys:
The Open – February 22 to March 25 (5 weeks)
Regionals – April 27 to May 27 (3 day weekend based on your Region)
The Games – July 13-15 (Home Depot Center in Cali)

The full article is pasted below for your viewing pleasure, but feel free to click on the title to be taken to the “Official Page” 🙂

Get Ready for 2012

By CrossFit on 09.28.11

The CrossFit Games are the world’s premier test to find the Fittest on Earth (TM). The Games season is a grueling multi-stage journey that culminates in the 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games on July 13-15 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Fitness means being ready for the unknown and unknowable, so the workouts change every year and are not announced until just before the events start. For more information, see the History of the Games.

Stage One: The Open

The Games season will begin with the Open, a worldwide online competition with one workout per week. The Open will run for five weeks, from February 22 to March 25. Anyone can compete in the Open, regardless of fitness level or experience. More than 26,000 athletes from around the world took part in the 2011 season, and 2012 promises to be even larger.

In order to participate in the Open, athletes can do the workouts at their local affiliate or film their attempt from their garage gym. All scores and videos are then submitted to the Open website, which allows athletes to track how they match up with athletes in their region and around the world.

Athletes can choose to compete in three categories: Individual, Team, or Masters.

Individual athletes and teams that perform the best across the five Open workouts will earn a chance to compete at the second stage of the Games, the Regionals. Masters athletes (beginning at 45-years-old and older) will compete to be among the fittest athletes in their respective age division. The top Masters will earn an automatic spot at the Games in July.

Stage Two: Regionals

The top finishers in the Open will earn a spot at their respective Regional competition. The Regionals are organized by CrossFit HQ, and will run athletes through a series of workouts over the course of three consecutive days. Each weekend from April 27 to May 27, we will host multiple Regional competitions all over the world. Similar to 2011, athletes, teams, and spectators will gather at one venue and watch as the competitors hit the workouts shoulder-to-shoulder with the fittest in their region.

More details about dates and locations for the Regionals will be announced at a later time on the Games page.

Stage Three: The Games

The 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games will be held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., for the third consecutive year. Competition takes place July 13-15.

At the center of the arena, the Games competitors will have to prove they are not only fit, but capable of handling the unknown. No one knows what the events will be. Every year the events are different. The best movements to test for fitness are a combination of gymnastics, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, jumping rope, climbing ropes, runs, and a vast amount of pure grunt work, such as getting sandbags over a wall. But athletes never know what is required.

In 2008, there was the hill. In 2009, there was the spike drive. In 2010, athletes had to do ring handstand push-ups and clear a 12-foot wall. In 2011, there was an ocean swim and a handstand walk.

Only one thing is certain — each athlete will be thoroughly tested on their journey to be named the Fittest on Earth (TM).

Fans from around the world will be able to keep up through constant coverage on the CrossFit Games website and live streaming of the events. Details of events, guidelines, and standards will be featured on the Games site when the 2012 website is launched.

Besides that, train hard and prepare for anything in 2012!

What is CrossFit?

CrossFit is an evidence-based fitness program. We define fitness as increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. Capacity is the ability to do real work, which should be measurable. Life is unpredictable (much more so than sport), so real world fitness must be broad and not specialized. Our workouts are designed to maximize this broad, inclusive fitness.

I’ve already done this workout once, and I will share my personal advice on how to approach it. I would love your feedback as to whether or not you guys find this input valuable or not! If you think it’s helpful to hear how someone walks up to one of these workouts, let me know. If not, let me know, too!

First, my final score on the workout was: 9 full rounds + 1 power clean

Power Cleans (145lbs):
I don’t know how some people said this didn’t hurt their grip. By round 6 or 7, I was having a hard time getting power cleans 4 and 5 off of the ground without losing control of the bar. The final round I dropped the bar for a second, but aside from that, was able to do these unbroken.

Toes to Bar:
I made it through, I think, the first 7 rounds unbroken on these. But then on the final round, I did singles. Definitely not a deal-breaker, but I can’t break them up that much, even if I am le tired.

Wall Balls:
Shut up and pick up the ball. Seriously. We all want to stop tossing that thing because it hurts, but really, this station is the “break”. I missed probably 6 or 7 reps by not hitting the target, and that just frustrated me. Then, on my last round I dropped the ball.. on the last rep! In the words of GOB Bluth…

C’mon!!

Overall Verdict: GRIP KILLER

Strategy for next time:
Bigger Jump and more effective Power Cleans (warm up the wrists a bit more)
Toes to Bar just need to fight and spend less time BETWEEN sets if I need to break it up. Get back up on the bar!
Wall Balls “must” be unbroken. Like I said before… I need to shut up and keep going. Rest after #15.

Then Pat Barber was at it again, sharing his pre- and post- workout advice for CrossFit Games Open WOD 11.5. Check it out:

They finally pushed the workouts out to 20 minutes in duration! Holy cow, this one was a gasser. With 2 of 3 exercises requiring a solid grip, that was the first thing to go in this one. Check out the video below from CFHQ, complete with a workout Demo, and let me know what you guys (who have tried it) thought.

I did it yesterday for the first time, and will do it again on Saturday. CrossFit Lakewood athletes continue to do incredible things with these workouts, and there was no shortage of that yesterday. A post that I will write soon is going to share my “Moment of the Day”, courtesy of Holly!

Here’s the explanation:

Here’s the demo:

The crew at SicFit posted this video with some feedback from workout 11.4 of the 2011 CrossFit Games Open.

Obviously 2 full rounds isn’t possible! I didn’t even get one….. 🙂

In all seriousness, though… I would love to see video of someone moving as fast as he mentions in the video through all of those reps. That would be INSANE.

11.4 | Is Two Rounds Possible? from SICFIT on Vimeo.

Good news, everyone! They’ve announced the locations for the 2011 Regionals Competition! It also shows, by region, how many athletes move to the CrossFit Games!

Here it is for us, here in the South West Region:

Week Three (of Regionals): June 10-12

South West:
Spots to the Games: 3 men, 3 women, 3 teams
Aurora Public School Stadium
1250 Chambers Road
Aurora CO 80011
Email: skip@frontrangecrossfit.com


Here’s the link to all of the Regional dates and locations around the world.

GOOD LUCK to all athletes!

Hey everyone,

Many of you are familiar with Pat Barber, CrossFit Monster. He is the first person I had ever heard being called a Manimal (yes.. a man-animal) for his incredible feats of athleticism! He has been conducting this series on advice on how to hit the workouts for the 2011 CrossFit Games Open, and then feedback on how he thought they went after his first attempt. This one, appropriately enough, is his advice for Workout 11.4.
I like watching them, so I figured some of you might, too.