The 2025 CrossFit Games Open is here! Today, they released the first workout of the three-week worldwide competition and it looks like an awesome AND accessible kick-off to this year’s Open.
Three main pieces of advice for this one:
1- Practice foot and hand placement for your Burpees over the Dumbbell. Your hands should end up in front of the DB so that when you jump or stand up your feet will be directly next to where it sits on the ground. Since you’re not required to stand all the way up before jumping over the weight, remind yourself to “Stay Low and Go!” Don’t waste any time taking extra steps or risk missing directly over the weight. Deliberate movement here will help ensure that all of your rep attempts count.
2- Keep Dumbbell Hang Clean-and-Jerks as efficient as possible by prioritizing a tall chest throughout the rep. Laying on the ground and getting up over and over again for the Burpees will likely lead to some lower back fatigue. Forcing even more hingeing with the DB complex will only make that worse. I’m going to attack these like a quick little Russian Swing to get the DB to the shoulder and then immediately link into a smooth Push Jerk. While Push Press reps may be possible out of the gate for some, it’s simply going to require more upper body strength to press the DB to a full lockout. A smooth Push Jerk will conserve shoulders even more, allowing for more powerful Burpees later on in the workout! I also plan to repeat reps with the same arm until I *start to* fatigue before switching arms. The first few rounds won’t be a problem at all, but one the rounds of 12 or 15 hit, I’m sure switching hands will be a welcome break. That said, despite the fact that I feel fairly proficient alternating reps with a DB, I think it will end up being an unnecessary use of energy to switch so often. As long as the goal is to aim to keep sets unbroken, just try to complete consecutive reps with one arm, and switch to the other arm before you get close to failure!
3- Lunges will likely end up being the “rest” portion of this 15-minute workout. While most athletes will have the ability to come out swinging and sprint these, as the volume continues to grow for Burpees and DB reps, it may be more and more difficult to maintain a faster Lunge pace. Instead, keep your chest tall and eyes across the room, your entire front foot flat on each step so that your vertical front shin allows for smooth steps every time, and try not to over-extend your steps whenever possible. Use this time to shake out your arms and reset your heart rate before getting right back to your DB!
From a pacing perspective, I think most athletes should approach this one as a marathon, not a sprint. Anyone can complete the rounds of 3, 6, and 9 at breakneck speed. If that means you’re spending the last 5 minutes standing around trying to catch your breath, though, that doesn’t make too much sense to me. Give this one an 8.5 out of 10 effort out of the gate and see if you can make it through the entire 15 minutes without really needing to stop at all!
In the morning, I’m going to try to record a video briefly demonstrating some of these key points. If you come back and watch it, please let me know if this advice helps!
Regardless of your experience or ability level, if you’re going to try this workout:
Good Luck, Have Fun, I Believe In You!
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