The Crossfit Open. You’ve heard your coaches and friends talk about it. You may have even done a couple of the previous open WODs in class. But you’re still confused. What is the open and why is everyone talking about it?
Let me break it down for you.
The open all started in 2011 and it was originally designed as a tool to find the fittest person on earth. Crossfit wanted to find the fittest male and female on earth but how could they achieve that?
Introducing the OPEN:
5 weeks. 5 workouts. Test your fitness and then submit your scores online against anyone else in the world!
THE TEST OF FITNESS:
For the world’s best Crossfit athletes, the open is the first step in becoming the fittest on earth. The top competitors advance to the regionals stage where they compete against the best from their region in a new set of workouts. And finally they take part in the Crossfit games which is the ultimate test of fitness!
OPEN – For everyone and anyone!
REGIONALS– Top 40 from each region
GAMES – Takes the top athletes from each region
IS THE OPEN JUST FOR ATHLETES?
Not at all! The open is for everyone in the world to have a go. For 99% of people who aren’t crazy athletes the open is about having fun and celebrating fitness in your community. It’s designed to be accessible for athletes of all ages whilst still being challenging enough for those at the top level! People from boxes, garage gyms and anywhere they have the equipment can do the workout. Since 2011, the open has rapidly expanded and last year 272,000 people signed up for the open! From there you can see the scores of everyone in Australia, Victoria or even just your own box.
OKAY, SO WHAT ARE THE WORKOUTS?
Two words. DAVE CASTRO. If you have been around Crossfit long enough then you will have probably heard his name. He designs the open workout each year. And every year they change so we have no idea what he will come up with next! As a guide the open workouts will be fairly simple and require minimal equipment. Each workout will have both an Rx (as prescribed) and a scaled version to challenge people of all levels! Over the years the workouts have developed and new movements and standards have been introduced. Here are a few examples of previous open WODs:
7 min AMRAP:
Burpees
27-21-15-9:
Thrusters
Row (calories)
12 minute AMRAP:
150 Wall balls
90 Double unders
30 Muscle ups
All the previous open WODs can be found online and can include snatches, cleans, pullups, squats and anything else you can think of!
SO WHERE DO I SIGN UP?
It’s $20 to sign up but it’s worth it for the experience alone! You can sign up to your gyms team and represent your Crossfit box during the workouts. Workouts will be released on the Friday and will explain everything you need to know including the standards and how you write up your score. At Crossfit Victoria we will be doing the workouts on Friday night and Saturday morning and the atmosphere will be like nothing else you’ve seen! When you’re ready we will give you a judge, turn the music up and throw down with everyone else around the world!
YOU’VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE!
The open is easily one of the most exciting times of the year as it brings the Crossfit community together from all over the world. So join the global fitness community and take on the open workouts! Learn a new skill, improve on the skills you already have, have fun and push yourself to a place you’ve never been before.
The open officially starts on February 25th so sign up now and I’ll see you there!
About the Author:
Coach Adam is a CrossFit Coach and specialist Strength and Conditioning Coach.
He holds a degree in Exercise Science with a Masters in Strength & Conditioning.
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