On February 27th the first of five weekly workouts of the day (WODs) was released for this year’s CrossFit Open and competitors from all five continents had just seven days to record their best efforts in order to make it to the Crossfit Games.

The appeal of this Open is that participants can either perform the WODs at a CrossFit-affiliated gym, or video their own attempts and then post them online for all to see.

The workouts are then timed, scored and judged to strict criteria that’s only made available on the day the WODs are released.

If athletes are successful they then qualify for the Regionals, which bring together the fittest 48 men, 48 women and 30 teams from each of the 17 regions dotted around the globe, based on their aggregate scores across all five weekly WODs.

 

The regionals

These are spread across four weekends from May 9th to June 1st and consist of a three-day live competition. As with the WODs in the first round, the events to be completed are only released a short time before the competition.

By not allowing the competitors to prepare for those specific tests, it encourages the athletes to maintain the CrossFit ethos of being prepared for the unknown.

But if there’s always one thing you can be sure of it’s that the events will be tough and the competitors will have to take themselves to the physical and mental limit to qualify for the next round.

The Regionals will narrow the field to the fittest 43 men, 43 women and 43 teams from across the globe. These athletes, as well as a few wild cards, will then be invited to compete at the 2014 CrossFit Games in California.

 

The Crossfit Games

The CrossFit Games take place July 25th to 27th, and just like the Regionals, the Games are different every year, with athletes not being told until the very last minute what the events they’ll be competing in actually consist of.

The idea is that given the massive range of events incorporated in this one competition, held across so many days, it will reveal who is the best all-round CrossFit athlete out there, and arguably the fittest athlete on the planet.

 

Why you should get involved every year

Firstly, it’s for everyone. Even if you missed the Open this year you can still compete. The workouts are cleverly designed and catered so that everyone can get a score. There are also age categories that enable the older athletes to still compete and compare themselves.

Also, in setting a ‘competition’ against yourself or other gym members, it may give you that extra motivation to be able to get that 60kg snatch, muscle-up or pull-up that has been elusive in your regular training.

You can do the workouts on page 116 now so you can be prepared for next year’s competition.

Secondly, you’ll love it. Most gyms have a dedicated day for when they all complete the open workouts. It roots us deeper into our community as we are all in it together doing and competing in the same battle (workout of the day). We can share tactics, sympathies and pains!

Thirdly, you can compare yourself to the best. This competition gives everybody a chance to not only gain experience in CrossFit competitions, but also compare themselves to everybody else. Whether it’s the same age group, gender or region, or even to see how you stack up against the best in the world, in no other sport on the planet can you do that in so many domains.

 

Guest Columnist: Em Saville

 

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