The CrossFit Open – it’s the start of the CrossFit season, which will ultimately culminate in the CrossFit Games (you may have seen them on ESPN) during the summer months. Athletes across the globe compete in this 5-week worldwide competition beginning on February 22nd and concluding on March 22nd. This is an opportunity to see how you compare to other athletes around the world in regards to performance on these specific workouts. If you don’t care about that, no biggie!
Starting on February 22, a workout will be released every Thursday evening (7pm our time) for 5 weeks. At the live workout announcement, some of the most elite CrossFit athletes go head-to-head, showcasing the workout. It’s a lot of fun to watch and see how they strategize. We’ll likely hang out at the box watching the announcements. You should come, too.
After The Open concludes, most of us will become spectators as the top performers in the Open from the regions across the world go on to compete at Regionals; then they try to become the Fittest on Earth by winning the CrossFit Games.
One of the cool things CrossFit HQ has done is narrow down the ability to search and compare on their leaderboard, using filters such as age, region, and even occupation – so you could see how you fare amongst underwater basket weavers between the ages of 50-54 all across the world!
You may have noticed that our programming sometimes contains workouts such as “11.3” or “12.4” – these past Open WODs are a great benchmark for looking at your progress throughout/over the year(s) as the WODs magically reappear in our regular programming. And it’s fun to just see the leaderboard and be inspired by all the people from all walks of life who choose to be part of The Open. Nothing like seeing the story of an 85-year-old completing her first Open WOD!
THE TEAMS
Your three captains this year are Kami, Lorie, and Colton — and our theme is … generation versus generation … versus generation! So we are divided into three teams based on current age – Colton will be captain of the ‘teens through twenty-somethings, 30s-39 for Kami, and Lorie will be bossin’ the 40s + !!!!! The teams will be close in size, but regardless, the overall winner will be decided via points average rather than total points, so it’s ok that the numbers may be a little off-balance. We will have themes each week that make it super fun to “represent” your generation at Friday Night Lights. More info will be released on that in the next week or so; be on the lookout!
Your team will be responsible for coming up with a team name, and we would LOVE to see some t-shirts made. Last year’s winning team banner will be proudly displayed in the next week or so – your team’s could be alongside it for 2018! Your captain may make a FB group to keep your team connected throughout the week (and make it easier to coordinate costumes!).
We know all the reasons you can talk yourself out of participating. But really, half of what you love about CrossFit is, admit it, that it gives you the butterflies, the need to pee, or the nervous poops. Kind of how Mike still feels about me! I kid, I kid …
Have fun with it! Being an adult is hard – this is a great way to remember what it’s like to be goofy and carefree. Whether you’re completely new, are working around an injury, whatever it is, we have a place for you here. It’ll be fun, and every year, you’ll fondly remember the previous years’ shenanigans.
THE EVENTS – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
We are continuing with the intramural bandwagon this year (one of our business mentors, the amazing Chris Cooper, came up with the idea, which you can read about here) and will be holding FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS every Friday for five weeks following the Thursday announcement. If you’re a morning or noon’er WODster and can’t make the Friday night event, don’t worry – every class on Friday will do the Open workout! But if you can make the Friday evening event, DO IT! Bring your friends and family to watch – it’ll be a great time. We’ll have the gym open at 5:30, do the whiteboard review at about 6, and you can strategize with your team, warm-up, and hang out before we get started with the heats. We will plan on class running more like from 6pm – 7:30 (some WODs will push the finishing heat closer to 8) pm. Heats will be running throughout that time, so if you can’t be there right at 6, no worries!
In addition to the scaled/masters options given, we will also have a “novice” WOD option, just like in regular class, for all of the newer athletes or anyone not yet at the scaled division – yes, ALL OF YOU can do this!!!! It’s no different than a usual WOD, just a wee bit more exciting! There will be a second date (either Saturday or Sunday) for those of you who couldn’t WOD on Friday. We won’t be opening this up for “redos” – we would never “redo” a super intense workout in programming any other time for many reasons, and there’s no need for it during the Open either. As fun as the Open is, there’s no reason to make drastic changes that will affect the rest of the week’s training!
You do have the option to sign up at games.crossfit.com (pick our affiliate as your home gym – here’s a step-by-step on how to do it: https://games-support.crossfit.com/article/40-how-do-i-register-for-the-open ). It costs $20, and it is a sign of commitment – kind of like RSVP’ing to class on ZP for all to see – it’s skin in the game! But it’s not a requirement to participate in our Intramural Open. Those of you who aren’t yet able to do full-depth squats, if you’re close, keep working on it so you can be judged according to official Open standards. If it’s not yet safe for you to do this though, keep at it, and be ready next year! Those who aren’t signed up on the CrossFit website above will be judged according to their best range of motion in each given movement.
We will be having an “18.6” event and afterparty this year – and though we’re not yet releasing the type of event, know this: It won’t be a WOD, but it will be a BLAST, and, of course, there will be lots of food! We can’t wait to make this announcement.
Here’s an excerpt from the referenced Catalyst post for those continuing doubters:
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I can’t do the weight/movements. What do we do in a regular CrossFit class when you can’t use the Rx weight? We use less weight. It will be the same in the Open, and this year there’s no reason to stop when the weight gets heavy.
For example, last year’s burpee/snatch ladder:
- Last year: stop when you can no longer snatch the weight.
- This year: continue to use a lighter weight as long as you like. Your score doesn’t count the non-prescribed reps (but who cares?) We want a solid workout anyway. If you can snatch 45lbs for 30, but can’t hit 65lbs, you’ll just do another round at 45lbs. Your score tally will end, but the clock won’t, and neither will the cheering.
I’m too new. Use this year not as a test, but as a foundation for next year. We’ll coach you through the movements, just like any other CrossFit class.
I don’t want to compare myself against other people. No problem. Don’t check the leaderboard.
All that yelling and cheering is intimidating. Everyone’s nervous. Everyone’s excited. Everyone has to pee right beforehand. And we all just want to see you try really, really hard. We’ll clap just as loud for the first rep as the hundredth. If you’ve never had a support system this strong – heck, if you’ve never had fans before – this may be a little scary. But after the workout, it will feel like your sixth birthday party.
I might do okay. Then I’ll have to set higher expectations for myself, and live up to them. Yes. That’s why we’re all here.
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We can’t wait to see you all of you step out and do something new, different, and FUN. Be on the lookout for more info. This will be one of the best things we do all year – don’t miss out!
Love,
Your CrossFit Mattoon Tribe Leaders
Here’s again how to sign up for the official CF Open through HQ:
https://games.crossfit.com/video/open-registration-live/open
Make sure you make a post that you signed up, and tag us!