Crossfit Already Looking Past the Games and into the Off Season

Towards the end of Thursday night’s Dave Castro said something that peaked my interest when he quickly mentioned some of the plans that HQ had for the upcoming off season. In years past there has been a significant “Games Hangover.” That means basically that the sport disapears for several months following the Games in July. There's very little news out of HQ, very few competitions and little to no buzz. I almost compare the CF yearly rotation to most Olympic sports. For three years they're totally out of sight, then one year we're all supposed to care and then they vanish again. For the past couple years Crossfit has been comparably cyclical, building in excitement and momentum from January to July, then falling off a cliff right after the Games.

We’ll normally get video clips of the events at the affiliate Big Sky event and the past two years they’ve started the USA vs. the World competition but that’s really all Crossfit HQ has had to offer from basically late July through the end of the year. During that time most athletes dive into off season training programs that center on getting stronger or shoring up individual weaknesses, not to mention allowing time for their bodies to recover from the grind that Games preparation demands. While that down time and off season training is necessary, it frankly sucks if you're a fan of the sport. While it’s an unfair comparison, I look at how the NFL manages to stay top of mind all year round despite their season only running from August to February. The NFL is the top of the sports pyramid in the US, so why not try to copy some of their methods? There are ways that Crossfit could stay on the 'front burner' during the off season, so what can Crossfit HQ do to change this recent trend?

2014 Crossfit Games Open 14.5: Reactions and Looking Forward to What's Next

Well Dave Castro didn’t disappoint last night as he rolled out another “first” for the Crossfit Open. Despite using only the two movements that everyone expected, Castro shocked us all by turning 14.5 into the first “for time” Open WOD. Needless to say, all these “firsts” are going to make predicting any future Open WODs virtually impossible (as if they weren’t already). So on to the workout…

So it’s basically a buffet of thrusters and burpees. Have fun with that!!

Friend or Foe of Crossfit: National Pro Fitness League

If you follow Crossfit, The Sport of Fitness, at any level then you've most likely heard of Tony Budding. Budding was Crossfit's media director for many years and often seen as Dave Castro's right hand man at the Games. That all changed though late last year when Budding left Crossfit to build something of his own. What has resulted is the National Pro Fitness League, a team based version of  the Crossfit Games (my words not his). Here is how Budding describes the league: