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?

Crossfit Games 14.2 Continues to Take the Open in a Different Direction

Dave Castro and Crossfit HQ unveiled the Open WOD 14.2 tonight live from Miami, Florida at I am Crossfit and the live throw down between Talayna Fortunato and Camille Leblac-Bazinet didn't disappoint. I was wrong about the WOD, the movements and the winner of the throw down but, two weeks into the Open, one thing is becoming very apparent; the Crossfit Open isn't for everyone anymore. I wrote leading into the Open that it had two goals, to get the fittest to Regionals and to also be inclusive so that athletes from all different ability levels could participate. Through the first two weeks though, I think the second goal no longer exists.

First let's talk about the workout, it's an overhead squat and chest to bar pull-up ladder where you have 3 minutes to complete two rounds of 10 OHS at 95/65 pounds and 10 C2B pull-ups. If and when you complete that, you have another three minutes to complete another two rounds of 12 of each and so on until can't complete them within the 3 minutes. It's a brutal combination and although the weight is relatively light, both the OHS and the C2B pull-up are a step above basic movements.

While an athlete of my stature generally approaches every WOD with the only goal being survival, I do think I'll try to mimick Talayna's plan. She said afterwards that she wanted to do the OHS unbroken, then break up the C2B as needed. That will be my plan as well, for as long as I can manage. OHS are certainly not a strength of mine and anytime I'm gasping for breath, which will certainly happen after some C2B pull-ups, they are particularly awful.

Crossfit Open WOD 14.2: Talayna Fortunato vs. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet

The matchup for the live announcement of 14.2 has been announced and you can bet that these two headliners will not disappoint. Together these two boast six appearances at the Games, five of which ended with top 10 overall finishes including one podium. Talayna Fortunato and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet are no strangers to the Crossfit spotlight; in fact both of them were also a part of last year’s live announcements. Fortunato was teamed against Kristan Clever in 13.3 (150 wall balls, 90 double unders and 30 muscleups) and despite jumping out to an early lead, Clever got the best of Fortunato by four reps. Leblanc-Bazinet was pitted against eventual 2013 Games Champion Samantha Briggs in 13.5 (wicked Fran ladder) and she destroyed Briggs when she was able to advance to the 12 minute round, winning by 69 reps. With two very solid veterans like this, we are sure to get a great throw down.

Games Veterans Missing from 14.1 Crossfit Open Results

Every sport lives and dies with star power and the Sport of Fitness will be missing some of their stars this year. We know for sure that Zachary (ZA) Anderson will be out this year with a back injury, thanks to his Facebook page. There are also a handful of Games veterans who's names are suspiciously absent from the 14.1 results leaderboard. While I was inclined to think it might be some late validation issues, the Games Update Show this evening dropped a delicious tease at the end of their five minute show. They ended with a comment about big names being absent from the leaderboard and that it would be something addressed in tomorrow's update show. So we do know there will be some big name athletes who won't be returning in 2014. Here are list of possible "absentees"

• Mikko Salo: he was first one that caught my attention earlier today. It looks like he's registered but he doesn't have a score yet. 
• Matt Chan: exact same scenario as Salo and Chan tweeted this evening "he forgot the Open started last week." While that totally impossible, it does sound like he won't be competing in 2014, for whatever reason.
• Aja Barto: he's from my region so I might be more familiar with him than most be he's a veterans Games athlete. It doesn't even look like he's registered this year. I found an article right before the 2013 Games where he talked about the strain of running a gym and training full time. He talked about the possibility of giving up the competition side to focus on his gym. He's also very big into Olympic lifting so he might have gone that route as opposed to CF.

Crossfit Open 14.1 Reactions: A Change in Direction?

I’ve had a night to digest the announcement of Crossfit’s Open WOD 14.1 and, while I thought I’d wake up with a better feeling and understanding of the surprise, I’m still very torn on what Dave Castro threw down. There are some things about 14.1 that I understand.

• I understand that HQ likes “repeat” WODs so that they can later brag about how much everyone improved. Mark my words, we will see a post on the Games site within a couple weeks concerning what percentage of the population posted improved scores (granted it’ll be a small sample size considering only 26K people were signed up for 2011 and not necessarily all of that pool is currently signed up for 2013).

• I understand that this is Crossfit’s baby and they can program absolutely anything that they wish.

• I also understand that this is a competition and thus just about any movement, and then some, that’s ever showed up on Crossfit.com is an option for HQ to program. We all knew that double unders would show up at some point of the Open. The surprise though was them being the very first movement in the opening WOD. I would feel very differently if double unders were used as they have been in the previous two years or even if this exact WOD was used later in the competition.

• Lastly, I understand that the primary goal of the Open is to get the correct people to the Regionals competition and every athlete who makes it to Regionals (or for Masters straight to the Games), should be able to knock out double unders with ease.

So what’s my problem if everything above is true?
Crossfit HQ goes out of the way leading up the Open to “sell” it as an inclusive competition. They post countless videos, including several with Glassman himself, encouraging anyone and everyone to sign up and “prove yourself.” They encourage those who are brand new to Crossfit and even encourage those who’ve never done Crossfit. Glassman talked in one of the videos about athletes from other sports and them proving themselves if they think they’re truly a match for Rich Froning. I guess what I’m driving at is my frustration isn’t with how 14.1 was programmed, instead my frustration is with how it was sold leading up to the announcement.

If Crossfit wants the Open to simply be a vehicle to get the most deserving athletes to Regionals, then I agree with, understand and fully support that goal. If that is the case though, 200,000 don’t need to sign up for the Open in 2015. I certainly don’t need to sign up for the Open next year and maybe that entirely ok with Crossfit HQ. Maybe they’d like to establish a clear line between the person who does Crossfit for sport and the person who does Crossfit for exercise. And if that’s the case, it won’t change my love for Crossfit or my passion to write, think, watch or follow the sport. I could not be clearer about that last point, while I’m disappointed and/or discouraged in the programming of 14.1; it certainly hasn’t changed my passion for Crossfit as a whole. Perhaps I look at the Open differently now but that’s ok. I’ll struggle through and Crossfit will crown the fittest man, woman and team in a couple months and all will be right with the world.

Crossfit Open 14.1 - Garret Fisher vs. Marcus Hendren

When HQ first announced that the live throw down for 14.1 would be between Garret Fisher and Marcus Hendren, I was a bit underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, both of these guys are extremely upper echelon Crossfitters. They boast Games experience and they’re both young enough for us to assume that they’re best days are ahead of them. While Rich Froning deserves to be the favorite until he decides to stop competing, both Hendren and Fisher are very serious competitors for the crown and/or a podium finish. Did I say I was underwhelmed? What the heck was I thinking?!? Crossfit only started these live throwdowns last year but I think this one is the second best matchup on the men’s side that we’ve seen, second only to Froning vs Khalipa. Let’s take a look at how these two young guns stack up:

Measurables:
Garret Fisher is 22 years old and reports himself as 6’1, 210 pounds.
Marcus Hendren is 25 years old and reports himself as 5’10, 198 pounds.
My only thought on this is that I was surprised Fisher outweighed Hendren. Fisher looks like the leaner athlete but I guess that’s what an extra three inches does for you. There’s obviously a three year age difference as well.
Experience
Garret Fisher, as best I can tell, started competing in CF in 2012 when he finished 29th in Northern California in the Open (285th overall) and finished up a very respectable 7th at Regionals. That didn’t earn him a spot in the Games but the then 20 year old proved he would be back. Last year Fisher cemented his spot as a Northern Cali beast, taking 4th in the Open (50th overall) and nailing down third place in a very tough region to earn a trip to the Games. He beat out solid Games veterans like Pat Barber and Gabe Subry. His first trip to the Games wouldn’t be a disappoint either as narrowly edged out Hendren for 5th place, including top 5 finishes in Row1 and the Burden Run. Fisher was solid and consistent throughout the Games, getting off to a solid start with top 10 finishes in each of the first four WODs and ended the weekend with three more top 10 finishes.
Marcus Hendren, again as best I can tell, also started competing in CF in 2012 when finished 11th in the Central East in the Open (141st overall) and followed that up in a 4th place finish at Regionals (behind two Games Champs Froning and Holmberg). His first trip to the Games culminated in a solid 7th place finish that included two top three finishes. Last year Hendren had an eventful ride to the Games, finishing 3rd in the region (42 overall) in the Open, but then having to make a mad dash on the final day of Regionals to earn his return trip to the Games. In the first four events at regionals, he placed 9th or worse in three of them, but in the final three WODs he notched two wins and fifth to squeeze out Nick Fory by a single point for 5th place (again behind two former champs). At the Games, Hendren again got off to a slow start finishing 37th, 10th and 24th in the first three workouts. Once he got going though, Hendren put on a show finishing inside the top 10 on six of the nine remaining WODs.

Head to Head
Obviously since both these guys were at the Games last year, we’ve got some data to compare since they were doing these exact same WODs in the same conditions. In the 12 scored events from last year, Fisher holds the head to head advantage by finishing ahead of Hendren in six of the events. Hendren can boast four victories and they actually tied in two events. Fisher had six top 10 finishes and two top five finishes while Hendren had seven top 10 finishes, but only one top five, although that was first place overall finish in the Zig Zag sprint.
When you go back and look at Regionals, Hendren really dominated Fisher although the times out of the Central East were incredible across the board out of that region last year for whatever reason. Hendren posted better times/lifts on six of the seven events when compared to Fisher, although Fisher was in the top 5 in all but one event, whereas Hendren only posted three top five finishes. If you go back even further, Hendren posted better numbers on three of the five Open WODs from last year.
So is there a conclusion somewhere in here?
The honest answer is I don’t know. Fisher and Hendren are both amazing CF athletes, they’re both going to post awesome numbers and most likely be back at the Games in 2014. As to who will win this throwdown, I think the data says it should be Hendren. Hendren performed better in the Open and Regionals phase last year and his worst events at the Games were ‘unconventional’ CF WODs (37th place in the pool and 24th in the marathon row). This WOD should be very basic and conventional. I think the only reason I want to pick Fisher is because he’s more visible during the offseason. He works out with Jason Khalipa and my personal favorite Miranda Oldroyd (aka Shoulder Meat) at the NC Lab so I can at least see some of what he’s doing and who he’s working out with on a daily basis. I know he’s getting pushed and getting better. So now that I think about it, on the off chance that Miranda stumbles across this lowly blog, I have to pick her guy (call me Miranda, let’s talk :-) ).
Garret Fisher will win the live throw down at 14.1!!
You can of course watch it all live on the Crossfit Games site Thursday, February 27th. Be there and be ready…..(seriously Miranda, call me!)

What is Inclusive and Why Does Crossfit Care?

After my last post, it occurred to me that perhaps not everyone understands why it’s so important that the Open is “inclusive,” I when I say inclusive I mean that almost everyone, regardless of their fitness level or experience in Crossfit, can post a score. Crossfit HQ wants as many people as possible to compete and complete the Open. They use the word “inclusive” quite a bit and they’re very up front about wanting anyone and everyone to join this worldwide competition. You don’t have to be in great shape, or be able to lift the backend of a car off the ground or even be a member of a Crossfit gym. They literally want everyone to sign up and do their best to complete five WODs over five weeks, it’s really that simple.

Why would Crossfit HQ care about being inclusive?
I’ll start with the answer that I think they’d give, they don’t want anyone to feel intimidated by some crazy, highly skilled WOD. They want everyone to feel comfortable with signing up and competing, to the best of their ability. They want everyone to be able to “post a score.” In order to accomplish that goal, they won’t have WODs that start with a “skilled” movement (double unders, handstand pushups, muscle ups, etc) or a movement requiring heavy weight. By starting with movements or weights that almost everyone can complete, they allow and encourage more people to sign up.
And of course the secondary reason, or you could just describe is as an outcome of the reason listed above, the more people that sign up, the more money it generates. Signing up for the Open isn’t free (although it is cheaper than any other competition you’ll find) and let’s be honest, HQ wants the Open to generate as much money as possible. The Open has grown by astounding rates over it’s now four year history and it’s “inclusiveness” is a huge reason for its success.
In 2011, just over 26,000 people signed up for the Open. That’s pretty impressive for a niche sport in their first year of competition but each and every year has remarkable and astounding growth. In 2012, over 69,000 people signed up and in 2013; over 138,000 paid their $20 to join (you do the math on that!). So far in 2014, I count right around 186,000 that have signed up and that number will certainly grow over the next 24-36 hours, until the release of the first WOD. By tomorrow night, I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if Dave Castro announces that over 200,000 people have signed up.
The Crossfit Open is growing at an unprecedented rate, and it’s “inclusiveness” is one of the biggest reasons why.