The Gym Needs Rest Too!
2014 Open Summary
Congratulations to everyone who competed in the 2014 CrossFit Open. This year 209,585 people registered for the Open, including 127 CFSBKers. This year saw a variety of twists to the programming of Open workouts and ended with quite a bang. Share in the comments what you thought about the programming this year, any overall notes on your experience and what you got out of it.
14.1
As many rounds in 10 minutes as possible of:
30 Double Unders
15 Power Snatches, 75/55
14.2
For as long as possible:
From 0:00-3:00
2 rounds of:
10 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb.
10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
From 3:00-6:00
2 rounds of:
12 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb.
12 chest-to-bar pull-ups
From 6:00-9:00
2 rounds of:
14 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb. 14 chest-to-bar pull-ups
Following the same pattern until the athlete cannot complete the perscribed work in the allotted time frame.
14.3
8 minute AMRAP:
10 deadlifts, 135 / 95 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
15 deadlifts, 185 / 135 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
20 deadlifts, 225 / 155 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
25 deadlifts, 275 / 185 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
30 deadlifts, 315 / 205 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
35 deadlifts, 365 / 225 lb.
15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch
14.4
14 minute AMRAP:
60-calorie row
50 toes-to-bars
40 wall-ball shots, 20 / 14 lb.
30 cleans, 135 / 95 lb.
20 muscle-ups
14.5
For time
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Thrusters, 95 / 65 lb.
Burpees
FINAL CFSBK Men’s Leaderboard
FINAL CFSBK Women’s Leaderboard
Special congrats to Bob S who ranked 5th place in the North East and 34th worldwide in the master 55-59 year old division. Also to Jacinto B who ranked 2nd place in the North East and 19th worldwide in the masters 60+ year old division. Note that at 74 years old Jacinto is giving up 14 years to many of his fellow competitors.
___________________
Josh Bridges does 14.5 in 7:49
The Upstanding Desk is a Kickstarter campaign which ends this afternoon. The project converts normal desks into standing work stations at a very low cost.
WEDNESDAY PROGRAMMING
WU
3 RNFT
10 Hard Pulls
10 Push Ups
10 V-Ups
For time
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps of:
Thrusters, 95 / 65 lb.
Burpees
Congrats Bob, Jancinto and the other CFSBK warriors. Hope to do some (not quite all) of these workouts someday.
DO. I get it!
Very funny David.
Was Bridges locking out fully on his thrusters?
🙂 David
I just checked out the Final CFBK Leaderboards. Wow, you guys/gals are SICK. Congrats everyone!
I totally fell for that, David.
I really liked doing the Open this year. It was a little hard at first, because i was definitely in better shape a year ago, and one only likes to see progress. But the workouts became increasingly better for me (14.1 and 14.2 included skills I have not mastered) and I felt I did about as well on the last three WODS as I possibly could have at this time in my fitness life.
(I think I made one strategic mistake – on 14.3 – and I might have done a tiny bit better – but it taught me the lesson not to follow every "WOD tip" I read on the internet!!)
The last three WODS were intimidating, but I felt really good when I completed them, like I had done something beyond the normal.
I also enjoyed the great encouragement I got from David, Val, Azam, Noah, Mcdowell, etc… Thanks, all!
Most of all, I did not get injured – I tore a bicep tendon warming up for 13.5 – and I completed all five workouts. Grateful for that!
Cute, DO. The sad part is I actually fell for it for about 15 minutes. I got up, saw the blog, and went back to bed. Couldn't sleep. Then I realized what day it is so I came in.
Best round on the ACTUAL WOD today: I think 110/1:56.3.
Same as Stella, but didn't know what day it is, went back to sleep, worth it.
I, for one, welcome our new burpee overlord.
DO:
Uh huh
6am. Wednesday's workout. Felt like I almost died on this one. Wonder what the 7am class thought when they saw me rolling on the ground after the last piece. Rounds were:
215/1:36.0
225/1:35.3
225/1:35.3
225/1:37.1
225/1:38.5
teehee
I'd prefer doing 14.5 again over tomorrow's actual WOD.
great. what IS tomorrow's wod ??
@Michael C. – well played.
And I have a guess what tomorrow's WOD is. And I really hope I'm wrong.
Came in for 10am with Jess and a sassy McD before leaving again this afternoon until Saturday. I wasn't fooled for a second, just saying. Stayed lower on the bench than when we did this in January with the 250m. 85# was perfect, best round at 1.54, worst 1.58. I was glad to stay under 2 min on each of them. Happy to be moving and feeling strong-ish despite every single group of my muscles screaming at me.
Aw f**k
Ok, I remember this one. Tomorrow will suck. There is just no way around it.
I have to go home before coming to the gym tonight, will someone please do me a solid and post what tomorrow is? I would love to know how I'll gear up and such. Tkx
6am
Best round was 185/1:38 I think. A hell of a rough workout. Peter is out of control with those numbers. Glad he didn't die.
The Open was great for me. I came out much better than I expected, mostly because the last two WODs mostly played to my strong suits. I had a great time competing and most of all loved the atmosphere and sense of anticipation at the gym. I've got some fun goals now.
@Hambo. You won't need any extra gear aside from swole arms and swole legs and possibly a bucket to puke in. It wouldn't hurt to be as tall as Peter though.
Lemme guess:
5 rounds – rest as required
Bench press 5 reps
Row 500 m
I'm still pretty new to CrossFit, comparatively. The Open for me was data analysis; see where I really need to focus on my training to get better, figure out issues with certain movements, etc. It was super intimidating initially. Okay, scratch initially, the whole process was. But I felt accomplished afterward, and feel I've built better rapport (thanks Noah and Jess) with those at CFSBK. I'm excited to play with all this new information and use it to get better results out of what I'm doing. I think I can let myself pick up a CFSBK shirt now too. I told myself I could buy one if I made it through the Open. So that'll be nice.
Great perspective, Rick!
Hambo
Samir nailed it.
CrossFit Open Results:
Worldwide Ranking: 35,283 out of 81,143
Regional Ranking: 3,279 out of 7,7987
Non gendered gym ranking: 16/127
Male gym ranking: 13/71
Personally, I enjoyed these open workouts more than any of the previous years. With the exception of 14.1 (which was the kind of workout I'm terrible at and had the lowest ranking in) I really thought the programing was fun, interesting and challenging. I would have liked to see another heavy weight workout come up, something that challenged more athleticism with a significant weight element like a heavy clean and jerk or snatch. But as a competitor I'm pretty pleased with this year's programming.
I also had an unexpected value of realizing how informative it can be to watch yourself compete. I posted 3 videos this year and learned something upon reviewing the footage of each one. Both from technique and pacing perspectives. After watching how I paced 14.2 and 14.3 I came into 14.5 with a more specific strategy, especially on the toes to bars and wall balls which I think I employed successfully.
I like to see how the logistics of the workouts are evolving, from only AMRAPs in the first years to the much broader scope we had this year. That being said, it seems like the entry points into these workouts also got significantly higher. I dont know if that's a bad thing as it should be a significant test but it certainly makes it less inclusive.
I think a minimum standards list could potentially help clarify what the expectations will be of people, just a bare minimum that wouldn't give away the workouts but could give folks a minimum buy in to be able to post a score every week. Something like:
1 Chest to bar pull-up
1 Thruster 95/65
1 Double Under
Access to Concept 2 Rowing machine
1 135/95 deadlift
1 toe to bar
etc etc.
Not a perfect idea as that would mean some people don't sign up by virtue of not having, say a chest to bar pull-up or toe to bar and maybe would never force themselves to try it out under pressure.
Great to see so many people sign up this year. We are 100% doing intramurals next year.
I like this picture of the gym.
Congratulations to Jacinto and Bob. And I feel the need to congratulate Ellie, who not only participated in the open (which included some pretty long brutal work-outs) in her first trimester of pregnancy (which, though different for everyone, is typically a tough and exhausting 3 months), but also did incredibly well!
Overall, I was inspired by so many people this year. I like how the open makes you do things, e.g., 14.5 was probably my best effort and it was the one I was most mad at when it was announced and would never have done otherwise.
Yesterday happened for me today, so I just read the CSA article. Thanks again for these, Margie.
After a couple of days off I guess the good news is I'm not sore. On the other hand I was in a bit of a daze during the workout. My objective was to keep moving and not rest, which I accomplished, but I don't think I moved very quickly..
13.2 this time: 6 rnds, 5 pp, 10 DL, 6 box jumps. I haven't been able to locate my score from last year. I'll be pretty mad if it's better.
Enjoyed the partner run on this beautiful day.
Then some muscle up transition and hand stand work.
I tried to employ the sledgehammer but it was little more than embarrassing.
Hi – greetings from Orlando(n't) Florida. Do not despair. There is sunshine in everyone's future. Two great WODs yesterday and today, from Crossfit Kings Point (I think it was Brandon who posted about this place – totally great).
Both days we started w a 400M run, Droms, and PVC work. They are starting a wendler cycle so I just tried to find something good for the repout.
Yesterday:
HBBS
45×8
95×5
115×3
135×5
155×5
175×10
Wod – 10 min AMRAP
1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10
Power Clean, 135#
10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1
24" Box Jump
88 (8 rounds +2 cleans)
Glad I went rx'd.
Today:
Press
45×5
65×5
85×5
Work:
95×5
100×5
105×5 (that was my repout)
3 rounds
30 pull-ups (these broke down fast and became ring rows)
30 wall balls 20#, 10'
17:44. This broke me. I need to really practice my pull-ups. No excuses, they are my goat.
One of my favorite aspects of CrossFit is the "constantly varied" part and that includes going to other gyms and seeing what you can do in a new environment. I like that though I miss home. Great gym and good coaches, facilities, etc. Both days I walked in and there was a group shooting hoops, playing horse. I really liked that for some reason. Community.
Also, great article Margie! I learned a lot; more please.
Finally, I saw something really moving on the ny times website – maybe someone more web savy can turn this into a proper link; this one is for a mobile phone. But it choked me up (in the best way): http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/04/01/opinion/slomo.html?referrer=
It's about an interesting person who skates the San Diego boardwalk all day and his nickname is Slomo. Worth watching. I swear. Sorry (not really) for the long post.
This was my second Open. Last year I was struggling with my kip on Chest to Bar and T2B and double unders were pretty inconsistent.
This was the year that I couldn't fall back on any excuses. I can do all of the movements, I just need to do them heavier and faster. Overall very happy with my performance but I think I could have pushed harder here and there.
I really liked the programming this year. Since the first movement in 14.1 was double unders and the second movement in 14.2 was C2B, HQ made a firm statement that the Open isn't exactly for everyone anymore. Those first workouts made a clear distinction between the "haves" and "have nots". And it forced the "have nots" out of their comfort zone.
So many people hit movements and weights they would never attempt because they always have a safety net in the form of scaling options.
Looking forward to intramurals next year.
Today's workout left me feeling absolutely trashed. I felt faint at whole foods and still dont feel right.
Clean pulls from blocks@110%
396x3x3
HBBS: Was supposed to do 386x5x5
386x5x3
386×3, then failed the 4th rep of the 4th set. Took 5kg off…
375x5x2
RDLS
308x4x5
so done
Congrats to Bob & Jacinto! Badass 🙂
First day back after a week in Costa Rica! Came back relaxed yet tired.
6am with Jess & McD…yesterday's push press workout. I got 6 rds plus 17 reps @ 63#. Was hoping to complete 7 but I felt good and stayed pretty consistent throughout…
Came in to squat heavy with Jake today since we're almost cycling together (ba dum tsss).
Clean pulls from blocks @110%
60×3 90×3 110x3x3
HBBS
135×5 185×5 225×5 255x5x6
Still moving pretty well, but I'm feeling all sorts of smashed up on this cycle so I'm not going any heavier.
RDL
135×5 225×5 275x5x3
This was my second year in the Open, and I really enjoyed it. Last year I felt like most of the workouts pushed me to do movements that were still a bit unnerving (ex. Snatch), heavier weights than I was comfortable with (75# PP), and/or to push the things I was starting to getting better at (WB, DU's).
This year, I felt a bit more competitive with myself about it all. I know I've gained strength and capacity in a year's time and so I went into a lot of these WODs with a mindset along the lines of… "ok. you can do this. don't f*ck it up." That was esp. true of the first WOD (moderate snatches, which I now feel good with, and DU's, which i've started to get dialed in) and the second (OH squat, and C2B pull-ups… which I don't regularly do, but knew I could do at least at some point).
I enjoyed the programming this year, though I really questioned the DL workout after watching the form breakdown in the live announcement face-off. Overall, fun workouts and good surprises along the way. I was also actually looking forward to burpees (!?) in the open this year, but pairing them with thrusters and making them bar-facing took any bit of "enjoyment" out of it. 14.5 was simply brutal.
Inspired by David's big breakdown of the numbers…
Worldwide Rank: 14601/45296 (+120 pages of unranked people on the leaderboard)
NorthEast: 1462/4877
non-gendered gym: 19/127 (basing that off David's number…)
female gym: 3/38