Note: At the time of publishing the CrossFit Games have not finalized all the results, leaving them subject to change. 

Here are the complete worldwide team results from the 2022 CrossFit Team Quarterfinals:

1. CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (USA; North America) — 10 points
2. CrossFit Invictus (USA; North America) — 24 points
3. CrossFit Mayhem Independence (USA; North America) — 27 points
4. CrossFit Selwyn (Australia; Oceania) — 45 points
5. CrossFit PSC (Canada; North America) — 54 points
6. CrossFit Oslo Navy Blue (Norway; Europe) — 56 points
7. CrossFit Move Fast Lift Heavy (USA; North America) — 81 points
8. CrossFit EXF (Australia; Oceania)— 110 points
9. CrossFit Mayhem Justice (USA; North America) — 115 points 
10. Kamo Athletics CrossFit (USA; North America) —116 points 
11. CrossFit Zarautz Training Culture (Spain; Europe) — 117 points 
12. CrossFit Oba (USA; North America) — 128 points

CrossFit Games assign points relative to a finish. For example, a first-place team finish in an event garners one point, with that number increasing as an athlete or team ranks lower. The lower the score, the better a reflection of a performance in its totality.

That makes Mayhem Freedom’s ultimate result in the 2022 CrossFit Team Quarterfinals — where they won Workouts Two, Three, and Five, and notched second in Workout Four and fifth in Workout One — that much more impressive in context. They were only the team to have a top-five finish in each workout. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Team Mayhem Freedom (@mayhemfreedom)

[Related: Guilherme Malheiros Totals 1,101 Pounds In Event 4 Of The 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinals]

Causing Mayhem

CrossFit Mayhem — the gym affiliate of Team Mayhem Freedom — had humble beginnings. It also took time before some considered it an integral place to the sport of CrossFit overall. 

Over a decade ago, in 2009, Froning Jr. originally started CrossFit Mayhem in his native Cookeville, Tennessee. Then, just three years later, what first took place in Froning Sr.’s barn expanded to a full-fledged downtown training facility.

For the Mayhem crew, it’s all been a whirlwind ever since. Mayhem first sent a team to the CrossFit Games in 2013, and they fared admirably with an initial 27th-place finish. It wasn’t until their founder joined the efforts that they truly launched to the competition’s heights.

After winning his fourth CrossFit Games in 2014, Froning Jr. subsequently retired from the Individual portion of the Games to focus on leading Mayhem to team excellence.

In retrospect, that decision fared quite well for one of CrossFit’s legends. Since Froning Jr. joined his team, Mayhem Freedom has been a mainstay in the team CrossFit ranks. 

Among more notable results, in 2015 and 2016, Team Mayhem Freedom became only the second-ever team to win back-to-back CrossFit Affiliate Cup Championships — the official team competition of the CrossFit Games. A worldwide first-place finish in the 2022 CrossFit Team Quarterfinals is not out of the ordinary for their typical output. 

While members have understandably shifted over the years, the current stellar team consists of Froning Jr., Samuel Cournoyer, Andrea Nisler, and Taylor Williamson. We’ll see what magic this dynamic group can conjure the next time they compete.

SemiFinals on Deck

With the Quarterfinals in the rearview mirror, the 2022 CrossFit SemiFinals are right around the corner. There will be 10 in-person events this year — four in North America, two in Europe, and one in Oceania, Asia, Africa, and South America, respectively.

The Semifinals will happen over four successive weeks, starting on May 20-22, 2022, and ending on June 10-12, 2022. If an in-person event is not feasible for any reason, it will take place virtually. The 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games will follow the Semifinals and occur on Aug. 3-7, 2022, in Madison, WI.

Featured image: @mayhemfreedom on Instagram

The post Mayhem Freedom Wins the 2022 CrossFit Team Quarterfinals appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On March 21, 2022 — mere days before the 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinals begin virtually on March 24 — five-time Fittest Woman on Earth®, Tia-Clair Toomey posted a video to her YouTube channel detailing a day of eating as she aims to cut weight during the CrossFit season. You can check out the full video below:

[Related: Dark Horses to Watch in the 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinals]

The Australian native is aiming to lose 20 pounds that she gained while she trained and competed with the Australian National Bobsled Team. Toomey helped Australia qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics, but ultimately didn’t compete. So, she’s turned her attention solely back to CrossFit, which was always her plan.

A win in the 2022 CrossFit Games would notch Toomey’s sixth consecutive title, giving her the most victories for an individual CrossFit athlete in the event’s history. 

Breakfast

Toomey’s husband and coach, Shane Orr, plays an integral role in helping organize her nutrition. As one example, bagels appear to be an essential element of Toomey’s breakfasts on training days, while Orr would like to ween her off them.

During the day the pair recorded the video, Toomey consumed one and a half bagels with solid helpings of blueberries, bananas, bacon, peanut butter, and eggs. Orr maintains that Toomey’s breakfast involves more fats because she’s not training until three hours later. In the event of a shorter time between meal and training session, her breakfast would have fewer fats. 

Here’s Toomey’s full breakfast laid out:

• One banana
• A half-cup of blueberries
• Three apple cider vinegar gummies
• Two eggs
• Eight grams of Irish butter
• 20 grams of flaxseed peanut butter
• Everything bagel — 45 grams
• Two eggs
• 112 grams of beef bacon

Toomey says she likes to feel “full and satisfied” in the mornings. That logic adds up because her breakfast comes out to a total of 790 calories, in addition to vitamins and supplements she takes after the meal’s over. 

During the video, Orr highlights Toomey’s essential pouch of snacks, which he says helps her maintain energy and endurance during training. The assortment of snacks includes a protein smoothie blended with a carbohydrate, one banana, gummies, oats, and Nutri-Grain® bars. 

Lunch

Once her first training session of the day has concluded, Toomey eats her lunch at the gym. 

It doesn’t get more simple and effective than a 500-calorie combination of beef and rice:

• One cup of jasmine rice
• 200 grams of beef liver

Seeing as how she’s still working on cutting her bobsled weight, Toomey emphasizes that she’s conscientious about how many macronutrients she eats daily. Her training session involved 135-pound barbell snatches, clean & jerks, bar muscle-ups, ring muscle-ups, handstand walks, and some time on a stationary exercise bike. 

The snacks Toomey eats afterward amounts to an additional 780 calories:

• One scoop of 1st Phorm’s Ignition® Protein Powder
• 27 grams of Loop D Fruit Phormula 1
• One banana
• Two pouches of fruit gummies
• 141 grams of mixed berry oats
• Recharge drink mix

According to Toomey, she’s aiming for a delicate balance of gradually decreasing her calories to allow her to maintain her training. Notably, she says she expects to hit her target competition weight sometime during the 2022 CrossFit Semifinals. This phase of the CrossFit season will start on Friday, May 20, 2022, and run through to Friday, July 1, 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Tia-Clair Toomey-Orr (@tiaclair1)

[Related: How to Simultaneously Succeed in Competitive Sport and CrossFit]

Dinner

As Toomey’s day starts to wind down, she has a light 440 calories for dinner: 

• One six-ounce pork tenderloin
• A 150-gram potato
• A 45-gram avocado
• Salad mix

Toomey said that she usually would have an evening snack but eschewed it this time around because she had already hit her daily macros. If she had additional macro breathing room, she’d have eaten Greek yogurt with oats, berries, and honey. According to her Toomey, she tries to keep her daily caloric intake below 2,500. On the day of this video, she slightly exceeded that benchmark with 2,550 calories. 

The Quarterfinals Are Next

In the now-finalized 2022 CrossFit Open leaderboard, Toomey finished second worldwide to American athlete and 2021 Rookie of the Year, Mallory O’Brien.

The 2022 CrossFit Quarterfinals begin on Thursday, March 24, 2022, and run through to Thursday, April 24, 2022. This competition section features the athletes who finished in the top 10 percent of their division during the Open. Both the Open and Quarterfinals are virtual competitions.

The Semifinals will start on Friday, May 20, 2022, and last until Friday, July 1, 2022. Four of the 10 total Semifinals will take place in North America, two in Europe, and one each in Australia, Asia, Africa, and South America. Finally, the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games will run from Aug. 3-7, 2022, in Madison, WI. 

Featured Image: @tiaclair1 on Instagram

The post Here’s How 5-Time CrossFit Games Champion Tia-Clair Toomey is Eating to Cut Weight appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This year’s CrossFit Open kicked off on February 22 with WOD 18.1 and ended with final score submissions for with WOD 18.5 last week. As each Open WOD was announced, I offered you the same briefing I gave the athletes at my gym, Precision CrossFit. My aim was to give you immediate feedback that would arm you with valuable strategies and tips to help you make the most of your efforts and score your best possible performance in each WOD.

Today, I’m going to give you a recap of the 2018 Open, share what I’ve learned, and provide you with some takeaways that might give you an edge in your training and performance going forward.

Recap and Takeaways

First, let me say outright that, in my opinion, this was the best programmed Open ever. This year’s Open tested every energy system, skills at all levels, max strength, and recovery. In some cases, this was the clearest and most pristine testing of a system ever. In particular, the testing of recovery and strength in 18.2 was extraordinarily well done.

The first big takeaway is simply a confirmation that, once again, HQ’s programming of the Open stayed true to established rep counts, including:

• 100+ Toes-to-Bar
• 36 or more Muscle Ups
• 45+ Handstand Push Ups
• 60-85 C2B Pull Ups

Yes, there were fewer HSPU in this Open. But, there was a new HSPU standard, and you still needed the capacity for 60-85 to be able to perform to that new standard with a good time. The one real new rep count change was actually in double unders. Going forward, we can expect to see in excess of 600 DUs in WODs, and your training should reflect that new reality.

Dumbbells continued their increasing prominence this year as well. We saw new movements in the dumbbell clean-and-jerk and front squat. You should become proficient not only with these movements but with their natural correlate – Thrusters. I’m confident that you can expect dumbbell thrusters in a future Open WOD. Dumbbells are here to stay, and you should expect to see more of them, and in a greater variety of movements and movement pairings.

Also be sure to become very skilled at handstand walks, which are sure to reappear in future WODs. Specifically, you need to be able to perform consistent handstand walks even after suffering through a variety of capacity-draining, neurologically-taxing, and strength-demanding movements. This year, for those of you who tend to “scorpion” when you handstand walk, you may have found that, after the deadlifts lit up your back, you had a tough time pushing through the handstand walks.

Last, let me address those of you who felt that rowing made the first WOD a “big man’s” WOD. That’s nonsense. It’s rowing. It’s going to be in every Open. You simply need to be prepared for it. Many athletes at my gym skip rowing WODs, no matter how clever I am in trying to trick, threaten, and cajole them into doing it. Granted, it’s not sexy, but rowing is an indisputable mainstay of the CrossFit program and a necessary capacity to have. What’s more, it’s probably the best way to work and understand your heart rate zones and get familiar with your individual redline.

2019 Training Tips

Based on what we saw this year, there are four things you should pay particular attention to in preparing for 2019.

1. First, work the new standards. There’s little chance they will go away.
2. Next, dedicate yourself to rowing proficiency. Increased row capacity and getting comfortable with being uncomfortable on the rower can boost your ranking significantly.
3. You should also stay true to the established reps counts, as I’ve described above.
4. Last, your overall goal for the coming year is to get stronger, but not slower.

Yes, You Should Do The Open Every Year

In closing, let me recap why you should do the Open each year, regardless your fitness level or chances of moving on in the competition. As I have always said, aiming for success in the Open is not just for top-tier athletes. It’s also a tremendous opportunity to build benchmarks and goals into your year-round training. Even if you never go on to high-level competition, completing the Open WODs each year gives you performance data you can use to chart your progress and evaluate your programming going forward.

What’s more, the message, as demonstrated in the programming of the WODs, is clear: the CrossFit Open is for everyone. It’s a chance to not only benchmark your performance but to share in something uniquely challenging with your friends and your own box’s community. It’s an annual event and a tradition that you should embrace and enjoy.

Last, for reference, here are all my tips for the 2018 CrossFit Open WODs:

• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.1
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.2
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.3
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.4
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.5

The post CrossFit Open 2018: Best Programmed Ever appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This year’s CrossFit Open kicked off on February 22, with WOD 18.1 and is ending with WOD 18.5. As each Open WOD has been announced, I have provided you with the same briefing I give the athletes at my gym, Precision CrossFit. This immediate feedback was intended to arm you with valuable strategies and tips to help you make the most of your efforts and score your best possible performance in these WODs. Today, I’m not only going to tell you, I’m going to show you.

As I have always said, aiming for success in the Open is not just for top-tier athletes. It’s also a tremendous opportunity to build benchmarks and goals into your year-round training. Even if you never go on to high-level competition, completing the Open WODs each year gives you performance data you can use to chart your progress and evaluate your programming going forward.

Back in 2012, my performance on this WOD earned me a spot at Regionals. Now, six years later, that same score will come nowhere close to earning a spot at Regionals. Plus, six years older, I can only hope to match my previous score.

Unlike the last two weeks, where we had WODs programmed for top-level athletes, this WOD is for every CrossFitter. And the choice of WOD was left to a community vote.

The message here is clear: CrossFit, and the Open is for everyone. It’s a chance to not only benchmark your performance but to share in something uniquely challenging with your friends and your own box’s community. And this week I, along with all my coaches, will do the WOD to give the 2018 Open a proper send-off.

As I’ve said, I have no expectation of going to Regionals this year. I’m just out to try my best. By really giving it my all, I will be confident that my score is a solid benchmark going forward, and, in my case, I’ll have a chance to show my gym’s members what I and my coaches are capable of, and something more. When folks get together and do pretty much anything that requires them to give it their all, it becomes something special. Yes, this is a workout. Sure, it’s a demonstration. But it’s also a celebration.

In the CrossFit world, celebrating community means WODs, cheering, loud music, and probably a lot of friendly smack talk. My coaches and I will give it our all to celebrate. You should too.

Open WOD 18.4

Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of:

• 3 thrusters
• 3 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 6 thrusters
• 6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 9 thrusters
• 9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 12 thrusters
• 12 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 15 thrusters
• 15 chest-to-bar pull-ups
• 18 thrusters
• 18 chest-to-bar pull-ups

This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 18, go on to 21. If you complete 21, go on to 24, etc.

Men use 100 lb. Women use 65 lb. Additional scalings, movement standards, and more are available on the official CrossFit Open 18.5 page.

How to Approach WOD 18.5

To Finish this year’s Open, CrossFit HQ let the community choose. There were no easy WODs to choose from, but the choices ensured that this finale will be both familiar and fun.

With this seven-minute WOD, we’ll end the 2018 Open with something all-too-familiar: another Fran variation. With the simple-yet-devastating couplet of thrusters and pull-ups, CrossFit HQ has offered a WOD that everyone can immediately understand and plan for.

Of course, there are a few things to be mindful of:

First, there’s pacing. Heading into this WOD hard and fast will make you feel like a badass when you finish the 12s in a few minutes. Then…. you’ll tank. Listen, seven minutes is a long time. Pace yourself carefully. You can be aggressive, but you can’t be reckless.

To pace yourself effectively, you’ll need to consider several things. First, the thrusters. These, you’ll want to break up carefully when the sets get a little bigger. Early on, go unbroken. But pay attention as the sets get larger and make sure you don’t drop the bar with one or two reps to go. Then there’s your rest. Don’t take each drop of the bar or transition as a break. Be conscientious about your breaks and don’t waste even moments when breaking up sets or making transitions. Break the sets into as few unbroken segments

Like every WOD that matters, simple housekeeping — getting your area set up well and ensuring the smoothest possible transitions — can make all the difference. Do all you can to minimize transition times. Set up your workout area for maximum efficiency and the quickest possible transitions. Simply keeping your barbell as close to the pull-up bar as possible can earn you extra reps. Remember, every unnecessary step and re-positioning cuts into your time. For those of you doing well on the in the rankings, each misstep can be a stumble down the leaderboard. If you haven’t already this year, be sure to review my prep info for last year’s Open. There’s a bunch of tips and ideas in there to help you with this and upcoming WODs.

Last, there are chest-to-bar pull-ups. This is the most important movement to pace and to break up into optimal sets. If your pull-ups are not strong, break the sets early. And do not overlook the value of singles. At my gym, Precision CrossFit, we’ve had great success with singles on chest-to-bar pull-ups and other gymnastic movements. For a more in-depth discussion of this, see The Final Four: Bodyweight Movements For The CrossFit Open.

Overall, you’ve got to pace yourself but do so smartly. These movements and this format are very familiar. Because of this, you should be able to not only come up with a good game plan but also accurately monitor yourself along the way and pace yourself for optimal performance.

So, take a look at my video. Then, get out there, have some fun, and push yourself. Hard. Closeout this year’s Open with your best effort yet.

Here are all our previous tips for the 2018 CrossFit Open WODs:

• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.1
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.2
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.3
• Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.4
• CrossFit Open 2018: Best Programmed Ever

The post Quick Tips For CrossFit Open WOD 18.5 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

It’s Really Not a Big Deal

What occurs to me as a three-peater is that there is really nothing on the line here. The CrossFit world revolves around the big dogs who compete later in the week, and the masters, while important, are just an ancillary sideshow, a courtesy toss to the veterans. Few people can name last year’s 40+ male winner or 45+ female winner, and those athletes earned enough in their prize purse to buy a couple of rounds at the bar for their families and friends from their home box.

Now, don’t take this as a lack of gratitude or appreciation for being here. I am having the time of my life this week and I worked really hard to get here. But the fact remains, when putting the CrossFit Games Masters Division in laser-focus perspective there is nothing at stake here for the great majority of us. A few sponsorships, a little press, but on Monday most of us will go back to our day jobs as lawyers, web developers, coaches, and parents. We’ll go back to getting college tuitions scraped together, mowing the grass, and living life.

With that said, a couple of reflections from the week thus far:

Today Is Day One for Me

I am not nervous at all. In fact, I am excited to get to the field and begin deadlifting. The benefit of being a repeat Games qualifier is that with each passing year nerves are much less and the savor-it-all factor is much higher. So far I have had a blast seeing some of my old friends and competitors again, touring the field of play, picking up the gear, and having my family all join me for a mini-vacation.

Reebok Really Steps Up

I won’t lie. Reebok nails it when it comes to taking care of the athletes. You don’t have to go too far on Facebook to see the requisite swag pic posted with the dozens of pieces of clothing, shoes, accessories, and a really bitching gym bag spread out all over the hotel room.

The uniforms have gotten sweeter each year, and many of the pieces are keepers. Meaning, while I tend not to be “that guy” wearing my games jersey at the box on any given day, the shorts are an entirely a different matter and the shoes are great. Nice job, Reebok.

Relax With the Briefing Questions

Again, this is me as a veteran speaking, but this is for future reference for all you hopefuls who will qualify next year. The Monday athlete briefing is at 2:00pm in the hot, baking California sun. There is a limit to the number of actual valid questions that need to be asked with regard to standards.

Trust me on this. You will be fine. There needn’t be thirty questions relative to the deadlift ladder. If you raise your hand and ask, “Are we allowed to use any grip we want?” you are thinking way too hard about this and you need to chill. Some of us have to pee and are getting sunburned. Save that question for your judge as you’re walking out to the field of play.

NOTE:This can be applied to any CrossFit competition you’re competing in, by the way. If it’s a local throwdown and you are tempted to raise your hand and ask if your arms need to be fully extended on your handstand pushup, put your hand down.

The Long Beach Marriott Is Out of This World

This is a shameless plug for the hotel at which I am staying. Make a note of it for next year, folks – Long Beach Marriott. The service at this hotel is quite simply the best customer service I have ever experienced at any hotel, ever. The hotel is beautiful, yes, but the service is amazing. It’s a bit out of the way and located next to the Long Beach Airport, but that is incidental. And I get nothing for saying this. I am just really impressed. Bookmark it!

CrossFit Surf City and CrossFit Radius Were Great Hosts

The folks at CrossFit Surf City, Huntington Beach and CrossFit Radius, Long Beach, were very accommodating, allowing me and my coach Stephen Flamm to stop in to get our workouts in while out of town. In fact, Anthony Campo from Surf City opened the place up on Saturday afternoon specifically for us and said, “Lock up when you’re done.”

That is CrossFit trust. They asked for nothing other than to perhaps pick up a shirt while there, and we got in some great training sessions. I suspect the majority of my fellow masters have similar stories of very accommodating boxes, which really affirms the community aspect of the sport.

Much more reflection will come next week after the experience is over – and then my coverage of the NPGL will begin. Onward!

Photos courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post Some Pre-CrossFit Games Reflections From Carson appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I think I may have found a flaw in CrossFit’s definition of fitness. Maybe this article will be overstating the obvious, or maybe it will be so blasphemous as to get me shivved. If someone comes up to me in Carson and quietly says, “Dave wants to see you,” I will know which.

At the very least, the definition of fitness should come, in my opinion, with a bunch of footnote references and asterisks.

Fitness, Games-Style

The CrossFit Games purports to crown “The Fittest On Earth.” Through a grueling series of testing levels, potential comers are weeded out layer by layer until the Fittest on Earth is crowned at the end. CrossFit.com says: “Only the very best would advance to the final stage, the CrossFit Games.”

But what if the very best person doesn’t make it past one of those levels? What if the person most capable of “increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains” misses the podium because of a flaw in the testing process?

If so, have we truly crowned the Fittest on Earth or do we merely have the winner of a contest with a bunch of arbitrary variables?

Stated another way, the definition of “fitness,” as it pertains to the games, is a moving target. The reason: the tests are never the same and the variables are far too many.

Enter “The Handstand Walk”

As with the muscle ups in the master’s qualifier in April, the handstand walk has become the focus of intense debate as the regional competitions have unfolded. Why?

Because this one single movement appears to have shaken up the leaderboard enormously.

From Sam Briggs in Europe, to Stacie Tovar in the North Central, to great white hope Danielle Sidell in the Central East, each of these women turned in overall solid regional performances only to be blown off the podium by a handstand walk so anemic even I could do it.

Tovar was second in her region in the Open. Briggs was first in the world. The world! So, did Sam Briggs go from being the fittest person on the planet in March to only the fourth fittest in Europe by May?

As many Facebook posters put it, “You mean to tell me that [insert name here] is fitter than Sam Briggs because Sam only walked 65 feet on her hands?”

Defining Fitness

In order to unpack this issue we need to look at the definition of fitness as CrossFit states it. Fitness is “increased work capacity across broad times and modal domains.”

Put another way, it means doing the most work across a wide variety of tests, both in type, and in length.

This definition of fitness works well when you are testing yourself against yourself.

If my “Fran” time, my 1RM deadlift, my handstand walks, and my “Grace” time have all steadily improved when I test them every six months, by CrossFit’s definition, I am becoming measurably more fit. Why? Because save for a few minor variables such as sleep and diet, the testing markers are ostensibly the same.

But this standard does not work as well when we begin introducing variables, and in the CrossFit Games process, the variables are many. Variables such as:

• Grace time have all steadily improved when I test them every six months, by CrossFit’s definition, I am becoming measurably more fit. Why? Because save for a few minor variables such as sleep and diet, the testing markers are ostensibly the same.
• Judges failing to apply standards evenly
• An arbitrary scoring process
• Length of the testing period

Judges

This one factor alone introduces an outside influence on the purported testable fitness levels of the athletes.

Think about it. Two athletes at regionals, side by side, doing the same movements, only one is being judged strictly and one is being judged with a significant amount of slack.

If the athlete with the easier judge wins the heat, then what has just occurred is a contamination of the testing results due to a huge glaring variable – human judging.

So the definition of Fittest on Earth just became: “increased work capacity against broad time and modal domains, provided judging standard are applied evenly to all test subjects.”

Arbitrary Scoring Process

In the Open and at Regionals, scoring is based on placement. At the games level, at least last year, you received a higher weighted point value for a better finish in a particular workout.

In other words, first place gets 100 points, second place 95, but then once you get to ninth, tenth, and eleventh place, the point values are in two-point increments, meaning you get more points for a first, second, or third place finish.

Imagine the changes this one scoring difference might have had on regionals. Using the same scoring that was used at the CrossFit Games, the European female division would have looked like this:

• Annie Thorisdottir: 588 points
• Kristin Holte: 585 points
• Sam Briggs: 581 points
• Bjork Odinsdottir: 572 points
• Oxana Slivenko: 561 points

As you can see, Bjork and Sam trade places from the actual finish, and Briggs goes to the games.

This man-made, arbitrarily applied scoring process that differs over the course of the test certainly plays a role in the outcome. Ergo, the definition of fitness is now: “increased work capacity against broad time and modal domains, provided judging standard are applied evenly to all test subjects and depending on which scoring metrics are being used.”

Length of the Testing Period

How broad is “broad”? If the definition of fitness is that you can do more work when tested against “broad time domains and modal domains,” how broad does that have to be to ensure that the fittest has arisen?

If you look at the stock market, you may see that today, even this week, the market is down. But if you pull back to a year, or ten, you may see a trend up.

This jagged down but trending up pattern requires that you define a longer period of time for examination. If the window is small, the market may be really bad. If it’s a ten-year window, the market may be excellent.

Now, apply this theory to the sport of fitness. Dave Castro seemed rather proud of the fact that he rooted out a hole in Brigg’s game with the handstand walks, but what happens if you extend the time domain out further?

For example, as in the master’s qualifier, what happens if you carry over the athlete’s placement from the Open as his or her first score of Regionals? In this case, Briggs starts with a one, and Annie with a 28.

What we have done is expanded the test period to be much broader. If “broad time and modal domains” is to be the true scale, why squeeze the test into a weekend and then even further down into a single workout?

If I take on Rich Froning in a workout today and beat him, am I fitter than Rich? Perhaps, for that very short testing period. But extend that period out a week, a day, a year, and there is little question who is more fit.

In the case of the CrossFit Games, you need to extend “broad” to include the entire testable period, which means carrying over scores from the Open to Regionals.

This makes the testing period truly much broader, and accordingly, a much more accurate representation of who is truly the fittest.

If a single workout can scuttle a competitor, then you’re not testing against “broad time and modal domains.”

Conclusion

There are more variables. Geography. Performance-enhancing drugs. All of these is variables are fine, mind you – so long as it’s agreed we’re not really crowning “The Fittest on Earth,” but the winner of a contest that has multiple qualifying layers, a massive human element, and scoring idiosyncrasies that may affect the ultimate outcome.

The “cream always rises” defense does not apply when individuals can intervene to alter the results.

Which makes Dave Castro’s statement that “the right people are going to the games this year” rather meaningless.

The right people being the fittest people or the people who won Regionals? There is a difference.

Photos 1 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photos 2 & 4 by English: Lance Cpl. Derrick K. Irions [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

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There are plenty of inspiring pregnant women who CrossFit into late pregnancy and I applaud and admire them for their dedication to the sport; however, as I have learned over the past few months, growing two humans inside of you is exhausting and standing on the sidelines (or heavily modifying the WOD) for this year’s Open was more my speed.

That being said, I learned a great deal about CrossFit while sitting this year out. Here are my three takeaways from observing and not participating in the Open:

1. CrossFit Is a Sport of Skill, Not Just Fitness

Watch the video of 14.5 and notice Rich Froning’s technique on his first thruster compared to his last thruster. His form never waivers and his efficiency is on-point. He’s a three-time consecutive CrossFit Games champion because his skills are impeccable.

Those who invest in bettering their technique will better their Open scores over previous years. Spend time putting extra effort into learning the Olympic lifts or gymnastic skills because that extra efficiency will get you a bit further each year. There is nothing wrong with adding extra interval training on the rowing machine to increase your general fitness, but working on your goats or heading into the box when the WOD includes your least favorite movement will likely provide more measurable improvement.

When I coach newbies on the Olympic lifts, they often get frustrated because the movements just don’t make sense yet. When this happens I compare learning the lifts to learning how to play the guitar. These things take time and effort. You aren’t going to learn to play a guitar like Eric Clapton overnight, and you won’t learn how to properly catch a barbell in the rock bottom of a squat in a month. Any new skill, whether it’s a snatch, a muscle-up, or obtaining proper depth in a squat takes patience and dedication.

Being pregnant, I find this to be especially true. My fitness is nowhere near where it was just a few months back, but my skills are still sharp and I rely on those skills to keep myself mobile and injury free. The bottom line: mastering skills first will make you a more efficient mover and the true fitness with follow.

2. “Gaming” The WOD Is For Serious Competitors Only

Step ups or box jumps? Oly shoes or Nanos? With so many tip videos and opinions popping up online after the Open workout announcements, who do you know who to trust when strategizing the workout?

I can’t tell you how many times during the Open I heard athletes talking about their plan of attack, but half way into the workout their plan went south and they entered survival mode. Hey, I’ll admit that strategizing is fun and I’ve fallen into the gaming trap in the past. I did step ups last year for one of the Open WODs because they were faster (I even timed myself a day before I completed the workout). And for serious athletes with a legitimate shot at going to regionals, I fully support strategizing and repeating workouts. But for me and the rest of the regular athletes competing in the Open, committing to the workout and putting your best effort forward will be more helpful that any tip or trick you see online.

Just go for it and unless things really hit the fan (like if equipment breaks), only do the workout once. The Open has a special way of making people nervous about movements we do every day in the box, but don’t let the workout get in your head. Remember it’s just a workout and when you approach it with a fun and positive attitude, you’ll probably accomplish things you never allowed yourself to try in a regular, non-Open workout.

3. Friends Don’t Let Friends Bro-Rep

The catch-phrase of the 2014 Open was definitely bro-rep. When Danny Broflex came on to the scene, he prompted a symphony of bro-rep jokes in boxes everywhere.

Judging for the Open is not personal. It’s a job. When a judge fails to “no rep” an athlete they are essentially compromising the legitimacy of the sport. When technique breaks down (ahem, the infamous photo of Stacy Tovar in 14.3) it just gives fuel to the CrossFit haters, and I don’t know about you, but I get annoyed when I constantly have to defend the sport I love to my non-CrossFit friends.

Getting away with sloppy movement will never make you more fit. Hold yourself accountable and have respect for the movement. Your coaches put a lot of time and energy into teaching proper technique and there is nothing more satisfying for a coach than seeing an entire class making good choices during a WOD.

At my gym, each week coaches urged members to “no rep” a competitor when his or her movement failed to meet the prescribed requirements. By doing this, you are doing the athlete a huge favor by forcing them to uphold the highest of standards. Getting away with sloppy movement will never make you more fit. Do your friend a favor and “no rep” them. It’s called virtuosity, bro.

Did you participate in the Open this year? Whether the answer is yes or no, what did you learn from making that choice? Post your thoughts to the comments below.

Photos courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

The post 3 Things I Learned While Sitting Out the CrossFit Games Open appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

But here are a few more words to help remind us how integrity can manifest itself within our behaviors. Here is a competition manifesto for athletes, coaches, and judges:

Athlete

I will concentrate on myself. I will not be concerned with what the person next to me is doing, what his or her judge is saying, or how many reps he or she has completed. I will focus on my own game.

I will respect the standards. I appreciate the standards are there for the benefit of me, the athlete. The standards make things fair, measurable, and comparable. They are not the enemy. I will work with them, not against them.

I will respect my judge. I understand my judge is there to uphold standards that are in reality an extension of my own standards. I will show respect to my judge at all times by listening to what he or she says and accepting his or her word as final.

I will not look for ways to bend the rules. Instead, I will look for ways to be better within them. I will apply common sense and work within what I am given.

I will not cheat or lie. I know if I cheat in competition that I not only cheat myself, but cheat others, too. I will be honest in my range of motion, my reps, my times, my scores, my age, and everything else besides. I understand cheating will not be tolerated.

I will be a gracious winner. I will be humble in success and thankful to those who support and help me in any and every way.

I will be a gracious loser. I will not assign blame to others. I will learn from what I could have done better, from my coach, and from those who were better on the day.

I will support others. I will be confident in myself and will not put obstacles in the way of others. I will support others at every opportunity.

I will enjoy myself. I will enjoy myself whatever happens, and do my best to ensure others that cross my path have a positive experience, too.

I will do my best. I will give my all every time, and be happy knowing I have done so.

Coach

I will lead by example. I will be the coach, athlete, and judge I want my coaches, athletes, and judges to be. And I will be the coach, athlete, and judges I would want to encounter in competition.

I will communicate expectations. I will make sure my athletes, judges, and coaches know what is expected of them. And make sure they know what they can expect from me.

I will focus on the athletes. I will remember that whatever happens, this is about the athletes above all. It’s not money, the coaches, the judges, or anything else.

I will be responsible for my athletes. I will take it as my utmost responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of each of my athletes.

I will be a coach. I am a coach, first and foremost. Whether working with an international-level athlete or a competition newbie, I will be proactive and forthcoming with my assistance and advice. My role as a coach in competition is to get the best out of the athlete, whatever that takes.

I will treat everyone the same. I know that applying different rules for different people creates divisions and disagreements. No matter the level of competitor, I will treat each as equal to one another, and ensure others do so, too.

I will back my athletes. They are why I do what I do. They are a direct reflection of my coaching. I will be right behind each of them with coaching, support and encouragement, and whatever else they need.

I will back my judges. I am fully aware that none of this could happen without their help. I appreciate that judging is a thankless and sometimes daunting task. I will make it clear that the judge’s word is final, and will back this up should the need arise.

I will foster a spirit of community. I will instill that this is the best atmosphere for everyone to thrive.

I will instill these positive behaviors all year around. I understand the importance of encouraging positive behaviors and expectations all year ‘round. In this way the integrity, virtuosity, and positivity I expect during competition will simply be an extension of what I ask for every day.

Judge

I will be informed. I will know the rules. I will read the movement standards and watch the videos. I will understand the rep schemes and be able to answer any reasonable questions.

I will be professional. I will make each and every call truthfully and to the best of my knowledge and ability.

I will be undivided. I will center all my attention on the athlete in front of me, no matter what is happening or who is around me. This athlete is my only priority.

I will be impartial. When I step onto the floor to judge, that is exactly what I am. I am a judge. Not a coach. Not a supporter. Not a friend. Therefore, I will not encourage my athletes while judging, as this divides both my attention and my loyalties.

I will be confident. I will be confident in my duties as a judge and give the athlete confidence in me.

I will be clear. I will clearly explain what I expect of the athlete before the workout begins. I will count reps clearly throughout. I will visually and audibly signal no-reps to the athlete, and will be ready to succinctly confirm why if asked.

I will be precise. I will aim to provide short, sharp, and simple instructions to athletes where this is required.

I will be consistent. I will be consistent across the board, from my standards, to my communications, to my counting methods.

I will be unwavering. I will stick to my decisions. I will not be persuaded to look at videos or engage in conversations with onlookers who disagree.

I will be helpful. I will do everything I can to help the athlete meet and exceed the standards, and make their experience a happy one.

Each of these points centers on integrity. Integrity takes a lifetime to piece together and just one small action to shatter. This fact makes it all the more important to work hard and keep the integrity of ourselves, each other, and what we do intact. Pledge yourself to this manifesto of integrity in competition, and you can expect the athletes, coaches, and judges around you to do the same.

Photos courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

The post Integrity in Competition: A Manifesto for Athletes, Coaches, and Judges appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The articles cover topics that are close to many CrossFitter’s hearts – from coaching to competitions, from gymnastics to The Games. Here is the list of the top ten from 2013, counting down from number ten to the most popular one of the year. Which one will it be? And have you read them all?

Top 10 CrossFit Articles of 2013

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Athlete Journal Entry 20 – 7/17/2013: Let’s Recap, Shall We?

I leave Saturday for Los Angeles, California for the 2013 CrossFit Games Masters Division 50-54. I started training for this pretty much when the 2012 Open ended.

I began on the OPT “Being” programming track and moved to the “Will” track, before morphing over to individualized programming the last eight weeks leading up to the Games.

In the past year, I’ve added about 30lbs to my snatch, 50lbs to my clean, and 25lbs to my jerk. I’ve added upwards of 40lbs to my front and back squats, mastered bar muscle-ups, transitioned from false-grip to regular grip muscle-ups, reached a point where 155lb thrusters are no big deal, mastered the butterfly method of pull-ups, and mastered full-range deficit handstand pushups.

I have dialed in my diet and packed on the amount of muscle weight I believe will keep me strong, but have also leaned out just enough to make the gymnastics and endurance events workable. I have worked on mental toughness and rep-scheme strategies with my coach Stephen Flamm to enable me to keep working while remaining strong and fast.

I have done everything I can do, that is within my control, to go to the Games and achieve my goal – that is, to make it to the final day of competition. No brainer, right?

Wrong.

Why? Because first of all, everything I have just listed above is likely being done in mirror-image fashion by the nineteen other competitors in my bracket. And the one thing I cannot control is them. I may be able to state my goal of making the finals, but this goal involves many factors outside of my control – the other competitors, the workouts, the judging, even the weather.

So while of course my goal is still to make the final day, perhaps it is more effective for my overall performance and experience to modify that goal a bit. So here it is:

My goal for the 2013 CrossFit Games? To give my all. To literally empty every ounce of fuel during each workout and to leave no rep undone. To refuse to take the deal when my body and mind are screaming at me to rest for breath while my competitors are passing me by. My goal is to have at least one “wow” moment where I surprise myself. Where I go in with confidence and come out with the satisfaction of knowing I just leapt some hurdle that seemed insurmountable. Otherwise, the goal is to have fun and savor the moment.

So, here we go folks. I have enjoyed writing for Breaking Muscle immensely since I took on this project and my sincere hope is to continue even after the Games end. If that’s the case, expect a bit more pot-stirring. I have a lot of topics I’d like to touch on in order to generate a good deal of discussion.

See you on the other side!

The post Athlete Journal: Pat McCarty, Entry 20 – 7/17/2013 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Travis Holley and Michael Winchester

Ingrid Kantola – Athlete Journal 7/21/12

(Read Ingrid’s Bio here)

120713 Friday

We arrived at the Home Depot Center at 8:00am, waited in line to park for twenty-five minutes, then waited in line to get in for an additional forty-five minutes. It took so long to get into the facility that we had to RUN from the gates to the track to make it in time to see their heat. CrossFit Central set up in the top right hand corner of the stands and cheered our team through the rainy relay. The team looked great with the girls leading the guys. They ended up finishing third in their heat and thirteenth overall. I was really impressed with how the handled the weather and they all looked like they ran smart 415s because no one died at the end or hit the wall too hard.

Then they took on the Big Bob. They did a great job of pushing the sled on the way down, but ran into trouble on the way back. From my standpoint in the stands, there was too much slack in the rope between the leaders, Michael and Karen, at the end of the rope and the middle women, Carey and Jess. They lost a lot of ground and ended up taking twenty-second overall in that workout.

I headed over to meet up with my friend Kenny Kane in the SicFit box to do a segment for the Wodcast Podcast. It’s a hilarious podcast about all things CrossFit and you should definitely give it a listen! We also took a stroll through the vendor area and it was PACKED! So many vendors and people – they need to quadruple the space for the vendors next year.

The next WOD for the team was the front squat and team triplet. We got settled in the also packed stadium and slathered on another layer of ever important sunscreen. It was hard to follow the weights the team was loading on, but I was pretty sure each of our athletes matched their PRs from last Sunday, which was solid, plus a few got to take another attempt, but missed. The men totaled 985lbs to take ninth and the women totaled 605lbs to take eighth.

Then they moved on to the Triplet. The wrench that HQ threw in the plan was that each of the “holds” (front rack, overhead) were done with axle-bars or fat-bars. This made cleaning and snatching the bars into position much, much harder. Our girls struggled with the fat-bar clean, and Michael had removed his shirt and the bar slid off his sweaty chest! We lost a lot of time to the fat-bar and finished twenty-ninth.

120714 Saturday

Saturday was a new day for the team. They did a great job of handling the yoke, which was again a different implement than expected with the weight swinging from cables. They finished tied for tenth and moved onto the clean-rope event. The girls got through their cleans, with Karen going touch-and-go on all of her reps. The girls finished their rope climbs, the guys CRUSHED their cleans, and they sprinted to the rope – but weren’t able to tally any climbs for the guys. They took twentieth place.

The final session on Saturday was the #DOorDIE situation they had all been waiting for. The team had managed to climb into eleventh place by Saturday afternoon and knew they had to do something ridiculous to get into the top six. They absolutely BEASTED through the bar muscle-ups with the guys registering 39 reps for tenth place and the girls knocking out 17 reps for seventh place.

The last workout was the team chipper. Jeremy breezed through the opening round followed by Michael and Travis. Michael got slowed down by the overhead squats and pull ups, but that was the bottle neck that all of the teams expected. The girls were led by Karen, followed by Carey and Jessica. By the time Michael was on the pull-up bar, I couldn’t stay in my seat any longer and ran down to be floor-side to cheer. I was SCREAMING my lungs out at the ladies to get through their reps. I was in Jessica’s face (sorry Jess!!) giving her updates on how much time she had left. She got through the overhead squats and three pull ups!! I was so proud of the team for absolutely draining themselves on that last workout. They were amazing! They ended up sixteenth in the final workout and thirteenth place overall.

This means the team did not move on to the final on Sunday, which is obviously not what we had wanted. In my eyes, we simply did not adjust to the twists thrown into the plan. The fat-bar really got to us, as we had not practiced that as a team at any point. I also think we did not put enough emphasis on super-fast transitions between movements and partners; from my view in the stands we could have been just a little bit sharper. However, to focus on the positive, the team did a great job of working AS A TEAM and making it look pretty on the floor. Communication was positive and there was an obvious sense of purpose and cohesiveness with our team. It was awesome to watch the team respond to the crowd and to take in the moment!

120715 Sunday

I went for another run to the beach and did a little sandy workout. 5 rounds of 20 squats, sit ups, and push-ups with a sprint from one volleyball net to the next in between. I also added 3 rounds of 10 pistols, forward lunges, and backwards lunges.

We watched the final workout from the stands on Sunday. It was really impressive to see the teams go through “The Girls.” But of course I would have much rather have been participating, or at least watching our team. Ute CrossFit did a great job of pacing themselves through the workout and finished strong with Tommy Hackenbruck going nearly unbroken on “Karen.”

The individuals were incredible the whole weekend as well. If I had been competing as an individual I would have been crushed by those ladies. They survived a triathlon, obstacle course, football style combine, track race, highly technical gymnastics elements, clean ladder, strongman technique, a timber sports test, and classic CrossFit. As usual, I wish I had been able to try all of that!! I can only hope that next year I qualify and get to play with the best of the best.

120716 Monday

We went out to Muscle Beach in Venice, CA to pay homage to the sports and fitness culture mecca. It was cool messing around on the rings and ropes, with 90% of the other visitors being CrossFitters as well. We really just enjoyed Southern California and visiting old friends and friendly places before the next leg of our trip.

120717 Tuesday

On Tuesday, Michael and I traveled to Idaho! My grandmother spends her summers in McCall and we make a point to visit her for a week. We indulged in top notch airport food of Sbarro Pizza and Cinnabon!

120718 Wednesday

Back onto our workout regimen, Michael and I visited Legend CrossFit to drop in for a WOD. Our good friend Joey Pietri welcomed us back with “Fran.” Mind you that McCall is 5,000+ feet in elevation and we were coming from sea-level. However, I felt pretty fresh from a week of doing nearly nothing. I set a life-time PR of 4:06, which would have ranked me 12^th amongst the top 12 women in the Games. Like I said – those ladies would have CRUSHED ME!!

120719 Thursday

Thursday we headed back for some more altitude training and did a WOD involving more than 1.5 miles of running, 50 burpee pull-ups, and 100 kettlebell swings. The workout took me just under 27 minutes and definitely stimulated a different energy pathway from the day before. I’ve noticed that I am not recovering as quickly as usual with more soreness than expected, but I felt pretty good during the workout.

120720 Friday

We dropped in early, but skipped the class WOD, which was the team chipper from the Games, as both Michael and I had done it within the week before. I did some supplemental band walks and pull-aparts, before getting in a nice snatch technique session. We plan to hit up a workout in Legacy Park tomorrow and hopefully it will involve swimming!!

My next sporting competition is on August 25^th, at the Camp Gladiator Games Finals. We’ve been told the events will involve three trips through an obstacle course, three loops of a 2k run, and a swim with a brick! I will then take on The Athlete Open, hosted by CrossFit Austin and the Garage Games Series on September 8^th. I am looking forward the variety of these events and getting in a little bit of competition before I start event director duties in the fall.

My training this year will largely focus on strength and Olympic lifting and putting on more weight! I want to be about 10lbs heavier during Games season next spring and improve all of my lifts by at least 30lbs. I also plan to take on an obstacle course style fun run at some point- Spartan or Tough Mudder style!

I want to thank you all for reading my blog over the past few months. I especially want to thank Becca Borawski for the opportunity to blog on breakingmuscle.com. I look forward to continuing to blog on my personal blog and breakingmuscle.com in the future!

The post Athlete Journal: Ingrid Kantola, Entry 21 – 7/21/12 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The fittest man and woman on Earth…remain the fittest man and woman on Earth. The 2012 CrossFit Games season came to a conclusion this past weekend in Carson, California. After four days of competition and over a dozen events, Rich Froning and Annie Thorisdottir were crowned the winners. Both are repeat winners from last year – the first time this has happened in CrossFit Games history. Each took home $250,000 in prize money.

The Team competition prize was awarded to Hacks Pack Ute, from Ute CrossFit Sugarhouse in Salt Lake City, Utah. Special congratulations to the CrossFit Central Competitors team who finished in thirteenth place and were sponsored by Breaking Muscle. If you are interested to see how they trained for the Games, you can read their athlete journals.

The annual Spirit of the Games award was given to Deborah Cordner Carson. Carson dropped out of the 2011 Games when confronted with the ocean swim, due to her lack of confidence in the water. This year she qualified for the Games again and successfully completed the triathlon event of the first day.

2012 Results

Men

1. Rich Froning
2. Matt Chan
3. Kyle Kasperbauer

Women

1. Annie Thorisdottir
2. Julie Foucher
3. Talayna Fortunato

Affiliate Teams

1. Hack’s Pack Ute
2. SPC CrossFit
3. Diablo CrossFit Anejo

Winners in Previous Years

2011 – Rich Froning Jr., Annie Thorisdottir

2010 – Graham Holmberg, Kristan Clever

2009 – Mikko Salo, Tanya Wagner

2008 – Jason Khalipa, Caity Matter

2007 – James Fitzgerald, Jolie Gentry

The post Froning and Thorisdottir Win the CrossFit Games…Again! appeared first on Breaking Muscle.