Are you ready for the Games? Unless you live under a rock, you most likely have heard of
CrossFit from your friends (maybe you’ve disowned them because of that fact-I
would like to hope not though). Regardless, the hype is here, the 2015 CrossFit Open is commencing soon! Just about every CrossFit athlete is on pins and
needles waiting to hear Dave Castro announce the 15.1 Open on Thursday,
February 26th at 5pm PT.
CrossFit is an awesome strength and conditioning program
that has been utilized among police academies, military, martial arts, and
elite athletes. CrossFit can be tailored for everyone offering scalability for
any fitness level. In CrossFit you perform “functional movements that are
constantly varied at high intensity.” You usually perform the WOD (workout of the day) for time, for best score, for reps, or for weight. The programs are designed for
everyone to
complete while scaling for load and intensity without diluting the program. According to CrossFit's Greg Glassman, “the needs of Olympic athletes and our grandparents
differ by degree not kind.” While there is nothing new about CrossFit in fact,
many of these movements are ancient dating back 10,000 years to pictographs
that have been reformulated for our modern times. Everyone can benefit from the
functional movements the CrossFit program offers regardless of age, or
experience. CrossFit recognizes 10 fitness domains including Cardiovascular and
Respiratory Endurance, Stamina, Strength, Flexibility, Power, Speed,
Coordination, Agility, Balance and Accuracy.
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| Photo Credit: moorestowncrossfit.com |
The Open marks the beginning of an exciting and challenging
contest uniting elite athletes
across the globe all chasing after their dream
to compete at the Games in California with the hopes of being the next Rich Froning (4 times Games Champion designated the Fittest Man on Earth), or Camille Leblanc Bazinet 2014 Games Champion (designated the Fittest Woman on Earth). CrossFitters
have been preparing for these upcoming 5 weeks since last year getting better,
faster and stronger as a result of their determination, drive and intense training.
During the Open, anyone can participate by registering at CrossFit. It will be the best $20 you ever spend! I’ve already
registered, now it’s your turn.
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| Photo Credit: |
After the Open, the Regions top 20 men and top 20 female and
15 teams from the U.S. and Canada will advance to the Regionals. From the
Regionals, the top 5 men and the top 5 women and 5 teams will receive an invite
to go into the CrossFit Games in California. For those in the Masters Division 40+,
(this is the division I compete in) athletes have to be among the top 200
fittest athletes worldwide in their age division in order to participate in an
online Masters qualifier where the top 20 will be invited to participate in the
brutal and grueling workouts the Games are best known for to determine the
fittest athletes on Earth. Will it be
you?
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This year, CrossFit is making the Open more accessible to
athletes offering a scaled option of the workouts, so if you currently attend a
CrossFit box and have been on the fence about participating in the Open, you
may as well, you have nothing to lose and only everything to gain like
confidence, strength & stamina. If your box is anything like mine, chances
are you will be doing the Open workout anyway as part of your daily WOD, so why
not give it your best effort and see where you fall among other CrossFit
athletes in your division and around the world. This year CrossFit is also
offering a teen category for 14-17 year olds, which I think is an incredible
opportunity for teens.
This will be my third year participating in the Open. In
2013 I placed 20th in the Masters Central East Region and 338th
overall worldwide. In 2014 I placed 22nd in the Masters Central East
Region and finished 320th overall worldwide. There were more than
209,000 athletes registered for the 2014 Open and I’m sure this year will
exceed that number. I am not quite among the top 200 athletes worldwide yet,
but I am not going to complain about my standings in the top 300 or even 20
within the Central East Region.
If you currently do not do CrossFit you might be a little
unfamiliar with some common terms you might hear such as WOD which is Workout
of the Day, AMRAP which is As
Many Rounds (or Reps) as Possible; Metcon which
is Metabolic Conditioning; POOD which is the weight of a kettlebell (1 pood =
35 pounds, 2 pood = 70 pounds); and Box which is a CrossFit gym. Some common
workouts include Fran, Grace, and Fight Gone Bad. The Maxes (or big lifts) include
the Clean & Jerk, Snatch, Deadlifts, Back Squat and Max Rep Pull ups.
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So to all my fellow CrossFitters who have
registered for the
2015 Open I wish you luck, and for those of you who still need to register or
are on the fence go to CrossFit to register.
3…2…1…GO!
In Health in Fitness,
Marissa
Get Fit! Be Fit! Stay Fit!
I will say that Crossfit most certainly is a spectacle to watch. The endurance of some of these athletes and how long they can keep at some of these exercises is absolutely astounding!
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