Today marks the day of the CrossFit Open games all around the nation. Athletes are able to register as a competitors and compete in the comfort of their own gym. It is the world’s premier test of how to find the fittest on Earth.
The Games started in 2007 when CrossFit started becoming one of the fastest growing sports in America. There was always something missing when testing true fitness; even decathlons were missing important components to physical fitness and that is when CrossFit was created.
The Games were created to find the ultimate athlete. It is designed for athletes with all different body types because it focuses on overall athleticism. This test shows a wide range of abilities and physical components to fitness. There are different functional movements ranging from large loads, long distance, and quick events.
The competition is set up in three stages. The first stage is the Open section. This section can be competed in garage gyms, fancy gyms, or a CrossFit gym all around the nation. Workouts are released online every Thursday for five weeks and scores must be submitted that following Monday. After the 5 weeks are over, the 18 highest scores from each region will qualify for the second stage. Regionals are held as a three-day competition starting in May, lasting through June. These workouts are streamed live. The last step is the big stage, the CrossFit Games. 40 men, 40 women and, 40 teams compete. Europe and Australia regions will send their top 5 from each division while the Meridian and Latin America regions will send one from each division a piece. In the final stages, they will not know the workout a head of time. They will be spending their time training for the unknown and that is what’s going to make the winner so great.
The scoring for each event is calculated with a relative scoring system. Athletes are rewarded differently for each event weather if it was for how many rounds they completed or the quickest time. They score them based off each event and place them based on how well their peers did.
The only thing these athletes have on their side is their ability to adapt to any workout that is given to them and that is what makes CrossFit one of the most intense sports in present time.
The University of Oregon will be doing these workouts every Friday at 3:00pm in the CrossFit room. The class is free for participants or if you are an athlete that just wants to try the workouts for fun, you are more than welcome to join!
