The CrossFit Open – What Saltwater Members can expect!

Greetings Saltwater crew,

Many of you have heard our coaches and members mention The CrossFit Open, which begins on March 11, 2021.  Our seasoned CrossFitters are likely familiar with The Open, but many of us are probably wondering:

1. What in the world is The Open?
2. Why in the world would I sign up? Am I physically prepared for something like this?
3. How will Saltwater run the competition?

This will answer your questions about The Open and give you some insight regarding how we’ll be running it this year (it’s long, so bear with us).  We want to foster an environment that encourages healthy, friendly competition with yourself AND others, while embracing that not everyone is interested in actively participating.  We hope you’ll read on with an open mind, then decide for yourself.

What is the CrossFit Open?

For the last 14 years, CrossFit hosted “The CrossFit Games,” with the goal of identifying the Fittest on Earth. Top athletes from around the globe compete each year in a multi-day series of events, aimed at finding the most well-rounded athlete.  But those top athletes all begin the competition by participating in the CrossFit Open, which identifies the athletes that will advance to the next level of competition.  

The Open is a 3-week competition that is “the largest participatory sporting event on Earth.” CrossFit headquarters releases an event (AKA a workout) online each Thursday night, and participants have 4 days to complete the challenge and submit their scores online.  You can also create your own leaderboard – for example, you can create a leaderboard for Firefighters and compare your performance to all other Firefighters who participated worldwide.

Check out the website for more info: https://open.crossfit.com/

Why would I sign up for this?

Have you ever shared with someone your excitement for CrossFit, and they don’t really understand, so you say something like, “If you try it, you’ll know what I mean?” That’s how The Open feels.  Some of us have no goals of competing, or perhaps feel that we’re “not prepared” to compete.  But how often are you thrilled for a workout because you see it has a movement that you are REALLY good at? How often are you surprised by your own performance when you thought you could never finish our WOD? The Open allows us to engage in a competition with folks all over the world, measure our progress and feel like we’re part of a much larger community. Imagine SugarWOD, but for the entire world.

But I’m just not fit enough to do this… Doubtful! The games are designed to be inclusive, not exclusive.  That means that this year, The Open has 3 divisions: RX, scaled, and Foundations.  Below are three examples of a WOD that one might see in the games, based on each division:

RX:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

Scaled:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

Foundations:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 20 minutes of:

How will Saltwater host The Open?

• Thursday Night Throwdown!
  • We’ll have a potluck-style gathering on Thursday nights (please bring an app or dessert if you’re able!), where we’ll watch CrossFit HQ announce the workout & have a small group of our members face-off and throwdown. Don’t worry, our competitors are selected in advance and we won’t force anyone to compete on Thursday nights that isn’t interested!
  • Anyone is welcome to join us on Thursday evening to watch some members face-off. Anyone not competing will be asked to wear a mask indoors (except while eating), for your own safety and that of others. 
• Thursday Night post w/ Movement standards & WOD
  • We’ll create a post at some point on Thursday evening with movement standards (for example, what the depth of a squat should look like) so that you can reference this throughout the weekend when you’re judging a partner.
  • We’ll also create a summary of the WOD, just to clear up any questions or confusion.
• Classes will operate as normal with our regularly scheduled WOD. Not everyone is participating in The Open, and we want to respect that.  We will designate our Saturday 11:00 AM and 3:30 PM as a class for folks competing in The Open, plus our Open Gym timeslots are available to complete this WOD.  If you are signing up for any of our regularly scheduled classes on Friday, you will not be completing the Open workouts at that time.
  • If you have a scheduling conflict and are unable to complete the Open workout on Saturday at 11:00 or 3:30PM, nor during any of our Open Gym timeslots on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, please text Alyssa or Andrew and we will find a time to accommodate you.
  • To reiterate: If you want to complete The Open WOD in a class, sign up for Saturday 11AM or 3:30PM. Do not sign up for those classes if you are not competing in the Open.  You can also complete the Open workout during any Open Gym timeslot. 

As we get closer to March 11, we will finalize the start time of our Thursday evening watch party.
To register for the open, head to https://open.crossfit.com/ and remember, you’ll want to sign up with Saltwater’s CrossFit affiliate Garden State CrossFit.