CrossFit: finding the ‘Fittest on Earth’
Athletes worldwide gear up to compete in the CrossFit Open
Angie Lang
Sports Editor
If you’ve watched television in the last month, I am sure you have seen the newest Reebok advertisement telling the world to “be more human.” And, I am sure if you do CrossFit or know anyone who does, you know all about the hype surrounding the CrossFit opens.
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If you don’t fit in to either of those categories then, lucky for you, I have the rundown. The Games are a three-stage journey. The first sage is the open, a five-week, five-workout held in CrossFit affiliates around the world. The fittest athletes from each of the 17 divisions go on to the second stage: regionals. The season cumulates the best athletes world-wide and weed out hundreds of thousands athletes in the open to 40 men and 40 women. The third stage is the CrossFit Games which rank the world’s fittest and determine which men and which women will be called the ‘Fittest on Earth.’
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Last Thursday 15.1 (year: 2015, workout: 1) was released with a little kicker at the end to remind CrossFit athletes that the sport is constantly evolving. This year is no exception.
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To recap: 15.1 workout is, a 9-minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of: 15 toes-to-bar, 10 deadlifts and 5 snatches (115 pounds for men and 75 pounds for women). But wait, there’s more! 15.1a was announced which consists of a 1-rep-max clean and jerk taking place right after the AMRAP with a 6-minute time cap.
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Some changes that have taken place this year may have some athletes sweating a little harder to try and compete with the best of the best: four time fittest man on earth, Rich Froning and our very own Canadian, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet, who took home Fittest Woman on Earth last year.
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New in 2015, top athletes will face other top athletes from at least one other region in the new regional format. If you contend as a top athlete in the opens, you will then advance to regionals. Instead of regions Canada West and Canada East, the two regions will now encompass the North West region and the North East region of the U.S. To make it that much harder, only 20 men and 20 women and 15 teams will advance from each region in the U.S and Canada, compared to years prior of 48 men and 48 women.
For the first time this year, CrossFit has introduced a new scaled division in the opens for those who want to compete at an appropriate level for their fitness level . Unfortunately, anyone who chooses to do the scaled version will not be eligible to advance to the next stage and one rep of the prescribed workout will be ranked ahead of the best score of the scaled version of the workout.
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Another bonus they have added is a new teenage division for athletes between 14 and 17 years old who have not signed up to compete in the adult men and women.
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Every Thursday, the CrossFit opens workout will be released at 6 p.m. MST and athletes have until the Monday to submit their scores to CrossFit headquarters website.
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So if you, or anyone you know, is competing to be the fittest man or woman in the world, the next five weeks are crucial in testing what you have trained for all year. In the words of Rich Froning “I’m not good at anything else, I’m pretty good at working out”.
