On February 16, 2023, the CrossFit® Open will enter the next round. February is therefore traditionally marked by last-minute preparations and extensive weakness work. The CrossFit® Open is THE annual event when it comes to measuring your fitness against others on a global level. But we wouldn't be the wodstore if we didn't take the international fitness test as an opportunity to drop a little special for you. The CrossFit® DACH chain answered our questions in an interview that was bursting with sportsmanship!
chain who are you
I am part of the CrossFit® Seminar Staff, coach and work as a translator for CrossFit® DACH. Here I am mainly responsible for social media and the website. CrossFit® itself has been with me since 2014, meanwhile as a coach at Ikigai CrossFit® in Nuremberg. I like to train myself and I do it often, which is why the Open this year (like every year) is of course a great tool for me to see if and how I've improved in terms of sport.
(chain left on the picture)
What is the CrossFit® Open?
This is easier to explain if you put the horse before the reins. The CrossFit® Games take place in August every year. This is where the elite of the CrossFit® community gather to vote for the Fittest on Earth. The Games thus serve as a world championship of fitness. But in order not to go beyond the scope, so that hundreds of thousands of athletes would have to compete live against each other in August, a series of previous events is being built up. The starting point for this is the aforementioned CrossFit® Open. Here everyone competes against everyone else. Anyone can register. Anyone can participate. If you do well here, you'll advance to the Quarterfinals, then to the Semifinals, and from there to the CrossFit® Games. So you, who are reading this blog, can perform so well that you get from the open to the games.
The workouts, which serve as qualifiers for each higher tier of events , are released on consecutive weekends. The release is always on Thursday at 9:00 p.m. From there you have until Monday night to complete the workout, film it and upload it to your scoreboard. You let yourself be professionally evaluated by a Crossfit®-certified judge, who checks the execution of your workouts and thus fits you into the uniform standard of the Quali-WODs.
The community factor is paramount. All over the world, from Senegal to Saarbrücken, athletes compete against each other at the same time and test their strengths. This creates an insane drive in which the athletes in a box push and support each other.
The Open: Why Should I Participate?
Of course, the goal of the Open is to act as a precursor to the CrossFit® Games. But let's be honest, being among the fittest people in the world isn't even the privilege of one percent of crossfitters. So what is incredibly important is having fun with sport, the community spirit and the personal challenge that you create with the Open. The Open serve as a control authority for you and your sporting success. In addition, you get together with the people from your box in a whole new way and experience a kind of connection that cannot be compared with anything else.how to start
If you're not sure if you're fit enough for the Open, let me tell you one thing: you're absolutely sure. CrossFit® as a training concept is based on always adapting movements and loads to the respective physical condition of the athlete. The Open therefore also has three divisions, which are intended to reflect your respective fitness progress . The Foundations are intended as a category for those who have just started in the sport. The scaled edition is intended for athletes who are already fit but have not yet mastered all movements and all weights in their daily workout.
The RX version is for you if you play at the front of your box and lead most classes in strength, speed and agility.
So if you judge yourself well enough, you too can celebrate huge successes in this year's Open. It is not uncommon for everyday athletes to surpass themselves during the Open and are then incredibly surprised at what they are already capable of. This can create a drive that makes you work even harder on your weaknesses and develop your strengths.
Chain, be honest: Which movements do you think should be left out of this year's CrossFit® Open?
thrusters. Definitely Thrusters. However, I will definitely not have any luck with that. Thrusters and toes to bar are statistically the most common in the Open. But I'll still be allowed to dream.
Team wodstore wishes all athletes out in the CrossFit boxes good luck at the Open, lots of personal records and chain as few thrusters as possible!
There is more on the subject in the following podcast: