Standards and Nuances

18
Jan

Standards and Nuances

The CrossFit Games Open season is coming.  Registration is now open – drop your $20 and throw down with the rest of the world.
We will hold at meeting on Saturday at 10am, between the 9am and 10am classes to discuss some changes in how we will do the Open at CFO this year.  To make it more fun and inclusive, we want to break the gym down into teams.  Each team will have a coach/captain to help your strategize, pump you up, hold you accountable, screw your head on straight or make you laugh with your team name.
We will split up teams just like Hogwart’s would…from a hat with a couple of categories: experienced RX, kind of RX, and scaled.  You should think about how you attack each CFO workout on a daily basis, and choose the category that suits you.  We will have some time, so don’t sweat it.
CrossFit posted an interesting new standard on Thursday: DB Snatch require the hand switch to happen below eye level.  This is basically irrelevant. Burpees will require both feet to jump up at the same time and back at the same time.  I gotta be honest – this is a game changer.  Nearly every bar facing burpee I have done for 5 years has been a step up.  I have used a knee slide, with knee pads on concrete to slide up easier on my “step up.”
To me, the 2018 standard is a cool nuance.  Does it basically ban the step up?  Maybe, but not necessarily.  When the Games added the Chest to Bar standard to pullups, we all kind of asked if this was the new standard.  I guess the answer is it was one standard. We still do regular old pullups.
There are a ton of examples of CrossFit moving the standards to keep us on our toes over the years.  My best advice to aspiring athletes to always work to the highest possible standard.  If you are looking to compete in CrossFit, my advice is always work the the “Doomsday Standard.”  What is the Doomsday Standard?  It’s the toughest possible standard for any given moment: Rings will always be set beyond your reach, the bar will never be a Speal, the sun will be in your eyes, the wind will always be in your face, etc.
I’m sure prison style, do ’em anyway you can Burpees will have a time and their place.  But CrossFit should always do that job of making us comfortable with a standard, only to throw us a change up and see how we respond.
Alison just asked me, “Are we doing that 21-15-9?”  I looked at her with a crooked eye and said, “Of course.”

Workout of the Day
Strength/Skill
MisFit Snatch Complex
Squat Snatch
Overhead Squat
Hang Squat Snatch
Overhead Squat
Conditioning
Open 18.0
21-15-9
DB Power Snatch 50/35
Lateral Burpee over the DB
8m Cap
And a sweet little add-on CFO style
At 10 minutes, perform
15-12-9
DB Power Snatch 50/35
Lateral Burpee over the DB