Well, I'm back from quite an excursion to the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Regional Games in Jacksonville. It's taken me a week to write some thoughts and observations on it because I've been down with bronchitis ever since.
So as not to dwell on the pure misery that comes with a week-plus of not working out, I'll focus on the amazing things I saw at this competition.
What kind of sport is CrossFit? Regular readers of this blog know what it is. But are you familiar with what it takes to be a "CrossFit athlete," and to compete in the "sport of CrossFit?"
I use quote marks to emphasize that CF has most definitely molded into a sport, and its athletes are, without question, among the most fit people on this planet.
I've been training in CrossFit for three years, two months and 5 days (but who's counting), and even I didn't realize what it takes to be elite in this sport until I saw with my own eyes.
Each of us at our CrossFit gyms have members who outperform the rest. You see their names atop the online logs, and in our case at 26.2 CrossFit, the top performer has a magnetic "winning" label next put to their name on the whiteboard at the end of the day.
Tens of thousands of CrossFitters around the world participated in CrossFit Games Open workouts. Last year, there was an actual first venue for the competition, sections. This year, each week for 6 weeks, a new workout was released and registered athletes had to submit a verified performance. Some were videotaped, others had reputable coaches OK-ing the results.
Of those masses, about 300 athletes (competing in three categories: men, women and team) went on to each of 17 different regional competitions. I was fortunate enough to be writing from the Southeast Regional, which included Alabama, Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.
Let me show you a thing of beauty.
This video shows men doing butterfly pull-ups -- a beautiful waltz of power and grace amidst one hell-of-a grueling workout.
These are faster, some say more efficient. Many women are doing them now, too. I went back to the gym and watched this video on my phone, then went to the bar and tried it. Then went to the phone to watch the video, then to the bar. Repeated about 8 times, but no graceful waltz for me. I've been too sick and fatigued to try it again, but as soon as I'm well, it's back on the bar.
I've mastered the butterfly swim stroke, the most difficult in my sport of swimming. Just have a feeling that learning this butterfly will be a challenge. But life is boring without such challenges.
Here is a summation of what these athletes had to do:
- Two workouts a day for three days.
- Adhere to strict movement standards, with one or two judges in their face on every rep.
- Deal with torn hands from too many pull-ups, strained muscles from lifting so heavy, and of course the psychological challenges of being up against so many other athletes about as good as you.
Workout 1 (Friday morning)
For time:
Run 1K
30 HSPU
Row 1K
(those with gymnastics backgrounds really excelled here with the handstand pushups. It's AMAZING to watch a female bang these out like they were nothing. Many struggled, some owned it).
Workout 2 (Friday afternoon)
Thruster ladder
Athletes will have 20 seconds to take the first barbell from the ground and then perform one thruster at a specified weight. They will then have 10 seconds to transition to the next barbell where the same requirements apply. They may make only one thruster attempt in any 20 second period.
(One of the youngest competitors, 19-year-old Jessica Denney of Georgia, thrust up 175 pounds. Her team protested her failed 180, due to her foot moving. No woman came close to her 175. This is incredible. Watch for her in the future...)
Workout 3 (Saturday morning)21-15-9 reps for time of:
Deadlift (315/205lbs)
Box jump (30”/24”)
(Look at the weights. Do you see how heavy this workout is? Women had to deadlift 205 pounds. First 21 times, then another 15, then 9! Men had to use 315.)
Photo at right is Elly Kabboord, former Cocoa Beach Jr/Sr High runner who who won three cross country state titles from 2000-2002. She competed in the CrossFit Regionals (seen here with the 205 DL) as did the three-sibling team of Andrew, Matthew and LeeAnn Nawrocki, also former Cocoa Beach athletes-- the twin brothers football and LeeAnn cross country.
Workout 4 (Saturday afternoon)
For time:
100 chest-to-bar pull-ups
100 Kettlebell swings (24/16kg)
100 Double-unders
100 Overhead squats (95/65lbs)
(Wow, this was killer. There were bleeding hands from so much bar friction, bleeding nipple rings -- one guy said in order to make sure he was chest-to-bar, he had to hear the clank of his rings, and an incredible amount of "no reps" in the kettlebell swings, where the weight was not over head enough to count. Brutal workout.)
Now, if you survived all that, the top 12 individual men and 12 women, and 10 teams moved on to Sunday's two events.
Workout 5 (Sunday morning)
“Amanda”
9-7-5 reps for time of:
Muscle-up
Squat snatch (135/95lbs)
Workout 6 (Sunday afternoon)
For time:
Row 20 calories
30 Burpees
40 Two-arm dumbbell ground-to-overhead (45/35lb DBs)
50 Toes to bar
100-foot Overhead walking lunge (45/25lb plate)
150-foot Sprint
Click here to read my story on the CrossFit Games website, summing up the weekend, and glorifying what it takes to come out on top.
The story is a culmination of countless interviews with so many amazing athletes, who are pioneers for this sport, especially when it comes to mass media terms. The addition of Reebok as a sponsor opens so many doors.
Go to the Games website and watch a few of the videos to get an idea of what those words I typed above really translate to. I can write what the workout is, but until you see it, I don't think you'll truly understand.
Here's another video showing the men doing muscle-ups in the Amanda workout.
A neat thing for the CrossFit community at large is that these workouts have been put into the rotation of our daily program. So we have the opportunity to try them out-- most of scaling them down to weights and exercises that we can manage.
While you look at these athletes in action in video, or looking at their times in the results, and you wonder what the heck makes them perform at such a high level-- I have come to only one conclusion: they have an extra gene that most of us don't :)
So, I'm not sure how much longer I'll be coughing up lungs and trying to get over this bronchitis. The fatigue that comes with it is maddening for someone like me who has to force rest days, and who generally feels so good and can tackle the world at any moment. Perhaps the irony is that while existing at an elevated level of "I can do everything all the time," I indeed could not, and became sick while working the Regionals, where I was surrounded by supreme health and fitness.
But I guess if I can't actually do CrossFit for a short while, there's always something to write about it.
Good to be back.
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