Individual Event 6: Shuttle Sprint and Rope Climb-Sled Push

Posted by admin on Jul 27, 2012 in Crossfit | Comments Off

This as kind of a hard event to watch. Not because it was like brutal or anything like that, just the stadium was packed and it was hard to see.

photo courtesy of (read: stolen from) Camille’s twitter

I really liked this event. Having the two separate things back to back is a pretty slick way to get a lot of separate tests into a competition.

Points Available: 50
Location: Track
Saturday 10:50-1:40

300-yard Shuttle sprint for time:
Run to the 50-yard line and back
Run to the 100-yard line and back

Athletes will be ranked by time.

Immediately after the sprint, athletes will reset together for the Rope-Sled Event.

I’m a big fan of the fact that they choose the shuttle sprint. It’s the first time we’ve really seen an athletic change of direction component in the Games and its also a very common drill that field athletes uses not only for conditioning but for testing themselves.

It was crazy to see how fast some of the athletes were in person. You could definitely tell the people who had a track or football or soccer background from those who did not.

The rope sled push WOD looked awful. I’ve never pushed a sled like that, but it did not look easy.

I was sort of surprised by the rope climbs, I guess most people don’t get to practice on a 20 foot rope that often. So they were used to just jumping and getting a few pulls in. With a rope that long and jumping off of a crash pad its 2-3 more locks then they were used to.

It was obvious that those who didn’t know how to quickly and efficiently lock in on a climb were killing themselves. That could have and should have been a bit of a rest station for most.

I also like when they throw in a something low skill like a sled push. Although, I think this football sled had more skill to it then one would assume. Just seeing how pitched on its nose some sleds were and how badly some of the bigger athletes struggled with it  leads me to to believe it was tougher then it looks.

The event was fun to watch and it was incredibly easy to keep track of who was in what place. Which makes it easier to cheer and watch.

WOD Fri 27 July 2012

Posted by admin on Jul 27, 2012 in Crossfit | Comments Off

Rest Day before Survival of the Fittest

Mobility: Ballerina Stretch and Arm Bar Stretch

2012 Reebok Crossfit Games Clean Ladder

Posted by admin on Jul 26, 2012 in Crossfit | 1 comment

Ladders are always the most fun thing to watch at any Crossfit Competition. Who doesn’t like watching people life huge weights. Also, the format keeps everything moving so you don’t have to wait for like twenty minutes in between lifts like you do with the sport of weightlifting.

Getting to see multiple people lift at once and with a time limit. Perfect for people with ADD like most Crossfitters

The ladder at the Games was:

Points Available: 100
Location: Stadium
Saturday 4:00-5:10

1-rep Clean every 30 seconds with progressively heavier barbells

Athletes will be ranked by the weight of their heaviest successful clean. Partial pounds will be awarded for each additional deadlift completed after they attempt and fail the clean.

Men’s Weights (pounds) – 245, 255, 265, 275, 285, 295, 305, 315, 325, 335, 345, 355, 365, 375, 385.

Women’s Weights (pounds) – 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 195, 200, 205, 210, 215, 220, 225, 230, 235.

It was pretty cool to see the women’s ladder. 11 Girls got about 200lbs.

I remember when a 200lb clean was impressive for a male Crossfitter and in most gyms it still is.

Its a point of pride for me that I would be able to clean the first male bar. Probably not the second, but definitely the first. I also love watching people get crazy PR’s and watching little guys out lift some of the biggest and strongest guys around.

I’m glad they had a maximum movement in the Games. I think that next year they should have one that’s a high skill, fast lift and another that’s a grind. They test different things and both would be fun to watch.

WOD Thurs 26 July 2012

Posted by admin on Jul 26, 2012 in Crossfit | 2 comments

Today we’re testing the other two individual WODs for the Rumble by the River.

AM:

Afghani-Fran

This test may alter the WOD based on what the results are. We are trying to keep it in the right time domain for the event.

Right now its: 21 Thrusters 95lbs, 50m Run, 21 KBS 2pood, Run Down Stairs, Hill Sprint, 15 Thrusters 95lbs, 50m Run, 15 KBS 2pood, Run Down Stairs, Hill Sprint, 9 Thrusters 95lbs, 50m Run, 9 KBS 2pood, Run Down Stairs, Hill Sprint

Afternoon:

“Heavy Grace” 30 clean and jerks for time 155lbs

Mobility: Shoulder band stretch, Ice Bath

Crossfit Games 2012: WOD 4 and the Skills

Posted by admin on Jul 25, 2012 in Crossfit | Comments Off

The morning events for the individual competitors on Friday were a lot of fun to watch.

I did not get to see the broad jump because it was in a tunnel somewhere. I’m glad that they kept it because its an awesome metric to test explosive power. I don’t know how good the scores are relative to other athletes. I know standing broad jumps are used as a test for many sports. So it’ll be cool to see someone do that analysis.

The medicine ball GHD sit up throw was cool. I have no idea how to judge it relative to anything. I know it was scored like a game of darts where you got points for which line on field, but the more you threw the more points you got. It was a pretty novel test and a lot of fun to watch.

Some people were smooth and powerful, others choppy, and others completely befuddled by the movement. The set up they had was pretty cool and shows just how awesome Rogue is.

The track triplet was awesome:

Points Available: 100
Location: Track
Friday 11:30-2:20

Athletes will begin this event just after completing the Ball Toss.

Three rounds for time of:
8 Split snatch, alternating legs (115 / 75lbs)
7 Bar muscle-ups
Run 400 meters

Athletes will be ranked by time.

Time Cap: 13 minutes

On the girls side watching the second and third heats was amazing. I wound up sneaking into a good spot and was about an arms distance away from all the top girls when they did their split snatches.

Julie Foucher is unreal. She literally glided through the whole workout.

The bar muscle ups were harder for both the girls and guys then I expected. I had talked to Emily Bridgers on the plane and she was able to do them all unbroken. I think that I could do that WOD unbroken.

Which means that it would be won or lost on the run. The top three on each was decided on the run, but it seems like the real difference maker was on the bar.

I was not expecting to see that. Generally, the individuals were better runners then the teams. I was surprised at how poorly Ben Smith and Dan Bailey did. Which leads me to believe they killed themselves on the run and just blew out their energy systems.

It was a really cool event, but watching it on the track is pretty tough. There’s no where near enough seating and the athlete’s village takes up a huge chunk of the area. A second set of bleachers would be nice.

This WOD was really the first, and only thus far, classic Crossfit workout. It’s a typical triplet and it has three of our cornerstone movements. Two of them are altered into novel forms, but it was still pretty interesting to watch them test things that we haven’t seen in any other format to date.