Every year I sit down and have a little think about what may come up in THE OPEN.
It’s more for a bit of amusement than anything, but it also allows me to put my programmeming hat on slightly differently (i.e. I’m thinking more about ways of testing fitness than ways of training to improve fitness). It puts me into the mind of Dave Castro and the number of sick and twisted workouts I come up with scare me almost as much as the Open itself.
Having competed in the OPEN since 2012 (albeit as a fat rugby player back then) I have a fair bit of experience in what gets tested and how, but CrossFit HQ always still manage to throw a curveball every year that nobody saw coming. This year it appears that curveball is coming in the shape of a dumbbell (or pair of dumbbells, depending on the movement of choice!).
Every year CrossFit like to introduce at least one new movement into the Open; last year it was walking overhead lunges and the switch from ring to bar muscle ups. The year before that was HSPUs for the first time, the year before that it was a rowing machine, and so on. At least this year they were kind enough to give us a few weeks notice to get some dumbbells in if you didn’t already have some (or needed some more at a certain weight).
For 2017 I’m going to throw a few predictions out there and see how close I can get;
17.1
10 min AMRAP:
20 Alt DB Snatch (50/35lbs)
20 Burpees to 6″ Overhead
– This is a variation on a workout that has been programmed in 2011 and 2014 which was 15 light barbell snatches and 30 double unders, mixing that with 2013s snatch and burpee ladder. Notoriously the opening workout is a real capacity test and this will be 100% gas pedal. I think DB snatches may be the choice of HQ simply because they specified a height of handle for the DB and this is the only movement that would be really affected by handle height (my guess is as good as yours).
17.2
16.2 Repeat
4 mins to complete:
25 toes-to-bars
50 double-unders
15 squat cleans, 135 / 85 lb.
* if you complete then you get another 4mins (clean increases in weight, decreases in reps)
– Castro loves a repeat workout, and they have done one every year since 2012. This spicey triplet from last year was used to separate the men from the boys and I can see that being the case again in 2017.
17.3
7 min AMRAP:
3/6/9/12…
Deadlifts (225/155lbs)
HSPU
– Handstand push ups have come up with pulling from the floor twice now (heavy power cleans in 2015 and deadlifts in 2016), and I think this is a theme that will continue. Ascending ladders have been a main stay in the Open programmeming over the years too and I think this ‘Diane’ style couplet fits the mould of an Open workout nicely.
17.4
15 min AMRAP:
60 Cal Row
50 Box Jumps
40 Wall Balls
30 OH Squats (135/95lbs)
20 Bar Muscle Ups
– This is a format that was used for the chipper workout in 2014 and contains two of the same movements for the same reps, but has swapped out T2B for Burpees, Cleans for OH Squats and Ring MUs for the bar variety. Every year there is a chipper and HQ like to test mobility/stability with Overhead squats. I also think that bar Muscle ups are here to stay now, they are safer, and probably a bit easier for people to get their first rep too – HQ love people doing things they have never done before in during the Open.
17.5
21/18/15/12/19/6/3 for time
Thrusters (100/65lbs)
C2B Pull Ups
– It’s been a few years since we’ve seen a Fran variation during the open. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 there was a variation of this couplet and it’s probably CrossFit’s most recognisable workout. This would be an awful workout, and I pray I’m wrong.
At the end of the day, whatever Dave Castro comes up with, I’m sure it will be awful and will push us all to places we haven’t been before! But hey, that’s why we do it right?
I for one am looking forward to the challenge and our first Open at ION – I can’t wait to see our members embrace the workouts and leave it all on the floor. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can register here www.games.crossfit.com
Good luck and may the WODs be in your favour,
Coach Moo