If you follow CrossFit or train at a functional fitness gym, you have probably heard of the CrossFit Open. This is the time of year when thousands of people around the world compete with each other to see who is the fittest, and see how much they’ve improved.
The open works like this: CrossFit itself releases one workout each week over three weeks. Participants can then do the workouts and record their results. For your results to be considered valid in the world wide leaderboard, the workout must be recorded in full, a CrossFit judge must be present, or the workout needs to be done at a CrossFit affiliate gym. Top athletes in the world with valid scores will receive invites to the next round of competition.
While most of us won’t make it to the higher levels of competition, there’s still fun to be had for us regular fitness mortals. We can create our own leaderboards with our friends and local community. Even if everyone is at different skill or fitness levels, the Open is accessible to nearly everyone since CrossFit releases different versions of the workouts, which include less advanced movements or lower work loads to fit most people.
CrossFit describes itself as the sport of fitness. By harnessing the camaraderie, competitiveness, and fun of sport CrossFit can bring out an intensity in people that other exercise regimes can’t. To me, this alone is a great reason the Open is a good test of your fitness. But more than that, having fun and competing is a good way to really push yourself. It’s much easier to achieve a “personal best” when you have your friends cheering you on. You put all this work in to improve your fitness, why not show it off in your own way.
Even if you’re not a really competitive person, the Open is still a great chance to get together with friends and the rest of your fitness community to do some exercise. You’ll build memories, have lots of fun and maybe even do something you didn’t know you could.