What is the CrossFit Open?
- The CrossFit Open gives athletes of all ages, body types, and ability levels a chance to challenge themselves over a three-week period, starting Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.
- The Open consists of three workouts over three weeks, and it starts with 24.1. Open workouts are identified by their year and the order in which they appear. The workouts will be released every Thursday during the three weeks of the Open. All athletes who have registered for the Open will have until 5 p.m. PT on the following Monday to submit their best score online.
- There are two different versions of each workout, similar to how we run WODs: Rx, Scaled and Beginner. Athletes will choose a path to compete and be scored against their peers. If you perform one WOD in the Scaled division, you will automatically be placed in that division. In addition, there are age brackets to further focus your competitive peers: Teens, 18-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, and so forth. There is even a 65+ category!
- While the purpose of the Open is to find the fittest athletes in each region to move on to the regionals, it’s also an opportunity for any athlete at any level to participate in the competition. The Open can add meaning and purpose to your training while also bringing your gym’s community closer together. Most importantly, the Open will also give you some interesting data on your performance in the gym, which can be a guide for setting realistic goals for the following year.
Why should you sign up for the CrossFit Open?
- Only a very small percentage of athletes will make it to regionals, let alone the Games. While I can understand the sentiment of “Why bother?” I really encourage you to think about participating because you will be part of a very big international event that represents your affiliate. Every affiliate in the world can take part in the Open, which is amazing, and we don’t want you all to miss out on the fun!
- It’s much easier to stay motivated during the Open (and with CrossFit) if you are actually committed to tracking your progress. If you’ve been doing CrossFit for a year or more, all it takes is a little competition to really bring out the best in you. It’s easy to lose intensity in your workouts if you are never pushed past what you think you can do.
- It can also be a harsh reality check if you’ve been coasting in class this past year or not really sticking to standards for the sake of speed. All those times you wrote Rx’d next to your name on the whiteboard, maybe it wasn’t the case. Perhaps your takeaway will be that you need to count your reps properly, work towards virtuosity in your movements, or at the very least, achieve full range of motion on your reps!
- Finally, consider that the Open is simply a snapshot of your fitness at one point in time. Maybe you are rehabbing an injury, just coming back to the gym after a layoff. The easiest thing is to make an excuse and not participate. The Open can be the catalyst to get you back on track at the gym.
How do you sign up for the CrossFit Open?
- Sign up at https://games.crossfit.com/. On this page, click “Register” and sign up for a free CrossFit ID if you don’t already have one. The cost to compete in the CrossFit Open is $20.
- Within your profile, select “CrossFit Hampton Roads” as your affiliate. Your scores will automatically be added to the affiliate scoreboard.
- Starting on Feb. 29, the first of three Open WODs (24.1) will be announced. That WOD will be programmed for Friday, so all CHFR athletes will be doing the WOD regardless of signing up for the Open (so you might as well sign up, right?!).
- Registered athletes will have a judge assigned to them to officially score the WOD. Judges will have scoring sheets to record the athlete’s performance, of which one-half of the scoresheet goes to the athlete so they can input their score online via games.crossfit.com or the CrossFit Games app, and the other half of the scoresheet goes to the staff to validate your score. Scores must be input and validated by Monday, March 4 at 5:00 pm PST. Once validated, you will be able to see your score on the worldwide leaderboard and on the CrossFit Hampton Roads leaderboard. The same process will be followed for 24.2 and 24.3.
Judging the CrossFit Open
If coaching is on your radar, or you just love completing the feat of counting 100 double unders, then judging is for you!! It’s also a great way to help your team earn extra points! You can take the judges course at Crossfit.com. I’ve linked you to the courses website, because the 2024 Judges course is not yet available. It is $15, and worth it!! You’ll learn so much more about movement and why you see those no reps called at the CrossFit Games.
What can I expect at CrossFit Hampton Roads?
We run a team intramural at CrossFit Hampton Roads, led by co-captains (one coach and one member) leading the way. These coaches are a huge part of our community, they are leading the way by working hard, staying consistent and having fun! Because the goal here is FUN! Sure there may be a little trash talking, a little competition, but at the end of the day, we want to measure our fitness and have a good time.
Everyone gets put onto a team. Don’t worry – you won’t “bring the team down”. Everyone can contribute points – all you have to do is show up to class, complete the open workout and cheer on your fellow athletes.
We will draft everyone onto teams after team captains are chosen. All athletes in the gym will be automatically put into the Draft pool and will be randomly selected onto a team.
Our Open workouts will take place at every group class time on Friday, building to Friday Night Lights which will begin at 4:30 pm and run til 7pm. There will be heat sign-ups, which will be available first come first serve. Please show up early to sign up for a heat, help judge, take pictures and cheer everyone on!
The dates for CrossFit Hampton Road’s Intramural Open are as follows:
- Friday March 1 – 24.1
- Friday March 8 – 24.2
- Friday March 15 – 24.3
Coaches are still finalizing the details for our individual Open Intramural, so keep your eyes and ears open!
OUR FOCUS IS ON FUN. WE WANT PARTICIPATION BECAUSE IT WILL MAKE YOU FITTER, AND IT WILL GET YOU HIGH-FIVES AND YOU’LL BE HAPPY AND LOVE LIFE MORE AND GLOW AND STUFF.
