I’ve just had a quick scroll through the CrossFit games recent post on workout 19.3. The comments always make me laugh and I really struggle to understand peoples rationale.
The CrossFit Open is a large net cast out to find the Fittest on Earth (the first stage). That is the first priority for the competition. However, CrossFit gyms use the Open to build their community and everyone can join in and have FUN!
What sport do you know that you can compete against the top athletes on the exact same event?
The general theme over the years since 2011 (the year of the first open) is that the movements have become more technical, more difficult and a lot heavier. This has resulted in the top athletes devoting more time to training, becoming professionals and pushing boundaries of human capabilities.
The problem is that the CrossFit community as a whole does not have more time to devote to training. If you started CrossFit 10 years ago then maybe you have all the movements down and you can hang in the RX category in the Open. Even then, finishing every workout will not be possible.
If you have started CrossFit in the last couple of years then you may not be able to do all the movements, even in the Scaled open category. 19.3 has Strict HSPU, even in the scaled division (with a slight elevation).
When I read comments like “how do you expect me to do a HSPU as 182lb woman” it really blows my mind. Nobody expects you to do them. Why does she even expect to do them herself?
People need to ask themselves why they are doing this. CrossFit for 99.9% of people is to get them fitter and healthier. At Defy Functional Fitness we call this Getting Better at Life.
Is your life better or worse because you can do a Strict HSPU?
Will walking on your hands enable you to do more things outside of the gym?
If you want to do those things then you have to dedicate the time to achieve those skills. A one hour CrossFit class, three times per week, WILL NOT give you all the skills required to compete in the CrossFit Open.
It will, however, make you a hell of a lot fitter and healthier. You will be fitter than 90% of the population (if not more).
This is CrossFit as a training program. It is a great training program and can be put together in thousands of different ways. The CrossFit Open workouts are CrossFit as a sport – please don’t confuse the two.
If the Open leaves you disappointed with your performance and you want to improve, then you can make the necessary changes. Adding some 1-1 coaching to your regime may be one of those.
Without diving too deep into programming, there is a lot of work that needs to be done to be good at a workout like 19.3. Years of work in single modalities which is then brought together in a workout like this.
Unless you have put in this time, you shouldn’t be bothered what the workout is. If you have to scale the scaled version…so what?
It’s just a workout, have fun with it and remember why you’re doing it!
Thanks
Darren