Why Everyone at No Excuses Should Sign up for the CrossFit Games Open

The Open is almost here! If you are brand new to CrossFit, you might be thinking, “what are they talking about? What’s the big deal?” Or maybe you know what the Open is, but you have never done it; believe me when I say, these are two totally different things.

The CrossFit Games was established to determine who are the fittest man, woman and team on Earth! Well the only way to truly do that, is to open the competition to everyone on the earth, and then go from there. That’s where the Open comes in. The Open is a five week, worldwide competition. Athletes will complete one workout per week, submit their scores and see where they stack up in their gym, geographical region and worldwide. At the end of the Open, the top 48 men, 48 women and 30 teams will be invited to the Regional competition where they will compete for the top 3 spots to make it to the CrossFit Games.

So at this point, you are thinking “well, I have no shot of ever going to the CrossFit Games, so there really is no reason for me to sign up for the Open.” Here is where you are wrong.

This is the perfect opportunity to prove yourself wrong, to do something you never thought you could do, to put yourself out there, to have fun.

How does this all work?
After you sign up, you wait impatiently for the first workout to be announced (February 27th, 8:00 pm EST).  This is a weekly impatience and nervousness as every Thursday night, CrossFit HQ will announce a new workout. Fridays at No Excuses, we will all do the workout together as part of our regular class. After you are finished, you will post your score to the online leaderboard.  You have until Monday night to post your score for that week. Every week, you can see where you stack up.

Am I going to be able to do this?
Yes, you can do this! The Open is designed so that a large percentage of people can sign up, stay in the competition and be successful. As the weeks progress, the movements become more challenging, but the workouts are scored on reps, so even if you only get 1 or 2 reps, you’re still “in” the competition. For example, the workout may have muscle ups in it, but only after you complete some wall balls or burpees. As long as you get some reps, you can post a score for that workout.

How is this different than just doing workouts in class?
It’s much more exciting! There is an excitement in the air as people take on these workouts and work a little harder, knowing that they’re in a competition–with him or herself, with the person next to them, or even with someone at another box or in another state. Doing the Open is a way to be a part of one of the greatest displays of the heart and soul of the CrossFit community.

But, I’ve never done a CrossFit Competition…
That’s ok! There is no better way to get your feet wet in a competition setting than in the comfort of your own gym, surrounded by your friends and coaches that love and support you! You will be bolstered by those around you and feed off the energy in the gym as you give it everything you’ve got.

But, I can’t even do ______ (insert movement here)…
What a better motivator to work on this skill or attack it a little harder knowing that it might come up in the Open. I will remind all of our readers that I (Laura) could not do pull-ups when I signed up for my first Open in 2011. By week 6 (the competition was 6 weeks then), I had pull-ups and I actually did a few chest to bar pull ups in the last WOD!  Did I go to Regionals? No, but I had gained a skill through the course of the competition and felt a major sense of accomplishment!  You never know what you will gain by putting yourself in a little bit of a pressure cooker.

Read what Coach Brandon has to say about competing the Open:

For me, competing in the CrossFit Open reminds me of when I played high school and college sports. I know I’m not going to qualify for the CrossFit Games, but for five weeks I can treat the Open like a football season. I enjoy the competition, the strategy, the nervousness before the WOD and camaraderie that comes with competing in the Open.

Every day you’re in the gym training in the Sport of Fitness. The Open gives you a chance to gauge yourself in a worldwide competition. Just like if you practiced tennis, basketball or running, you would want to test yourself in a fun, competitive setting. But instead of playing in a tennis tournament or running a 5K, you’re competing in the CrossFit Open.

So there you have it. This is your chance to test your fitness, to see how you’ve improved, to see where you can get better. Take that step of faith and try something that maybe you aren’t sure you can do and see that actually you can.

Stay tuned to our website and to your email to read more Open experiences and reasons why YOU should sign up for the Open!