There may have been no BBQ for this one but that didn’t stop Empower athletes from bringing mad energy to this year’s first Open event!  Many who hadn’t planned to register this year found themselves drawn in by the irresistible energy of those who led the charge and already more Empower members have completed 21.1 than were initially registered for competition.

And why not?  It was a very cleverly devised workout pairing a competition staple with a movement never before seen in competition that had clear and easy judging standards, was accessible to all, required no equipment and yet was challenging for everyone at every fitness level!  The workout, masny would discover, was not so much about the double unders but all about that wall walk!

As a coach I was thrilled not least of all because we’ve been preparing for this movement all year.  The wall walk is nothing more after all than a more difficult version of the leopard crawl taking the horizontal crawling strength we’ve been developing these past 12 months and turning it vertical.  In past wall walk workouts my core, wrists and shoulders fatigued but I was happy to find that thanks to all my Original Strength work my wall walks felt strong and confident even in the closing minutes of the WOD with heart rate and breathing being the only limiting factors (maybe I should have been practicing 10 minute leopard crawls like HeeHee)!

It was also fantastic to see how many Empower members have completed the Judge’s course and come out to help each other including members like HHH and D’Knee who aren’t even registered but completed the course just so they could come out and help those of us who are competing!  Here’s our most up to date list of judges:

Shine Shades HeeHee WOD Father Sandman
The Touch Pepper Silk Jedi Sprite
Gymkata Menace Fierce Motor D’Knee
Dr. T DT Iron Man

With an incredible 374 reps in 21.1 we were provided Saturday’s question of the day: Will anyone beat Sandman’s score?  Scaled athletes Shorty and a flower-bedecked DT answered with a  resounding yes!  Gymkata joined the Me Too movement edging out Sandman on the equipment-free version.  Personally I plan to resort to the time tested winning strategy of demanding a video review by CrossFit HQ.  #winanywayyoucan #stillawin

A shout out to everyone who is competing in the Open for the first time this year: Sydney, Hawkeye, Multi Sport, Shorty and Rocket got their first taste of just how fun it can be to get in the game.

2015 Spirit of the Open recipient Motor made a strong week 1 bid to becoming Empower’s first 2 time Spirit award recipient by performing post-op, Tiny Tim sympathy double unders on one leg.  But before you go “Awwwww” and award her the win, please note that Mr. Fantastic and Dauntless, both overcame knee issues of their own this weekend registering for and completing 21.1 as well.

There were other week one notables worthy of consideration:

1) Venom got his first double unders this weekend completing 21.1 RX’d and logging the first big personal best of this year’s Open!

2) Jedi and Gymkata did not let lack of equipment or distance keep them from participating in the fun.  Having both completed the judging course, they met up over our 10am Zoom WOD and took turns judging each other through 21.1 becoming the first Empower members to test the equipment-free version of the WOD and the first Empower athletes to complete a WOD via Zoom!

3) Perhaps most touching for me was watching Shine face and defeat her inversion anxieties to complete 21.1 RX.  As her coach I am fully aware of the serious injury she received prior to Crossfit that seemed to preclude any future inversion work.  I’ve had the opportunity as a coach to watch her deal with this fear as she relearned how to kick up to a handstand and even grow confident in the handstand push ups.  But the unfamiliar wall walk dredged up some old terrors.  No one told her to RX the WOD, it was a challenge she set for herself and overcame like a champ.  I realize most members did not notice her quiet performance and those few who did probably wondered where her fear came from but given her history with this movement and knowing what Shine has had to overcome to get upside down again, the coach in me saw this as the performance of the week!

Here’s who you nominated for the Spirit award in week 1: DT, Dauntless, Shades, Motor, Dr. T, Silk,Lightning, Sprite, Fierce & Shine.

And this is why I love competition.  It brings out the best in us.  It provides us an opportunity to challenge ourselves and overcome limitations real and imagined.  I wasn’t myself feeling too inspired about this year’s BBQ-free, no gathering CrossFit Open, I was not excited to register but watching this week’s early performances I am proud to be a part of it.  I’m inspired by all of the athletes listed above and all the other athletes not named above who all had to overcome something in order to register to compete in the 2021 CrossFit Open.  Congratulations on overcoming whatever was holding you back, however the next two weeks turn out, you notched a win just by getting in the game and registering.  Congratulations! 

Here are our results for 21.1:

Athlete 21.1
Men 60-64
Mr. Fantastic 117
Women 50-54
Motor 49
Shades 223s
Hawkeye 297s
HeeHee 115
Shine 47
Men 50-54
Venom 59
Iron Man 47
Dr. T 166
Smash 213
Women 45-49
Pepper 112
Jedi 210EF
Silk 216
DT 391s
Dauntless 217s
Hard Rock 320
Men 45-49
Sandman 374
WOD Father 322
Women 35-39
Fierce 297
Men 35-39
Menace 212
Lightning 375
Women Open
Shorty 383s
Gymkata 376EF
Sprite 223s
Men Open
Rocket 177
Girls
Sydney 117EF
Boys 14-15
Multi Sport 201EF


Wednesday WOD
Here’s a game we can all play together, a low intensity strength day.  We will focus on front squat mechanics which are essential for proper execution of so many other movements such as wall balls, squat cleans and thrusters.  Learn how to own this position!

Warm Up/Tech
Paused Front Squats

WOD
Front Squat
5-5-3-3-3-1-1-1-1