Empower Open 2026 – Week 3 Recap
I can hardly believe it, but the third and final week of our annual Empower Open is done and dusted!
Despite our 26.3 Saturday Sweat & Social landing on the first weekend of March Break, our Superheroes showed up big time. The energy was high. The suffering was real. And the results are in.
Not surprisingly, it was a hotly contested battle for the title of Ultimate Superhero Squad. Here’s how it all played out…
Once again in Week 3, all three teams successfully uploaded photos to the #community-open-2026 Slack channel, but only The Rising Force took full advantage of these easy points, uploading 10 photos in total.
There were two teams that saw every member successfully complete the WOD, earning bonus points for The Power Surge and The Unbreakables. What’s even more impressive? Across the full three weeks, each team had only one week where they narrowly missed a full-team completion — and it was a different week for each squad!
The result?
When all the points for workout completions were tallied across the competition, the totals landed in a perfect three-way tie. In other words, when it came to showing up and getting the work done, these Superhero Squads were perfectly matched.
On the judging front, The Rising Force made a valiant effort to close the gap with The Power Surge, and stepped up to judge 9 athletes this week. But The Power Surge continued their judging domination, smashing last week’s record by judging 13 athletes.
Of course, the title of Judgiest Empower Hero was once again fiercely contested.
DT came in strong this week, matching the record set by Motor last week with 5 athletes judged. But Motor wasn’t about to let that stand. She snuck in one more judging slot on Sunday morning, bringing her total to 6 athletes judged and officially claiming the title of Judgiest Empower Hero. Congratulations Motor!
Costumes were once again an important factor in Week 3. And over the course of the competition, The Rising Force narrowly edged out The Power Surge, with 23 of their 26 athletes completing their workouts in costume. The Power Surge were just one athlete shy of that total.
And while The Unbreakables came in at 16 costumed workouts, special mention must go to our very own WOD Father, whose costume somehow got better every single week! Despite his Unbreakables chest plate clearly interfering with the bar path on this week’s cleans, he remained undaunted — and even added a red wig that somehow stayed on for the entire WOD.
Now that’s commitment.
As always, the Open delivered those moments that make this event so special.
Our youngest competitor, Hollow, showed up confident and strong in Weeks 2 and 3. The kid left it all on the platform and helped add to the clear message received from Iron Dam… fitness is fun at absolutely any age! Hollow went on to win the hearts of many with his weekly contribution to the potluck table… Grounds for Coffee cinnamon buns. I’m drooling just thinking about it!
Two of our first-time competitors, Diesel and The Ghost, both found themselves racing against the clock thanks to March Break travel. For Diesel, that meant showing up at 6am on Friday morning to complete his third Open workout before jetting off to Japan.
Even more impressive was The Ghost, who somehow managed to track down a barbell in a garage somewhere in Australia just hours after an 18-hour flight, and then proceeded to complete 26.3 entirely on his own.
Wow.
Thank you to everyone who showed up over the past few days to compete, judge, cheer, and support one another. You are the real heroes.
Week 3 Results
The Week 3 standings continued the trend that had been building all Open long. The Power Surge maintained their steady cadence to take the top spot once again.
The Power Surge – 54
The Rising Force – 46
The Unbreakables – 39
Which means that, at the end of it all, the title of Ultimate Superhero Squad goes to…
⚡ THE POWER SURGE ⚡
Congratulations to everyone.
Whether you were part of The Power Surge, The Rising Force, The Unbreakables, or simply showed up to complete a workout, judge an athlete, or cheer from the sidelines, I hope you felt the magic over the past three weeks. I certainly did.
The truth is, I believe deeply that there is nothing more important — especially in this day and age — than community. And over the past three weeks, you all demonstrated that you believe that too.
Thank you.
A special shout-out to WOD Father for trusting me to run this thing “my way” and to the entire Empower coaching and management staff for their support.
A heartfelt thank you to the many Superhero Squad Champions who quietly worked behind the scenes to encourage, support — and occasionally cajole — their teams into action.
And finally, my absolute undying love and admiration to the superhero who is always standing quietly behind me, supporting everything I do. Thank you, Smash, for embracing my crazy idea to add Empower Open Commandress to my list of commitments… for researching, writing, and sharing your Hot Takes each week… for giving up three consecutive Saturday morning forest walks so I could attend every Sweat & Social from start to finish… for staying behind each weekend to cook sausages and keep the post-WOD food flowing… and for always having my back.
And while the workouts may be done, the Empower Open celebration isn’t quite over yet.
Don’t forget to submit your nominations for Spirit of the Open — recognizing an athlete who truly embodied the positivity, encouragement, and community spirit that make the Empower Open so special. Send your nomination, along with a short note explaining why you chose that person, to Corey at [email protected] by Wednesday, March 18.
And be sure to save the date for the Empower Awards Gala, happening Saturday, April 11 from 2–4pm at Empower, where we’ll come together to celebrate the incredible athletes, moments, and memories that made this year’s Open – and our Empower community – so special.
Until next time, Superheroes — rest those legs. You’ve earned it. 💥
Warmly,
HHH aka The Commandress
