2016 will be CrossFit Empower’s 3rd time participating in the CrossFit Open. In 2014 we were very new having been only 1 year in our Dunbar Street location. We entered competition not expecting much but to have fun. We succeeded.
In 2015 our expectations weren’t much different. We had made no special preparations for competition, we had no elite training team like some other Vancouver CrossFits. And despite that our athletes moved up an average of 100 places! And we still had a blast. We were surprised. Not that our athletes were getting fitter. CrossFit works, we knew that. We were surprised that our athletes were getting fitter, faster than other CrossFitters. Is it because of the superiority of HQ programming?
Success is its own motivation. So we wondered, how would we do if we actually trained for the Open? We will soon find out. September through December our Team training focused on competition skills and strength development. Specifically we worked on grip and core strength and resilience to bullet-proof our athletes for competition conditions.
Now our focus shifts to anaerobic conditioning, building the engines needed for Open-style WODs.
We had a full house Saturday with all 12 spots filled! Some competitors and many non-competitors coming to help our team prepare including rookies like Jet & Prime. Today we played in pairs with a 1:3 work:rest ratio. 30 seconds per partner per station followed by a full minute rest. Teams were scored on total reps completed over 31 minutes. It worked out to a total of 16 minutes work per team or 8 minutes work per person. It doesn’t sound like a lot.
The Touch & I teamed up. It might sound unfair. No doubt The Touch felt that I slowed him down. I prefer to look at it like I helped everyone else catch up:) Super Mario & Mr. Fantastic were only a few reps behind us. Aquagirl & Jet were also within striking distance as the fastest women’s team. Burpees were assigned based on finish position.
It was great fun. The TeamWODs are a special experience. Whatever your level, please feel welcome to come on out and join us. It is all in good fun! Want a fun place to train where everyone can be part of the team? Come play with us https://www.empowereverybody.com/get-started/
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