The CrossFit Series: Part Three - Competition Stages

The CrossFit Games are not just something you sign up for. There are two platforms of competition you must conquer before you can become the fittest on earth.

The first is the CrossFit Open. You have to register for the Open if you want to submit your score for each workout.

The Open is a nationwide event that starts with CrossFit headquarters announcing a workout of the week for the nation. This workout, along with four others that are announced on a weekly basis, are meant for everyone to try. Every athlete records their time and weights for each workout and submits their score. The Open is an all-inclusive event because although the workouts are challenging, there are scaled versions that accompany them so every CrossFit athlete can participate.

“The best part about Crossfit is that new workouts are always being provided,” said Ryan Fish, a student at Connecticut College.

Once all is said and done after the Open, up to 30 individuals with the top Open scores are picked to move on to Regionals. Not every region picks 30 athletes though, it varies based on where you live and can be as little as five athletes that are picked. These are the fittest people from every region of the globe. There are eight qualifying events at this stage of the competition that pit you against only people of the same fitness level. To put it into perspective, most people never make it to regionals without year-round training.

“CrossFit will push every individual muscle and you might not have visible toning but you will be stronger and healthier than most gym goers,” said Brian Knodler, a student at Bentley University.

If you make it out of regionals, it’s time for the big show. The CrossFit Games hosts only 40 of the fittest male and female athletes from around the world. The first CrossFit Games was held on a ranch in Aromas, California, but is now being hosted in Madison, Wisconsin because of the growing popularity and need for a bigger venue. The workouts are grueling and not for the faint-hearted. The difficulty of these workouts will be discussed in the next part of the series.