The workout programmed above is a past open workout. It is one of the longer open workouts that have ever been programmed and started a trend of having one open workout every year that doesn’t have a cap, meaning you just keep going until all the work is completed. 

Every once in awhile I like to program a workout that has no cap because it forces people to push harder and longer than they normally. This is because they can’t rely on the workout only being say 15 minutes no matter how hard they work due to the 15 minute time cap.  I program these in hope that it will show people they are capable of accomplishing more than they thought they could. At the same time I don’t schedule these workouts often because then they are not as “special” if they become routine

A great option for adding variety to a CrossFit class is utilizing KB for loading instead of a barbell or dumbell. There is a bit of a learning curve with moving a kettlebell efficiently, so it’s smart to first master the basics with the barbell and dumbbell since they are what is primarily used in gyms anyways.

My favorite way to implement kettlebells is having athlete perform movements within in the front rack. If the kettlebells are held properly in the front rack (not on the shoulders) the trunk gets challenged to a much higher degree.  This is convenient because the athletes doesn’t need to use as much  load as they would have to with a barbell to make the movement. Making it a great option for a deload as well.

The programming above is a great example of download type workout. I like to program lower stress days mid week with CrossFit to give them a break from the high intensity they typically experience on a daily basis. 

The above workout fits this category for few different reasons. First, the movements in the workout aren’t extremely stressful on the joints (outside of maybe the hspu if you lack mobility). I like using the sit up and Russian kb swing for this purpose, it gets your heart rate up, but doesn’t beat you up.  Also, the rep scheme chosen is of lower reps, to prevent metabolite build up and soreness. As for the strength, the focus is more on moving moderate weight efficiently instead of building to something heavy, also less stressful

This is a simple couplet of two movements often seen in CrossFit, one being a gymnastic based movement and the other a barbell movement.

To offer an RX+ version of this workout I would increase the barbell weight of the OHS to 135/95-155/105, so sets of 10 would still be manageable, but become induce higher levels of fatigue as the workout went on, making them question if they are ready to pick the bar up for there next reps.

Another change I would make is increasing the T2b reps to 15-20 reps per set. This would most likely force them to eventually begin breaking it up into smaller sets and require some degree of strategy, versus just mindlessly doing sets of 10 for the entire 10 minutes

Years back it seemed very likely that the shuttle run would be something that would soon become part of regular open testing. I really liked the idea of it because I think if you are testing general fitness of athletes like CrossFit does running is a crucial component that is overlooked in the open. Not that shuttle runs would be the perfect way to test it because it would be more about the athletes ability to change direction efficiently than it would be about actually running.

I think running is more of a true test of aerobic capacity then the other monostructural machines used in CrossFit because it does not pay to bigger or more powerful, it evens the playing field for all athletes. Also it is a much better way to look at athletes general athleticism

The workout above is a cranked up version of Cindy using movements that you are more likely to see in CrossFit competitions. The reason why I think competitions neglect to use simple body weight movements like pull up, push up and air squat is because they first off are not very entertaining or exciting to spectators who may not have a great understanding of the sport. Also body weight movements are typically performed at a much faster rate and the end point ranges of motion for judging no reps becomes a very difficulty task. Like for example with Cindy:
- did the chin get all the way over the bar on the pull up?
- did he go all the way down on the push up?
- are they fully extending their hips at the top of every squat?

Using chest to bars, hand release push ups and wall balls have clear start and end points, making it much easier to judge and standardize

The class workout programmed is a great example of utilizing isometrics within a CrossFit workout. 

An isometric is when you hold a static position and try maintaining that specific posture with tension in the muscles you are targeting.

I find it easiest to implement isometrics in a partner workout setting because they can be held while the other partner is performing the work portion or the workout.  When choosing the isometrics I like to pick one that will cause interference with the movement it is being performed with because it will keep the athletes work intervals shorter. The shorter work intervals are good because I like to use partner workouts during the week to provide a small deload from volume, due to the nature of volume being so high in CrossFit training.  Also you can goose isometric movements to be paired with CrossFit movements that will help the athlete connect with what body part they should be feeling while performing the dynamic movement. For example you could pair a glute bridge with a squat

The workout above is an interval triplet that is primarily focused on developing gymnastics capacity, intermixed with some bb cycling. 

The movements chosen for this workout cause a lot of interference to each other.  The hspu will affect the catch of the snatch due to both requiring arms being locked out overhead. The pulling of the snatch from the hang will affect your grip, ability to hold onto long sets of T2B, and your ability to maintain your lip swing, due to the fatigue in the lats.

That is why I kept the reps low on all the movements, so the athlete would be able to keep accumulating reps and hopefully unbroken sets, even though the movements affected each other to a high degree

This workout is a twist on a past open workout the power cleans are switched out for the deadlifts. If my goal back 6 years ago when I created this workout was to provide a similar stimulus to the original workout, this one would have failed for sure. Even if the power clean is lighter than the deadlift weight the energy expenditure is so much different on each movement. The main reason being one movements range of motion is much larger and requires both a dynamic concentric and eccentric portion.  The actual movements the power clean is very similar to a box jump, making each movement affect each other even more than a deadlift would have.

If I were to rewrite this workout I would keep the reps lower on the power cleans to make up for the larger range of motion than there were on the deadlift

If I were to direct a class on how to attack this workout I would have them first select weights/scales that would allow them to perform the sets with only 1-2 breaks. Ideally they wouldn’t break at all but performing the sets of 21 swings after the thrusters would be very taxing and may fatigue to much to where they couldn’t recover for upcoming sets.

The purpose of the bike or tow after each set of movements is to give the athlete an opportunity to recover and get heart rate back down before going back in the part of the workout that is the intense stimulus