blog

[/caption] Updated Feb. 10 at 8:30 a.m. A schedule of events, as well as the online scoreboard URL will be released shortly. Event 1: Ron to the Hills Event 1–named after Ron–will be outside and will feature a relay run with kettlebells. Each gym will be required to bring two 35-lb. kettlebells with distinguishing characteristics—such as a painted logo, tape, ribbon, etc. All team members should be able to recognize their kettlebells at all times. After Event 1, you will not need the kettlebells again. On the run, you must carry the kettlebell, and you may carry it however you like as long as you could use the same technique while naked; i.e., you may not derive any advantage from clothing, backpacks, straps, hooks, chains, etc. That said, we suggest you do not run naked. Check the forecast and dress for success. After the outdoor event, no wet shoes, boots or clothes will be allowed in the gym for the other events. Bring appropriate indoor footwear and attire. Spectators will be required to remove outdoor footwear as well. Additional Details The run course will  be announced at team check-in on Saturday. Please be prepared to drive no more than 5 minutes to get to the course. This run will be much like the team relay run from the 2009 CrossFit Games. The course will be about 1,200 meters, with a turnaround at 600, and each team member will be required to run 1 lap of the course in relay format before the entire team does one final lap as a group. As such, each team member will do 2 laps in total–one solo and one as part of the team. Each team will have two kettlebells. Each kettlebell must circle the course once during the solo laps, and both kettlebells must circle the course during the team lap. Teams may decide the order of athletes, and not every athlete has to carry a kettlebell. An athlete could carry two kettlebells if you decide that is the best strategy. Kettlebells may also be left on the course during a solo run if an athlete or team chooses, and the kettlebell or kettlebells may be picked up by a teammate. For instance, a team could send an athlete out with a kettlebell, and he or she could drop it halfway to complete the run unloaded. A teammate would then have to run to the kettlebell and pick it up. If there are two kettlebells on the course and the last solo athlete is entering, he or she must carry both across the line before the team lap begins. Any dropped kettlebells must be placed at the rightmost aspect of the course so as not to create a tripping hazard. Immediately at the end of the four solo laps, the entire team will then run a lap with both kettlebells. Any athlete may carry the bells, and the team can switch workhorses as often as it chooses. An athlete may carry two bells. Athletes do not have to run together, but the team must cross the line together. If an athlete chooses to sprint to the finish and wait short of the finish line for teammates, that is fine, but the time will not stop until the team crosses the line as a group. If a team wants to run a kettlebell to the finish and leave it in front of the finish line as a member runs back to encourage other members, that is also fine, but the kettlebell must be picked up and carried across the line with the team. Rules of the Road The run course will be about 10 feet wide, and athletes must treat it like a divided highway: stick to the right and pass on the left only when safe. Athletes may not block each other from passing, and pedestrians and dogs have the right of way at all times on the course. Athletes may not leave the course for the road AT ANY TIME–EVEN TO PASS. Any athlete setting foot on the road will be assessed a severe penalty at the judge’s discretion. STAY OFF THE ROAD. During the team lap, teams may not run four across except to cross the finish line. If there is a sprint to the finish between several teams and the teams cannot cross four across, safety will take precedence and athletes may cross in single file, with the time stopping when the last athlete crosses. Bring your common sense and let it be your guide at all times. If you are a bad driver, consult with teammates to ensure you understand how to avoid creating hazards on the course. The run course will be plowed concrete, but it will not be bare. Choose footwear appropriately. There are no rules on footwear, other than that you may not wear skis, inline skates, hockey skates or any other equipment that might confer any advantage. Scoring This event will be for time, and the time cap is TBA. Teams who do not finish will be assessed a time penalty based on how much work they have left to complete. Overall, we will be using the same points-for-placement scoring system from the CrossFit 204 Classic. All teams will do all events, and there will be no cuts. At the end of the day, the lowest score wins. We will have an online system so you can track your standings. The URL will be announced shortly. Event 2 Event 2 will be announced moments before it happens. It will be a max-effort challenge and will involve a tribute to our first responders, and it will be named after a Led Zeppelin song. Event 3: Countdown to Extinction Event 3 and Event 4 will run back to back with a running clock, and there will be no reset time between the two. In Event 3, teams will have 5 minutes to amass as many reps as possible of the following: 40 toes-to-bars 40 pull-ups As many muscle-ups as possible in time remaining Scoring The score will be the total number of reps completed in the time allowed. Notes All team members do not have to complete successful reps, but each team member must make at least one attempt at each of the first two movements–toes-to-bars, pull-ups–before allowing teammates to complete the reps. You never know what can happen when you try. Aside from this rule, there are no requirements for how many reps can be completed by each athlete. Provided all athletes make an attempt at the pull-ups and toes-to-bars, one athlete could complete all reps of all activities if you determine that is the best strategy for your team. If an athlete cannot perform any of the movements in Event 3, he or she will be fresh to carry the load in Event 4. The rings will be–you guessed it–metal, and they will be taped. The pull-up bars and rings will be set at approximately 8 feet. No boxes will be provided. If you have shorter athletes, they may jump or you may lift them to the apparatus. You may not assist them with the rep. You can tape your hands but you may not use gymnastic grips or gloves. Standards Toes-to-bars: Any grip is permitted, and any style is permitted. At the bottom of the rep, the heels must come behind the vertical plane of the front of the bar. At the top of the rep, the feet or the legs must touch the bar at the same time. Pull-ups: Any grip is permitted, and any style is permitted–strict, kipping, butterfly, etc. You must lock your arms at the bottom of the rep, and your chin must be clearly above the horizontal plane of the top of the bar. Clearly means the judge has no doubt that the rep is legitimate. Muscle-ups: Any grip is permitted, and any style is permitted except for gymnastics swings or rolls to support. At the bottom of the rep, your arms must be locked out, but you do not have to turn your hands out. At the top of the rep, your elbows must be locked while you are supported above the rings. Event 4: The Four Horsemen Event 4 will be for time, and the time will include the 5 minutes dedicated to Event 3. The time cap will be 25 minutes total for both events, but they are scored separately. At the 5-minute mark, Event 3 will end, and Event 4 will start. In Event 4, each member must complete all work prescribed below before the time cap. If a team does not complete the reps, each incomplete rep will result in one second added to the time cap; e.g., 10 incomplete reps would equal 25:10. For the partner carries, each length will represent 1 second. Row 500 meters 20 burpee box jumps (24 inches) 30 kettlebell swings (70, 55, 45, 35) 40 wall-ball shots (20 lb. to 10 feet/14 lb. to 9 feet) Each partner must be carried 150 feet. Scoring The event will be for time. Notes This workout will run much like the row-pistol-clean workout from 2012 Regionals. An athlete may load into the rower before the 5-minute mark but may not start until Event 2 ends. When it does, he or she rows 500 meters before moving through the prescribed work. No athlete may advance stations before the previous athlete has completed the work. For instance, if an athlete is slow on the burpees and another athlete completes the row, the latter athlete must stay on the rower until the burpees are completed. This is true for all stations, and judges will make sure you do not advance out of turn. Each kettlebell can only be swung once, and each kettlebell must be swung. Athletes may only swing one kettlebell, and the kettlebell will be carried from the KB station to the wall-ball station once the athlete completes the swings. Following athletes can swing any kettlebell that is still at that station. The partner carries will not be allowed to start if a team has left a kettlebell on the course. For the partner carries, any form of carrying is acceptable. Every athlete must be carried 150 feet, but not every athlete must carry someone. One athlete could do all the carrying if you decide that is the best strategy. The team’s time stops when the last partner is carried over the line. Standards Row: The athlete cannot touch the handle until the judge says so. The distance is 500 meters. The handle must be placed back in the holder. All damper and stretcher settings are allowed. Burpee box jumps: The athlete starts on one side of the box and drops to touch chest and thighs to the floor before traversing the box by jumping over, on and over, or stepping over to the other side. That is one rep. You do not have to extend your hips at the top of the box, but both feet must travel over the top of the box in some manner; you may not step over and drag the trailing leg along the side of the box. All boxes will be 24 inches for all athletes. Kettlebell swings: The wrists or forearms must touch the thighs at the bottom of the swing. At the top of the swing, the entire kettlebell must be over the head. Small inclinations are acceptable provided the athlete is in control and the entire kettlebell is over the head. The swing-to-press variation is acceptable. Dropping the kettlebell except to avoid injury is a 3-burpee penalty at the judge’s discretion. These are the same standards we used at the CrossFit 204 Classic, and you can watch the standards video on kettlebells here. You must carry your kettlebell to the wall-ball station. Wall-ball shots: At the bottom of the rep, the hip crease must be below the top of the knee. At the top of the rep, the ball must touch on or above the 9-foot line for women and on or above the 10-foot line for men. Women will use the 14-lb. ball, and men will use the 20-lb. ball. The lines are painted above the required heights, so hitting the line is acceptable, but judges will not count questionable reps. If you drop the ball, it must come to rest before you pick it up again. Partner carry: After all team members complete the wall-balls, the partner carries begin. Carry your partner from behind the line around a box 75-feet away, then come back. If you put your partner down due to fatigue or error, you must pick up where you left off. Only 1 pair may be on the course at a time, and another pair may not start until the previous pair crosses the line. Again, all members must be carried, but not all members must carry. Event 5: Twisted Sisterz Event 5 is in honour of the Smith family. Teammates (male and female) partner up and will work together through a ladder of thrusters. The pairs will have 20 seconds each (40 seconds total) to amass as many reps at each weight as possible. A timer will count down to the 20-second mark, and Partner 1 must lock out the rep before “switch” is called. Partners must switch after 20 seconds. There will be 10 seconds to transition to the next bar and hand the judge your scoresheet. Bar weights are as follows: 55-185 lb. in 10-lb. increments. There will be 14 bars total. Women will start at 55 lb., and men will start at 85 lb. Scoring Score will be total team poundage; i.e., the total amount of weight thrustered at all stations by all members. Standards At the bottom of the rep, the hip crease must be below the top of the knee. At the top of the rep, the bar must be completely locked out over the base of support with the athlete in control. We will allow one step and a matching step by the other leg on lockout, but no additional steps will be allowed. For the rep to count, the feet must be side by side and the bar must be locked out overhead and under control. We will not allow the “thruster jerk” in which the athlete opens the hips and then closes the hips to drop under the bar. The bar must always be travelling upward to lockout, and the hips must stay open once they open as the athlete rises out of the squat. Think of it like a push press rather than a jerk. You may squat-clean the bar to start the first rep, and bars may be dropped under control from the top of the lift. Notes If one partner fails to complete a single rep on a bar, he or she is eliminated from the ladder. The other partner can continue on in the ladder but still has only 20 seconds to work. Once the female partners are done, they will bring the team scoresheet to the male partners waiting to begin the ladder. During the transition, the bar must stop bouncing before the second partner picks it up. The best strategy is to have Partner 1 guide it down under control. Women start the ladder at 55 lb., and men start at 85 lb. The order of the partners can switch at any bar, meaning Partner 1 could do the final 20 seconds on the 85-lb. bar and start the work on the 95-lb. bar, but each partner may only work once per bar and for no more than 20 seconds. The 185-lb. bar will be a fat bar. Event 6: Motörhead 4 rounds of: 10 dumbbell snatches (5 per arm; 70, 50, 35, 25 lb.) 8 45-lb. plate carries Each team will have 4 dumbbells (70, 50, 35, 25 lb.) and 8 45-lb. plates. At the beginning of the workout, one team member must snatch one dumbbell 10 times, alternating arms. Once that dumbbell has been snatched, it is off limits for the rest of the event and following athletes must snatch another dumbbell when it is their turn. Once the first athlete’s 10 snatches are complete, the team must move the 8 45-lb. plates about 90 feet to a marked area across the gym. Only two team members may be on the course at any one time, and they must tag off a partner before he or she can start running. Each athlete may only carry one plate per trip. Once all 8 plates have been moved and all athletes are back to the start area, the next team member must complete 10 snatches on a new dumbbell before the plates are moved back to their original location. This pattern will occur 2 more times until the team has performed 40 total snatches and moved the eight plates 4 times. The plates will finish where they started. Scoring This event will be for time, and the cap is 8 minutes. Every plate not moved and every snatch not completed before the time cap will add 1 second to the team’s time. Standards Dumbbell snatch: At the bottom of each rep, the dumbbell must start on the floor with both ends on the ground. The athlete must use one hand to snatch the dumbbell overhead and lock it out over the base of support. At the top of the rep, the knees, hips and elbows must be completely open and the dumbbell must be overtop of the shoulder and in control. Athletes may lower the dumbbell with two hands before starting the next rep with the opposite hand. Dumbbells may not be dropped except due to failed reps or to prevent injury. Drops other than for the reasons listed above result in an immediate 3-burpee penalty at the judge’s discretion. Plate carry: Only two partners can be moving plates at a time, and only one plate can be carried at a time by each athlete. Plates can be carried in one hand, overhead, or however the person sees fit as long as he or she is not using any assistance from clothing, chains, ropes, etc. Notes Teams will be re-seeded after Event 5, and there will be two teams competing at a time, with the top two teams going last. Each team member must snatch a dumbbell 10 times, and teammates must alternate running and plate-moving. One athlete cannot move two plates in a row.