New to the CrossFit Open?
Not to worry, here’s a little rundown:
- The CrossFit Open is a 5-week challenge beginning February 21st (ending March 25). It consists of 1 weekly workout (with a judge to help count your reps and cheer you on) that allows athletes to test their skills (and strategy), and see where you rank worldwide in a variety of categories. It’s also the first step towards making it to the CrossFit Games. You can sign up officially at games.crossfit.com, or you can just do them for fun.
- The Open is for everyone, and in addition to scales specifically programmed by CrossFit HQ, we make sure every athlete in our gym has a scale that works for them!
- CrossFit HQ announces the workouts each Thursday at 7 pm CT via a live webcast at games.crossfit.com. We like to have mini watch parties each week to tick down movements that haven’t been tested yet and to cheer on our favorite pro athletes as they go head-to-head.
- There’s no reason not to give it a try as Fringe programs the Open Workout for Friday’s programming, and also has fun games (yes, there will be multiple games this year) designed around participation and collaboration with your fellow Fringies.
- In addition to being in Friday’s programming, Friday nights are usually a fun party (called Friday Night Lights) where we throw down with friends and enjoy some much-deserved beers and snacks afterward. The biggest parties are the first (19.1) and last (19.5) workouts. Workouts can also be completed during Open Gym times.
While few athletes stand a real chance at the next level, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t all strive to be a little better than yesterday. The Open workouts are tough, but they are written so that any and every CrossFitter can be successful. Meaning? There’s no excuse not to participate! And with our in-house intramural it’s a fun, collaborative competition to make the Open workouts a little more relevant to OUR community and provide a chance to get to know your fellow athletes better.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Did you know there is not one, but TWO Opens this year!?
In doing so, they’ve changed the format, timing and ways individuals can qualify for the next level of competition. Regionals are now a thing of the past and official CrossFit Sanctioned competitions are the way to punch your ticket to the CrossFit Games. You can read more about that at games.crossfit.com.
What about the 99 percent rest of us?
True, these changes to competitive CrossFit affects less than 1 percent of us, but we all love doing the Open.
If you’re new(er) to Fringe, we typically have a month-long party every week as a new workout is announced and we complete it during the weekend before official scores are due for submission.
It’s a blast to test our fitness not only against ourselves to see how far we’ve come, but the twists and turns often get us to try and accomplish things we never thought possible. It’s a magical time of new movements standards, PRs, and even some firsts like pull-ups and muscle-ups.
Our Plan for Two CrossFit Opens in 2019
With the already announced changes and rumors of additional announcements (space and logistics) have made this year tough to plan for, especially with big building projects in the works. But knowing we can’t wait anymore, we’ve tried to keep our plans as adaptable as possible.
The February Open
Thursday Night Open Workout Announcement: We’re strategizing the possibilities depending on what HQ puts out in the next week or so. They’ve teased that there will still be announcements, and we’re thinking of hitting the town to enjoy some beverages and watch them at some of our favorite local COMO places. More on that soon! (Do you have a new favorite place you think we should try, email us!)
Completing t
A New Game: We have come up with a badass game of BINGO. See below for all the deets.
The October Open
We will save our traditional Outlier Open Intramural Game for the 2nd of the Opens (in October). With our expansion recently complete and warmer weather on the menu, we think Friday Night Lights will be SPECTACULAR. So all the Intramural fun and teams and camaraderie and of course Friday Night events will still be a part of our year – it will just be delayed.
In the End…The Unknown is Kind of Exciting
Long ago, before the days of SugarWOD and PushPress, our members never used to know the workouts before they walked in the door.
It was a little scary, but kind of thrilling. That’s the feeling we have about this year. We don’t know what to expect, but we know it’s going to be awesome, and sometimes the most memorable experiences come from the crazy thrill of just diving in and knowing you have amazing people by your side. All in all, even though some things are changing, with all of us together under one roof working side by side each day to help each other be the best we can be, we think this might just be our FAVORITE Open yet.
Now Let’s Play Some Bingo: The Official Rules
We are so excited to debut our first #FringeOpenBingo game for the 2019 CrossFit Open.
- Cards and Cost: There are 5 BINGO card options, you can buy as few or as many of the designs as you’d like, each costs $20 to be paid by cash or check at the front desk.
- How to Win: Connect any 5 squares in a line to get a “BINGO”. A “BLACKOUT BINGO” means completing ALL the squares
- Proving it: Each box must be verified and stamped by a coach (video recordings of accomplishments is also advised)
- Replacing Cards: We can keep your card at the front desk, but if you opt to have it with you, you’re responsible for it. If you lose your card, you can get another one but will be forced to start over.
- Bonus: 1 Driven Nutrition product purchase can buy you an extra space. (Excludes single-serving protein)
- Square Categories
- Open announcements
- Open Workouts
- Recovery
- Community Spirit
- Mini-Challenges
- Prizes for winning:
- 1 BINGO = First 24 People, FOOD/SUPPLEMENT
- 3 BINGOS = First 5 People, 30 Min 1-on-1 Skill session (movement of choice!) or massage
- BLACKOUT BINGO = First 2 People, 1 MONTH FREE MEMBERSHIP or Supplement + CrossFit official apparel
- Where the money goes: Money collected used to buy equipment and support our philanthropy organization selected for Week 5.
