5 Observations from the 2014 CrossFit Games:
2) The 2014 crowd was the first to ever treat the Games like an actual sporting event – and it made the entire event seem like… A REAL sporting event.
This was my fifth trip to coach at the former Home Depot Center, and current Stub Hub Center, in Carson California. I remember exactly where I was in 2010 when it was announced that the Games would move from Aromas to Carson. I was eating at Panda Express with the kids, and someone sent me a text with a link to the announcement. This, of course, was early 2010 and I’m pretty sure it took an hour and a half to load the page on my iPhone 1. When it finally finished I remember thinking, “Wait, they play real sports at that place, what are we gonna do there?”
See, the issue with the crowd is that they’ve always just kinda been there seemingly to: 1) drink 2) check out the new gear from WODwhateverthef**k 3) cheer for an athlete from their gym 4) drink more. This year was different. This year the standard cheers for the athlete from the gym that was closest to Carson were still sort of there, but the cheers for veterans and crowd favorites completely drowned them out. That, however, was not the biggest change. The biggest change was that the crowd ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THE EVENTS, and came to their feet for the best moments.
Let me give you a brief history of the crowds at the Games during the Carson era…
2010: Mostly crickets and athletes standing around after workouts. Also, security guards not doing anything because there was no one there. Really. Watch some videos.
2011: Coaches (me and Doug Chapman – two makes a crowd, right), Reebok employees, local SoCal affiliates, and people who were there trying to sell stuff that wandered into the stadium.
2012: Local SoCal affiliates, affiliates who had athletes at the Games, people who thought Rich was hot, Reebok employees, and a whole bunch of people who were there to sell stuff and likely thought Rich was hot.
2013: Everyone listed above, but a few from a new group. I like to call them “spectators”, and they are generally at events to watch the “sport” that’s happening. I believe these people start a trend in 2013 by “cheering” for things that bring them excitement. I first notice this “cheering” when I stand amongst them to watch Elisabeth decimate “Cinco 1”, and realize I’m not the only one screaming when she rolls out of the HS Walk to cross the finish line. Surreal.
And that brings us to 2014. Not only was the crowd insanely loud in the massive soccer stadium, but I saw gigantic lines throughout the weekend of people lining up to get good seats in the tennis stadium. Like get there at 8am, and stand in line until 3pm to get a good seat and maybe high-five Rich as he won 5 of 7 events (really? 5 of 7?). When I walked in the tennis stadium to watch the “Clean Speed Ladder”, I noticed something else crazy – the crowd was ON THEIR FEET. Not because they were trying to let someone in their row – it was the whole crowd, standing the whole time.
There was something else that was even more amazing to me than the sheer volume and intensity of the crowd. When we walked in the athlete area every morning and every night, there were people lined up along the fence to take pictures and get autographs from the athletes. Like Drew Brees or Kevin Durant were about to walk in. I also saw athletes take the time to stop and give each person that asked their undivided attention.
To me, this is a new era, and it’s good for the sport. If this means the athletes can support their training and continue to pursue what they love, then it will continue to be a good thing. Five years ago, in the empty Home Depot Center, I had guarded hopes that this day would come – the day when competitive exercise looked and felt like a real sport. Now that IMO it’s here, I sure hope it stays this way for a long time.
WOD 140802:
BBG
1) 3 attempts to establish a 1RM Snatch.
Meet style. Warmup and choose openers and attempts.
2) 3 attempts to establish a 1RM Clean & Jerk.
Meet style. Warmup and choose openers and attempts.
Strength
15 minutes to establish a 3RM Front Squat.
Conditioning
“Amanda”
Compare to 140419.
9-7-5 of:
Muscle-Ups
Snatches (full) 135/95#
For time.
Conditioning:
924
Haven’t ever done Amanda finished at 9:24, but I had to do bar muscle ups due to no ring hanging fixture at my gym.
Snatch:
205 – Good
215 – Miss
215 – Good
(-15 from a PR) Was planning on going up to 225 but scaled it back after the first miss at 215lb
C&J:
255 – Good
275- Good (Ties PR)
285 – Miss
Cond: 5:57 – first time under 6 minutes and first time doing it actually 100% Rx (full squats on the snatches and full lockout on every MU). But definitely stared at the rings too much on the 2nd and 3rd round. Snatches felt good, I think I can get this under 5 minutes if I just keep getting better on the rings.
27/170#/5’9″/M/CenEast
1/1/1
Sn:
175 – ooo
185 – ooo; -7# from PR
195 – xxx
C&J:
215 – xxx
230 – ooo; -20# PR
247 – xxx
3RM FS: 265#; -20# from last week
Conditioning: 8:17 Rx; Old PR was 15:00 from 20131025; no misses
MUs: 3/3/3; 3/2/2; 2/2/1
Sn: all singles
For next time, I want to push the snatches and start connecting 2-3 with the same :05-:07 rest period I use for singles
Weighed in at 84.1kg this am. After breakfast and hydrating too.
BBG
Kilos are approximate on lifts.
1.) 84/93/102(x)
2.) 120/127/136(x-Jerk)
Strength
1.) 300#, -25#. Felt fucking heavy
Cond
Later
5’9″/143/39 yrs. old
1rm Snatch-#83
1rm C&J- 113#
3rm FS- 133#
Conditioning- 8:00
Blue Band bar m/u’s
#63 bar
M/u’s were extremely hard after this week strength work.. Or just tired
Snatches felt comfortable. (Will go up in weight next time)
Looked up ratios of:
Squat:snatch= 131% more than snatch
Snatch: C&J = 80% of C&J
These numbers are exactly proportionate
I used to train my squat to only parallel until I started Cf’ing. I was squatting 220#. Anything below parrallel gives me trouble.This is why I’m having so much trouble with my weights. It’s like starting from the bottom up, literally.
BBG
1. 100 kg, 107 kg (-3), 115 kg failed (i have been chasing 115 kg for months)
2. Bombed out 137 kg failed jerk, 140 failed clean, 140 failed jerk. usually numbers i can hit on any day of the week.
Strength
1.) 295# feeling weak
CND
first amanda attempt
6:58 Rx
muscle ups broken up into (4,3,2), (3,2,2), (2,1,1,1)
Cruised on the snatches. every rep felt damn good.
M/F/S
8/6/ 9 felt like sh**
BBG
1) 100 – 105 – 110 fail
(PR 116kg)
2) 115 – 120 jerk fail – 120 clean fail …
(PR 130kg)
Strength
145 kg ties PR
Cond
PR 4:23 (think 4:50)
All MU UB
Singles on the snatches, wanted to give it a try, felt good
Not 100% yet but this is the heaviest I’ve been able to go in a 4-6 weeks so I’m happy with it
Snatch 195 (-20)
C+j 250 (-45)
Front squat 285 (-40)
Con
Retried 14.1
6+6 a full round better than my performance in March
BBG
1:) 215# (good), 225# (good), 240# (miss)
2:) 265# (good), 285# (missed), 285# (missed, jerk)
Strength
290# (+5#)
Conditioning
4:46 (40 sec PR)
BBG
1) 165 – PB for full snatch
2) 235 – (-20lbs from my PB C&J)
Strength
275
Conditioning (For Time)
4 Rounds
400M Run
15 Dips
15 C2B PU
Then 50 GHB Situps with a 20 DU penalty when you have to break the sit-ups up
15 mins
BBG
felt slow and just out of sorts with the BB today..
Snatch – hit 155, missed 172
CandJ – did 185 and wasn’t feeling it so I moved on.
Conditioning
13:59 – PR by 2:24 but only because my MU have gotten better. A lot of misses on the snatch that shouldn’t have happened. MU were 5-2-2/3-2-2/3-2
Strength
245 +5#
27/5’11″/172/NorCal
BBG
1) 225
2) DND
STRENGTH
DND
*hammy flairing up
Conditioning
4:51 PR (-:20)
On shift, only did FS. 280 (-5)
BBG
1) 205/215/225(f)
2) Stayed light here up to 275
Strength: Up to 315, out of time.
Conditioning: “Amanda”. 4:44 rx, pr by quite a bit I don’t remember how much
9-7-5 of:
Muscle-Ups
Snatches (full) 135#
For time.
BBG 1) 155, 165, 170#
BBG 2) F235 (Failed jerk), 235#, F245#
Str) 235#
Cond – 11:45 @ 115#
Bad. 3 missed snatches, couldn’t get out of the hole. MUs okay.