The CrossFit Games are a hugely popular and incredibly intense fitness competition that aims to crown "the fittest man and fittest woman alive".
The Games are so popular that more than 200,000 athletes have registered for the open competition (a five-week qualification stage in which participants from around the world submit their results online), and more than 1,500 men and women qualified for regional competitions. During the regional competitions, around a hundred finalists compete in the Games proper.
What is the Cross-training program?
CrossFit is an intense, multidisciplinary exercise program that combines all kinds of exercises into varied fitness programs. CrossFit allows you to train 10 fundamental physical qualities: Cardio/respiratory endurance, strength, endurance, power, flexibility, speed, agility, coordination, precision and balance.
Often when people train, they focus on one or two activities, such as running, weight lifting, or swimming. CrossFitters, however, seek to create exercise programs that include a variety of activities, called "Workouts of the Day" (WOD).
For example, in the Monday WOD, you can do 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 10 burpees (doing as many reps as possible in a given time frame). In Tuesday's WOD, you could do 15 sit-ups, 10 deadlifts, and run 100 meters (again, doing as many reps as possible in a given time frame).
The goal is to do a variety of exercises that cross disciplines so you can carve out a full body fitness.
The CrossFit Games takes this philosophy to extreme levels, however – three to four days of intense competition and four grueling WODs per day, with strict and aggressive reps and time limits.
A brief history of the CrossFit Games
The CrossFit Games have grown from a small local competition to a global event. Here's how :
2007: The first CrossFit Games were held on a ranch in Northern California and saw 70 CrossFit athletes compete for a $500 prize.
2008: The number of athletes competing increased to 300.
2009: The Games went global, with regional competitions around the world sending 150 finalists to compete in the Games. These Games also saw the first separate team competition, in which 100 teams competed for the Affiliate Cup.
2010: The Games were moved to a larger venue in Los Angeles. Another level of qualification has been added: the Sections, the winners of which will go to the Regionals. After the Regionals, 86 finalists participated in the Games, which awarded a first prize of $25,000.
2011: Reebok launched a 10-year sponsorship of the Games, which saw the amount of the prizes dramatically increased - winners and winners took home $250,000 each. 2011 was also the first year the Games were televised on ESPN.
The CrossFit Games also added open competition (replacing Sections), which attracted over 26,000 athletes from around the world. The open competition sent the top scores to the regionals, and then the regional winners traveled to the games to compete for the title of "Fittest on Earth". This was the first year that Rich Froning, Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir had won the Men's and Women's Individual Championships.
2012: More than 86,000 athletes participated in the open competition in 2012. Beginning with the Open, the 60 fittest individual athletes and 30 fittest teams from each region competed in the regional competitions. From there, each of the 17 regions sent the top 3 men, 3 women, and 3 teams to the games.
In 2012, the Games also created a big surprise for the finalists: Before the official start of the Games, an extra day of competition was added, which was held at the US Navy base, Camp Pendleton. Froning and Thorisdottir were again the individual champions.
2013: The popularity of the Games continues to increase dramatically, and over 138,000 athletes participate in open competition. Froning becomes three-time men's champion; however, Thorisdottir had to retire due to injury, and Sam Briggs won the Women's Championship.
2014: Over 200,000 athletes participated in completing The Open. Froning becomes a four-time men's champion and Camille Leblanc-Bazinet wins the women's championship. Two-time defending champion Thorisdottir placed second in the women's competition.
How to participate and qualify for the CrossFit Games?
It's easy to sign up to participate in CrossFit games. All you have to do is go to the CrossFit Games site, create a new account (or log in with your existing account if you're already participating) and answer a few questions aimed at placing you in the right division and region. .
Then you can register to participate in the Open. Registration for the Open costs $20 for residents of the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. For the rest of the world, registration is $10.
Train at a CrossFit-affiliated gym and have someone judge your workout and submit your scores online.
Upload a video of your workout as proof of the scores you post online.
Competitors may make as many attempts as necessary to achieve the highest score, provided that each practice week's score is submitted by the end of the week. Then, at the end of the open competition, the top 48 men, 48 women and 30 teams from each of the 17 regions of the world will be invited to participate in the regional competitions.
Calendar of upcoming CrossFit Games
Dates for upcoming games are posted on the CrossFit Games website, but here are the general schedules for each of the three stages:
- The general competition begins at the end of February and lasts for five weeks.
- The Regionals take place in May over a period of three days.
- The Games proper take place in August over a period of three to four days.