As a fan (i.e. not competing) I’m rapidly growing tired of “the sport of fitness” and it sounds like some competitors are as well. While browsing through various CrossFit blogs I came across this post from Blair Morrision, who took 23rd at the 2010 CrossFit Games and is currently 6th in the Northern California region:
Well… I am officially “Opened” out. At first the prospect of a 6 week crossfit challenge sounded exciting and fun, but I have to be honest: I’m sick of it. This last workout was the most creative and intriguing in my estimation, yet I still found myself lacking the drive to get up for it. Maybe this is all part of the master plan, to test people’s mental endurance as well as their physical, but I think it’s more of a miscalculation of interest…Everyone is talking about how the last month has altered their training, sucked them into a competition only mentality, and psychologically drained them…My score this WOD was 143 and I hated every single burpee of the second round. Can’t wait for this to be over.
From my perspective the CrossFit Games has lost my interest. I’m still happy to cheer for my friends as they take on the various open WODs but personally I’m ready for it to be done. Between a leaderboard which makes it difficult to determine who’s in what place overall (except for a few days per week when the prior WOD is closed and the new WOD has yet to be posted), the long drawn out nature of the open, and the incessant whining about how there’s “no way anyone could get that score unless they were cheating” I’m over the new format.
Additionally, it’s sucked a lot of the fun out of the overall spirit at the box I workout at. The top competitors seem run down (perhaps mentally more than physically), rarely working out with the group classes and the overall programming seems to have suffered with so much emphasis being placed on prepping for the upcoming open WOD.
On the positive side I’ve got to say this is exactly where blogs like Morrison’s Anywherefit play a critical role. Anywherefit regularly posts workouts which remind us how much fun can be had by mixing up our training, trying new movements, and taking on new challenges.
Morrison’s Anywherefit blog can be found here.
Morrison’s post on the open format is here.
Well said. I had my doubts about the open comp from the first time I heard about it.