Each year since 2011 the Reebok CrossFit Games Open has taken place, and each of these six years, CrossFit Malibu has hosted the event. Each and every year there are individual and group achievements that make it exciting. There are personal records that are set- sometimes over and over within one single WOD! Like in workout 11.2- which was a 5 minute AMRAP of clean and jerks- with each movement counting as its own point. A squat clean was worth one and then the remaining “shoulder to overhead any how” was worth another. Amidst screams and cheers there were athletes who struggled with getting bar to move from the ground and some who power cleaned and tried for the front squat. Others made the clean easily only to miss rep after rep of the jerk… and then finally getting in a single locked-out barbell overhead.
While 11.1 was a high-entry level for some, 12.1 was just the opposite- 7 minutes of non-stop burpees. A simple but horribly disgusting way to spend 420 seconds! Though everyone could do it… not everyone could do it well. And I am not sure anyone at the Hut has wanted to repeat it since it came and went in March of 2012. Maybe we should run it soon as our workout-of-the-day!? No thanks.
Many of the workouts over the years have been heavy and a few have been very straight forward- but each year there is at least one WOD that provides a technical challenge. I will never forget a few firsts with some of our athletes on these technical challenges. From David overcoming his fear of the 20″ box and getting his first box jump over and over again in the deadlift, box jump push up WOD. For most people it is the muscle up that presents the largest obstacle. And while we didn’t have any ring MUs this year- plenty of athletes nailed their first bar muscle up in 2016… after never having tried before, including Nanette and Gaby. Hitting something like that was reminiscent of when Laurie got her first chest-to-bar pull up at the CrossFit Games in 2012- while practicing for the final event in the Home Depot Center’s tennis pavilion. In the event itself she actually got FOUR reps!
And while we celebrate each individual’s achievements like these… it is the hard work, struggle and grind of the group as a whole that deserves the BIG congratulations each year. Each person who has pushed through the thrusters and burpees during 14.5 and 16.5 and the rowing and thrusters of 15.6- the only Open WODs that were done “for time” with no rescue by the clock. The Intramural teams who showed up at the Hut week after week. Who cheered for the pros during the open announcements and for their teammates on Saturday mornings… and to some who redid them on Mondays or completed them at far-off affiliates while away for the weekends. Thanks for a great 16.5… hope that you can celebrate the completion of the 2016 OPEN with us this Saturday.

Tuesday’s WOD at 6, 7, 9am and again at 4 and 5pm
Midday open gym at noon and Gymnastics specialty at 5pm
Every other minute for 8 rounds of:
Back squat, 4 reps
Post heaviest load and number of sets at that load
-then-
2 rounds of max repetitions on a running clock of:
1 minute strict pull ups
rest 1 minute
2 minutes double unders (OR practice DUs one minute then max rep single unders)
rest 1 minute
1 minute strict dips (rings for more advanced, bar or parallettes for scaled)
rest 1 minute
Post totals for each of the 3 movements to chalkboard