WOD Crossfit Games Open 18.1 (Ages 16-54)
Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
8 Toes-to-bars
10 Dumbbell Hang C&J 50/35 lb
14/12-Cal Row
WOD 
WOD 40 Alt. Pistols
10 SB Over the shoulder 150/100
800m run
20 Alt. pistols
5 SB Over the shoulder 150/100
Movement Do Injuries Make You or Break You?
Injuries, pregnancy, the inevitable aches and pains, they can and do set us back in our fitness journey’s not only physically but mentally. But physical setbacks should never be a reason to pull back entirely. Yes, it can be defeating and discouraging feeling like you are having to start back at square one. Let’s be honest though, that’s your ego.
After All, movement is medicine. No matter what kind movement. And starting from scratch is not actually a bad thing. It’s an opportunity to correct bad habits, to learn and grow, not just physically but mentally. How we work through seasons of setbacks in our lives can say a lot about who we are. You will either hold on to who you were and where you were chasing a person or level you were at or you can use the opportunity to evolve, come out stronger, wiser, a version of you that is far greater. Am I right or am I right?
We have had multiple members work through and around injury, surgery, pregnancy even around the CrossFit Open. The CrossFit Open is EXTREMELY affiliate friendly meaning the workouts are designed with multiple scaling options and allows for further modifying if needed just like we do every day here at Iron Legion. Just because you may be adapting the workouts this year doesn’t mean you should hold back from participating. Use this as your new baseline or a baseline in general. Something to compare to next year. Use it as an opportunity to get to know fellow members. Use it to challenge yourself in way that many of us DO find hard–stepping back but continue to keep moving. And when in doubt, you have some pretty amazing, experienced and knowledgeable coaches that are always willing to COACH and guide you back to or beyond where you want to be!
LASTLY, if you are hesitant on being on an Iron Legion Open team because you think would be the weak link, first tahts not how the teams and scoring work BUT for the sake of argument ask yourself this… if you had someone on your team having to modify but wanting to participate would you have considered them a weak link?? I’m guessing not. That’s not our community. So, what makes you think you need to feel that way? Just sign up and have fun with your gym fam and set some new goals for 2023!
Here are two members who have worked around and come back from their own injury and pregnancy Journey while still working out every day and even participating in the CrossFit Open.
Meet Haley
“Hi! My name is Haley Freeman and I am 28 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for Eight Years total and first participated in the CrossFit Open in 2016. I decided to participate in the Open because I was interested in testing my skills compared to others around the world and it was a fun little competition at the gym.
I found doing the open to be invigorating. I love the Open every year. The competition is great and the whole gym is hyped. I always manage to push myself more during this season due to the hype and support of the gym. Which is why My favorite part is the camaraderie that comes with it. Everyone is very supportive and pushes you harder. We all help judge each other and workout next to each other. There is something special about having a fellow athlete count your reps and judge your time. It pushes you to go faster every time.
I think someone who has had an injury or is working around their pregnancy should still do the Open. JUST Do it. Sign up and do it. Period. You will surprise yourself; I promise. I did the open while pregnant in 2021 and five months postpartum in 2022. It was incredibly empowering to have my daughter with me for both CrossFit Opens. I even got one single muscle up during the 2022 open! I surprised myself, just like you will. Don’t miss the opportunity to “wow” yourself and those around you.”
-Haley Freeman
Meet Mari
“Hi my name is Mari Rivera and I’ve been doing Crossfit for 7+ years. My first year doing the CrossFit Open was in 2015. I decided to participate because most of the athletes back then were doing it.
And if I am being honest, until a few years ago I got very nervous because there used to be 5 Workouts, but I do not get nervous anymore maybe because the Open changed to 3 workouts, and I think the excitement was just getting started at 3.
My favorite part about the CrossFit Open was that it got our CFIL family together… That in itself motivates you to compete.
If someone I knew was questioning whether to participate in the CrossFit Open due to an injury, I would share that I have had 2 shoulder surgeries… only missed a few days and I was back at the gym rehabbing and doing all I was capable of doing. Having said that, anybody not because of the Open should just go to the gym and scale a workout if you have those kinds of days, but to be honest I do hold back at times because of fear of re-injury and I end up scaling the workout. there is nothing wrong with adjusting the workout, either way you are here.
I think everybody in the gym (all levels) should do the Open and bring back the excitement because it really is a great experience with our gym members!!”
-Mari Rivera
Movement Are you drinking the Kool-Aid yet?
This week’s CrossFit Open Testimonials are focused on the competitive minds and even those who may not be….yet.
Have you been curious to jump in on a CrossFit competition but the whole concept is intimidating? Or maybe you never thought about a CrossFit competition but there is something in you that is craving a way to test your skills? The CrossFit Open is a perfect way to get a taste for what a competition would feel like. You will have a judge counting your reps, the energy is INSANELY higher, the race against the clock is more intense, pushing yourself beyond your daily WODs goes farther.
And the feeling of leaving it all the floor, hitting a new PR, going past the point when your mind says, “let’s just quit”, just maaaaaay ignite a fire in you that you have been looking for or didn’t realize was already there ready to burn.
As humans it’s easy to become complacent and go through the motion’s day to day, but we weren’t designed that way. We were made to do more, be better, grow, learn, chase something all the time.
But sometimes that “thing” that is going to challenge you, the “thing” to chase that will give you something to work for, it’s hard to find.
Guess what though???? Showing up every day at Iron legion is that side of you that is striving to be better in one way or another, whether physical, mental, or emotional and the CrossFit Open is that one time a year you can test and push yourself and everything you have been putting into the gym for 365 days.
Here are two Iron legion members, both who love to compete and push themselves every day inside and outside the gym. Take a peek at what they have to say about the Open being a place to dive into setting new goals and fulfilling that competitive voice you may be hearing.
Meet Sammy Toby
“Hi! My name is Samuel (Sammy) Toby and I am 23 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for 1 year and 5 months. I’ve actually never done the Open until last year when I did it through the gym. I participated in the CrossFit Open teams done at Iron Legion. But this year will be the first time participating through Crossfit.com. It didn’t take a whole lot of convincing me to participate last year, there’s not a lot of pressure since you are competing mainly against people that you don’t know and can’t see. And at the gym it was fun for everyone to get involved. Mainly, I got excited to be involved but as a realist and someone relatively new to the sport, I knew what I could and couldn’t do and that tapered my “excitement” for some of the workouts last year. But overall, it was a fun experience the way the gym made it and this year I believe I will officially do it!!
I would say the open pushed me to set some goals after the embarrassment of not being able to do some movements. For example, I had spent plenty of time working on bar muscle ups and I was all excited to get to perform well during that workout. However, double unders, a relatively easy skill and not time-consuming movement ruined the workout for me and made me want to make sure I was never that far away from average on any movements. I still am, and I know what movements they are, and I work on them frequently to not run into that scenario again. But eventually one will haunt me again, I’m sure.
There’s not a whole lot to worry about! You can’t really “lose” as long as you give it your best for the duration of the workout. And then you get to see how you do against yourself every year. And feelings on not doing it long enough… if you plan on sticking around, doing it now would be great. That way you can see how far you’ve come in a relatively short period of time, as soon as just one year.”
-Samuel Toby
Meet Renee Boyer
“Hi! my name is Renee Boyer and I am 36 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for about 8 years and the first time I did the open was my first year of doing CrossFit. I decided to do the Open because everyone in the gym was doing it and I’m pretty competitive. It wasn’t something I ever really was nervous about doing because I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Afterwards though, it definitely made me want to work on my skills so the next open I could complete everything RX.
The Friday night lights at the gym were packed with members cheering you on! It motivated me to push myself and again work on my skills for the next year!
If I knew someone was unsure about doing the open because they “weren’t competitive” or felt that they had to wait to be doing CrossFit longer to participate I would just tell them that at the end of the day – it’s just a good workout!”
-Renee Boyer
Movement Are you someone that feels like you need to be knowledgeable in all the details, experienced in each situation, good at every skill before you will jump in and participate or be a part of something?
You’re not alone.
I am usually that person. If I don’t feel like I’m at least average in a certain area then I feel I need to step back and wait till next opportunity, next season, next event. But how many times do we miss out because we “aren’t ready” and are we really? Or is that just something we made up in our heads because this thing we aren’t “ready” for is just new and unknown? When in reality we may surprise ourselves and do more than we even thought we were capable of?
This tends to happen every year during the CrossFit open for sooo many CrossFit athletes he decide to participate. One of our Iron legion members, who last year had only been doing CrossFit for about a month, did the Open. Here is what he has to say about jumping in regardless of his experience with the sport..
Meet Collin:
“Hi! My name is Collin McGinnis, I am 28 years old. I’ve been doing CrossFit for 1 year. My first time doing the CrossFit Open was last year not long after I joined Iron Legion.
I was told about The Open by one of the coaches, and although I questioned myself if I could do it or should do it, I couldn’t find a reason not to. So I did!
Of course I was definitely a little nervous, I didn’t really know what to expect or how it even worked. The coaches & other CrossFit members helped a ton! Crossfit is more of a team sport than you would think!
Realizing how much work & prep that goes into the sport made me realize that my fitness has no limits, just how much effort I decide to put in. Seeing my own progress throughout this past year since last years Open has been eye opening to setting some fitness goals I never thought were possible.
If you start to second guess yourself, sign up before you even have a chance to do it again! Iron Legion has your back!”
-Collin McGinnis
WOD Crossfit Games Open 18.2 (Ages 16-54)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 reps
for time of:
Dumbbell squats 50/35 lb
Bar-facing burpees
for time of:
Dumbbell squats 50/35 lb
Bar-facing burpees
-12 minute time cap
– If you finish under the time cap, use remaining time to complete 18.2a
– If you don’t finish before the time cap, add 1 second for every rep you don’t complete before the time cap
Crossfit Games Open 18.2 A (all divisions)
Use the remaining time from 18.2 to accomplish a 1RM clean
Movement As promised, I wanted to have some of our own members share with you their experience of participating in the open.
There are many reasons why members think The Open is not for them or something they are not capable of participating in. Those reasons vary from limited ability to perform certain skills, not feeling they have been doing the sport long enough, too old or too young, not competitive, just here for the community, and on and on and on.
This week here are three testimonies touching on why age should not be a reason to not do The Open. And some pretty great reasons for encouragement to participate not just in the workout but on a team with your fellow members.
Meet Susan:
“Hi! My name is Susan, I am 68 years old and typically come to the 4PM class, and I have been doing CrossFit for 6 years. Last year was the first year I did the Open. I participated to see where I was with my fitness and to have fun with my crossfit friends. I was very nervous, anxious, and questioning my decision even as I was doing it. But the coaches all encouraged me/us to just do our best. The work outs were modified to each person’s ability and the scores were “only numbers” but I felt I did my best. Of course when it was done I felt great accomplishment and a part of the group!! The best thing about The Open is the camaraderie with the whole gym. Everyone is in the same boat! Everyone is trying their hardest. Don’t worry about doing The Open. It’s just a good workout where you have a judge keep count of your reps. It’s a measurement of where you are in your fitness and worth being a part of!”
-Susan Higgins
Meet Makala:
“Hi, my name is Makala Marshall and I’m 12 years old. I have been doing CrossFit for 6-8 years. I think the first time I did the CrossFit open was 2022. I did the open because it was at the gym, and I felt comfortable and because it was basically a workout for everybody to do. (So, I didn’t really have a choice). When doing the open I was tired, scared, happy, and I guess excited. I wasn’t nervous because I had other people doing it at the same time, so I wasn’t alone. When completing the open I wasn’t really thinking about anything but my reps and finishing the workout. I think my favorite thing about the open was that after the open you’re like really happy or feel good about yourself because you finished it and really pushed yourself. If one of my friends wanted to complete in the open but they felt like they were too young and don’t really feel like they are good enough I would tell them that there are many young kids that do CrossFit and that me and Kaili do it so therefore you wouldn’t be alone and that we would be doing it with you. I would tell them that they are great and then bring up a goal that they thought that they could never do but that they achieved and that makes them smile. Then I would probably beg them to do it with me!”
-Makala Marshall
Meet Kaili:
“Hi, my name is Kaili Marshall, I am 12 years old. I have been doing crossfit for about 5 years. I typically come to the 4pm class with my mom and sister Makala. The first year I did the crossfit Open was in 2022. I didn’t really have a choice to participate in the Open because it was the workout of the day. I was kind of nervous before doing the open because it was a new experience andI did not know what to expect. After the open, I was glad that I had done it because it was kind of fun. Honestly, my favorite thing about the Open was that the workouts were more challenging than the regular WODs. The workouts had the right amount of intensity and pushed me where I needed to be. If someone came to me and told me that they were not sure about doing the open because of their age or because of their insecurity, I would tell them that it does not matter their age and that the Open is a good way to see how far you have come from when you started.”
-Kaili Marshall
3 perspectives from 3 different athletes. They’re signed up for The Open – you should too. You can either sign up with CrossFit or you can sign up with Coach Kaitie at the gym. We’re excited to do these workouts with you!