CrossFit was live from São Paulo, Brazil, and Samantha Briggs and Kristin Holte went head to head for 18.1. The workout is:
Stay tuned for more details!
18.1 Has Been Released! The Workout is…
Rowing for Calories in 18.1
In many workouts, we row for a specific distance. However, the alternative is rowing for calories. When rowing for calories, you should not be concerned with the meters you row. Rather you need to be focused on the power generated.
Since 18.1 has brought the return of the calorie row, we’ve done the math for you and figured out approximately how long it should take you to complete the 14- or 12-calorie row.
Australia, Here are the Times for the Live Open Announcements
The big day has just about arrived: 18.1 is nearly here. The Open happens across the globe and in every time zone. To simplify things, we’re providing the dates and times you can watch each live announcement across Australia, based on your time zone.
18.1 – Friday, Feb. 23rd
Sydney/NSW, Melbourne/VIC, Hobart/TAS (AEDT) – 12:00 p.m.
Brisbane/QLD (AEST) – 11:00 a.m.
Adelaide/SA (ACDT) – 11:30 a.m.
Darwin/NT (ACST) – 10:30 a.m.
Perth/WA (AWST) – 9:00 a.m.
18.2 (Friday, March 2nd) and 18.3 (Friday, March 9th) are the same.
18.4 – Friday, March 16th
Sydney/NSW, Melbourne/VIC, Hobart/TAS (AEDT) – 11:00 a.m.
Brisbane/QLD (AEST) – 10:00 a.m.
Adelaide/SA (ACDT) – 10:30 a.m.
Darwin/NT (ACST) – 9:30 a.m.
Perth/WA (AWST) – 8:00 a.m.
18.5 (Friday, March 23rd) is the same.
Main image: Samantha Briggs/Instagram
Dave Castro Drops First Hint About 18.1
IT’S OFFICIAL. Dave Castro just dropped the first real hint about 18.1. It’s mysterious. It’s intriguing. It… reveals absolutely nothing about the workout. In true form, he posted a completely ambiguous photo on Instagram with no details other than captioning it with #18point1.
Come on, Dave. You’ve gotta give us more than that.
What do you think this says about the first Open workout?
Main image: Dave Castro/Instagram
Tia-Clair Toomey Shares Some of Her Favourite Movements
What movements are you hoping to see in the Open? Now we know what the current fittest woman on earth is hoping for. In a recent Instagram post, Tia-Clair Toomey revealed two of her top movements: handstand push-ups and power cleans. Watch her knock them out!
The Open is almost here. What do you think Castro has in store for us?
Main image: Tia-Clair Toomey/Instagram
These Elite Athletes Explain Why Mentality is Everything
In Episode 2 of The Journey, we caught up with elite athletes Tom Lengyel in Geelong and Jordan Bender in Melbourne. With multiple appearances between them at Regionals and the Games — and with their eyes on qualifying as individuals this year — it’s safe to say Lengyel and Bender know a thing or two about CrossFit. Each athlete gave us a glimpse into his training and nutrition; and while no two people are the same, there’s one thing that is the same across both Lengyel and Bender’s lifestyle: the importance of the right mentality.
It might sound cheesy or cliche but it’s completely true: mindset is everything. This is something Bender can vouch for, as he does almost all of his training alone. In Episode 1, Luke McMahon and Matt McLeod described how training together gives them each the motivation they sometimes need to get through a particularly grueling workout. In Bender’s case, his motivation, that extra push, comes from one place: his own mind. No one reminds him to eat well and get adequate rest. It’s on him.
Lengyel’s approach is slightly different. He shared with TWL how pivotal his relationships have been in his athletic pursuits. Having friends who understand his goals means they know when he needs support and encouragement, and when he needs space. Because his friends help him get through hard times, Lengyel is all the more motivated to make them proud.
They’re two different approaches that have gotten each athlete very far in life.
Fitness as a lifestyle is something else both athletes touched on. Past lessons taught Lengyel to approach his training with more professionalism. What happens outside the gym is as important as, if not more important than, what happens inside the gym. This helps him stay on track with nutrition and recovery.
It’s a sentiment Bender echoes, adding one important point: while competing (and fitness in general) is indeed a lifestyle, it’s vital you find balance. Sometimes, you bring the gym home with you and it becomes the center of your world. You can get to a place where your performance in the gym determines if you have a good or bad day. This will end badly, Bender notes, explaining fitness should be a part of your life — not your whole life — and something that enhances it. It shouldn’t feel like a chore. It should bring you happiness.
Is a positive and balanced mindset something you’re still working on? We all are! Check out the full episode below; and if you haven’t already, be sure to visit Episode 1.
Dave Castro Tells Us What to Expect for the Open
The Open is inching closer, and you know what that means: it’s time for Dave Castro to terrify us a little bit more. In a new video on Facebook, he casually discusses how we think we’ve figured out what we’ll possibly see this year, referencing an “imaginary perimeter” that holds everything from previous Opens. He then explains that for this year, they’ve demolished said “imaginary perimeter.” In other words, the “imaginary perimeter” does not exist. There are no rules. We have no idea what’s going to happen. Muahahahah! Help me.
Castro’s wise words of advice? You’ve heard it before: prepare yourself for the unknown and unexpected. My money’s on thrusters and kipping walking lunge burpee pull-ups with a 50# dumbbell balanced on your face. You know, something simple.
We’ve made our predictions for the Open, but let’s be honest: we won’t know anything until the live announcements. But isn’t that part of the fun? Isn’t it? Guys? …Hello?
Main image: Dave Castro/Instagram
2018’s Standards for Hand Protection While Competing
Do you like to keep your hands protected while you’re working on the pull-up bar? So do we. CrossFit recently released the standards for 2018 regarding hand protection and what is and isn’t off-limits. According to their post on Instagram, you can only wear gear that encourages safety or comfort but does not provide an advantage. To be more specific, you can wrap tape around the bar or wear extra hand protection, but you may not do both. Acceptable types of hand protection include gloves, tape and gymnastics grips.
Even though this rule prevents you from “doubling up” on hand protection, with the variety of options available today, there’s something for everyone — whether you prefer tape, grips or gloves. There’s still time to stock up before the Open arrives, and you won’t want to wait — because it’s sounding like at least one of the workouts will involve pull-ups, toes-to-bar or muscle-ups of some kind.
Shop hand protection at The WOD Life today!
Brent Fikowski Brings Back #TrashTalkThursday
There’s an unwritten rule of sorts amongst the gentlemen of CrossFit that allows for good-natured jesting. In fact, the athletes have what they lovingly refer to as “trash talk Thursday.” Brent Fikowski kicked it off for the 2018 season with an Instagram post where he calls out Travis Williams, Jason Carroll, Mitch Barnard and Joe Scali. Some might expect these guys to be bitter about the burn, but don’t worry — everyone’s joining in on the fun.
Main image: Brent Fikowski/Instagram
See How the Elite Athletes Train
Preparing for the Open is a year-round responsibility; and it’s about so much more than staying fit. Precise nutrition, careful programming, intense training and purposeful rest and recovery are the necessary components of a stellar athlete. We wanted a closer look at exactly what goes into making an athlete Open-ready, so we caught up with Luke McMahon and Matt McLeod down in New South Wales. McMahon has four Regionals under his belt, and McLeod has qualified for Regionals twice.
So, how does one prepare for the world’s biggest fitness competition? McMahon and McLeod stressed the value of training with a partner. There’s a sense of accountability you can’t get when training alone. Plus, it provides an added layer of motivation unmatched by any solo sweat session. When you think you can’t do even one more rep, a friend can give you the little nudge you need.
TWL tagged along while McLeod and McMahon demolished their workouts.
WOD 1
3 rounds
- 10 snatches @ 70kg
- 12 synchro pull-ups
3 rounds
- 8 snatches @ 80kg
- 9 synchro C2B
3 rounds
- 6 snatches @ 90kg
- 6 synchro bar muscle-ups
WOD 2
3 rounds
- 1000m farm run
- 10 med ball/sandbag over-the-shoulders @ 70
WOD 3
5 supersets
- Max chest-to-ring hold
- 8 ring push-ups with a 5sec negative
- Max wall-facing handstand hold
EMOM for 9 min
- On the odd minutes: 9 hang power cleans @ 90kg + max double-unders
- On the even minutes: rest
WOD 4
2 rounds
- 100m swim
- 20 overhead KB lunges
2 rounds
- 100m swim
- 20 KB OHS
2 rounds
- 100m swim
- 20 overhead KB lunges
Embracing the ever-popular philosophy of “constantly varied,” McLeod and McMahon keep an open mind when it comes to their programming and often see where the wind takes them. Sometimes it’s the gym. Other times, it’s the beach. Maybe it’s a park. They steadily challenge themselves with new activities so when it comes time to compete, they’re ready for anything.
Watch them in action and learn more about their training and nutrition in our first episode of The Journey.
The New CrossFit Games App Might Reveal Some of the Open Movements
This week, CrossFit Games revealed their new app, where you can easily get leaderboard updates, track your own rankings and stay up-to-date on workouts and movements. It’s the latter of the three that especially has people talking. CrossFit announced the app in their Instagram Stories. In it, they show one page revealing what could be movements for 18.1 and 18.4 — except they scribbled out the images using one of the art tools, seemingly to hide any clues as to what the events will look like. However, when you go to the app store preview, it shows the images unedited, possibly revealing some of what we’ll see in the Open this year.
18.4 appears to be an athlete at the bottom of a front squat — which could mean squats, cleans or thrusters. In the 18.1 image, the athlete is hanging from a pull-up bar, indicating pull-ups, chest-to-bars, bar muscle-ups or toes-to-bar.
Could these images be the real deal? Maybe. That would explain why they scribbled them out on Instagram. Then again, could it also be a move to get more buzz going? Also very possible. Dave Castro has thus far remained tight-lipped regarding any hints about movements, although he did confirm the dumbbell weights for the Open. Aside from that, we don’t know much about what the Open has in store for us.
Stay tuned!
Samantha Briggs Hits the Platform Again and PRs Her Snatch
Samantha Briggs is a woman of many talents. Even with the CrossFit Open right around the corner, she made time for an Olympic weightlifting competition — her first since 2014. To say it was a good day would be an understatement, too. She went 6/6 and finished with a 73 snatch and 90 clean and jerk, at a bodyweight of just 60.4kg. Check out her final lifts below!
Main image: Samantha Briggs/Instagram
