CrossFit Open Movement Standards

Hey all,

I know that we all are continuing to work on our movement standards to ensure we are attaining the right ROM in workouts. In order to accurately compare our scores to our previous efforts, and to compare to others, we need to ensure that we are completing each rep with quality and precision.

Sometimes, we can lose sight of preserving appropriate ROM by trying to progress too fast, putting our scores ahead of our movement quality, or simply not knowing that we aren't hitting the right standards. Through the Open, we need to have the absolute highest individual standards possible as we are in effect competing both with ourselves and the broader community of CrossFit. When we post our wod scores, we should know that all of our reps are "good" and that we didn't shortcut any of the required details.

Below, I've listed a few common movements where there tends to be more issues with attaining the right standard. I encourage everyone to take a look at these movements and be honest with themselves if they need to work on them to create the best possible outcome in the Open.

Squatting movements

This is likely the category with the most infringements, and specifically not hitting appropriate depth in the squat is the usual culprit. For the squat (any squat - whether it is a thruster, squat snatch, front squat, etc), the hip crease needs to be clearly lower than the top of the knee in the bottom position. A good depth squat is shown below, followed by a squat that isn't to depth. For those of us who have trouble reaching depth, working on ankle, knee, and hip mobility are all helpful, as is using lifting shoes with a bit of a heel.

Pic 1 - good depth shown by Chyna Cho in the DB front squat (or thruster!)

Pic 2: although this range of motion is fine for working your legs, and may be the end range for this person's mobility, it would not satisfy the range of motion that we are seeking to achieve in our Crossfit training

Barbell Overhead (Lockout)

This covers basically all overhead movements, which hold the same standard - to complete the rep, the bar must be held overhead with straight arms, a straight body and legs, and the feet must be under the hips. The two most common faults are - 1. people failing to control the bar overhead and "stagger" with it then drop it - so they never achieve a solid locked out position. The judge cannot call a good rep unless you are motionless with the bar overhead, legs and arms straight, and hips extended.

2. In workouts with higher reps, it is common to see people missing getting to a fully locked out position prior to the bar coming back down - i.e. catching a push jerk or power snatch with bent knees and hips, then not straightening both joints prior to bringing the bar back down. This tends to happen quickly, but you just need to ensure that you get to a full lockout position before the bar comes down.

Dumbbell Snatches

Yeah I know, a pretty straightforward movement here! The most common fault though is using the other hand (the one not holding the db) to brace on the leg/thigh. While this creates a lot more stability for the torso and is actually an efficient thing to do in terms of safety and power production, it is not allowed in the CrossFit Open. The best way around this is to hold your free arm out to the side so it stays out of the way.

Note that the second athlete from the right is bracing her hand on her leg... and is likely about to get a "no rep" for doing it!

The other fault with the DB snatch is not connecting both heads of the dumbbell to the ground for each rep. This is not a requirement when doing DB power cleans, but for snatches, both heads must contact the floor.

There ya go team! There are other movement standards of course and I urge you to read the blog on thursday nights and take a look at the specific workout requirements for each week.

Keep fit and have fun!

Cam

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TRAINING WEDNESDAY THURSDAY (TAPER - EASE OFF!)

FOR ALL ATHLETES: This is not meant to be a crusher of a workout, so scale movements and reps as needed! Be especially careful with the pullups and pistols. It is unlikely that we will see pullups in the first workout (it's never happened yet, but maybe this is the year!) but you will need to keep your hands and lats in good shape for whatever comes down the pipe on Thursday.

Warm up: "Roxanne" with plate floor to overheads, single skips between efforts!

WOD: E90s rotations

Alt EMOM 30 mins:

Every 1:30 for 30 mins, alternating between:

16/12 Row Calories

5 Burpee + 3 Wall Walk

16/12 Row Calories

Round Of Mary (5 hspu, 10 pistols, 15 pullups - adjust this to 5-7-9 or whatever fits your needs. goal is to fit your work into the 1:30)

Rest 1:30

ALL GROUPS: Scale number of pullups, wall walks, and pistols as needed to preserve your hands and lats! Feel free to alter to ring rows to save both of the latter.

FG3: just wallwalks in second interval, scale hspu, pullups and pistols for Mary

FG2: sub in one round of Cindy (5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats) for round of Mary

FG1: Scale as needed

CP1: Scale up wall walk number as needed, double hspu in Mary round, can sub bar muscle ups or CTB for mary