With a surprise move, CrossFit® posted on his Instagram profile the wods of the Semifinals for the Team category this Monday (08/05). However, many expected that they would publish the workouts a week earlier and not so soon…
After spending some time looking at them and thinking about each piece of evidence as a whole, Brian Friend decided to create a way to evaluate them, through a list of "pros and cons" that we will see below.
In the meantime, let's see what tests have come out:
Index
Team wod Semifinals
Test 1: 4 rounds for time (with one team member at each station)
- 5/2k echo bikes*
- 800m runs*
- Bear hug sandbag hold* (90kg/68kg)
- 150 double unders*
- 10 worm cleans & jerks*
Time cap 28 min (*athletes must change station in each round)
Test 2: In MF pairs for 15 min, complete AMRAP of:
- 3 synchro muscle ups (one of the pair on the rings, the other on the bar)
- 5 sync thrusters (43kg/29kg)
* one pair works while the other pair rests, then switch.
** add 2 MUs and 5 thrusters after both pairs have completed the round.
Test 3: as a relay (f/m/f/m) complete:
(F1/M1)
- 400m sprint
- 10 db bench presses (41kg/ 27kg)
- 15 single leg squats, leg 1
- 15 single leg squats, leg 2
- 3 handstand pirouettes
(F2/M2)
- 400m sprint
- 15 db bench presses (41kg/ 27kg)
- 10 single leg squats, leg 1
- 10 single leg squats, leg 2
- 3 handstand pirouettes
Time cap: 16 mins
Test 4: 5 rounds for time, in pairs M/F
Pair M/F1 part:
- 10/7 cal row
- 10 (each) synchro alternating db snatches
- 15 (each) box jump alternating
Then pair M/F2 starts:
- 10/7 cal skierg
- 20 (each) synchro alternating db snatches
- 10 (each) box jump alternating
* When both pairs have completed the round, switch positions for the next
** couple 1 will row 3 times and skierg 2 times
*** couple 2 will skierg 3 times and row 2 times
Time cap: 15 mins
Weights:
pair 1: 41kg/ 27kg
pair 2: 32kg/ 23kg
Test 5: max rep
- 1 min max rep clean (weight 1 – lightest)
- 2 min rest
- 1 min max rep clean (weight 2)
- 2 mins rest
- 1 min max rep clean (weight 3 – heaviest)
Pesi
Women: 88kg – 97kg – 106kg
Men: 125kg - 134kg - 143kg
Test 6: for time
- 15 Worm Burpees
- 15 worm squats
- Women do 1 seated legless rope climb each; boys do 10 strict chest to wall handstand push ups each.
Change
- 15 Worm Burpees
- 15 worm squats
- Women do 2 legless rope climbs each; boys do 15 strict handstand push ups each.
Change
- 15 Worm Burpees
- 15 worm squats
- Women do 3 rope climbs each; boys do 20 handstand push ups each.
Change
- 15 Worm Burpees
- 15 worm squats
Time cap: 16 minutes
The pros and cons of the wod teams of the semifinals according to Brian Friend
Pro: They were released earlier than expected. Some may not be thrilled with it, but I am…
Cons: not the easiest workouts to digest (and there are still quite a few unanswered questions, which I like…)
Pro: We don't have all the details yet. Some of these we will see later, but releasing the most information, while withholding some critical details, is a tactic that can be effective.
Cons: 6 tests. Even though I'm more comfortable with six team events than 6 individual events, I'm afraid this means we will only have six individual events, although I think seven makes the competition better, especially for the depth of the field and the competitiveness of the teams. cutting lines. I'm still holding my breath to have seven individual trials.
Pro: there is the worm. There are dozens of ways to test teamwork, communication and synchronization… but none of them combine them as well as the worm. The entirety of the test (from the Open to the Games) can only be had in the live phases.
Cons: I'm not sure how critical the worm is. During a 28-minute workout (test 1) the team will have to perform 4 series of 10 clean and jerk with him. Assuming a set of 10 takes 75 seconds, that's 5:00, or about 18% of your allotted work time.
Meanwhile, in Trial 6 are the burpees and worm squats that should make up the bulk of your work time…unless there's a team member who locks into a gymnastic move. It won't happen to the best, but it will happen to some, and in that sense the worm isn't the limiting factor of either workout.
Pro: there is the race. Twice! Running, and I don't mean relay, is a cornerstone of fitness – functional, competitive or otherwise – and I like that every team member has to do it twice.
Cons: we don't know where they will run. Let's hope that at least one of them (I'm thinking of the relay) isn't in a car of any kind and doesn't require a stop to change direction.
Pro: We have a variety of different test formats available:
Test 1: All four athletes work at the same time but on different things, then come together for synchronized work with the worm.
Test 2: male/female pairs alternating in a format mostly of balance, even if ascending, between work and rest.
Task 3: FMFM Forced Order Relay (*note that the format is not perfectly clear in its presentation, which leaves some room for suspense, but assumes it works one athlete at a time).
Round 4: five rounds for time in male/female pairs. This is a fixed time for each round compared to the ascending work and rest time of test 2.
Task 5: in male/male and female/female pairs, a lifting competition with three different weights with twice as much rest time as work. (**Again, I'm not 100% sure of the format based on how it's written, but it assumes one barbell at each station for each pair).
Test 6: Four sets of worm work and three sets of high skill gymnastics in between.
Cons: it seems that one works more with two and one person than with all four at the same time. Some of the most beautiful visuals and most challenging elements of the event, in team competitions, are the synchronized work with barbell and four-person gymnastics, which are missing entirely here.
Pro: Running the same race in seven different locations over three weekends on six continents certainly comes with logistical constraints. Despite this, the programming team managed to challenge many different aspects of fitness in creative ways.
You need to be strong even under load, instead of a one-off heavy lifting event.
All team members must perform high-level gymnastic skills.
There are opportunities for strategy (especially tests 1 and 4).
Cons: I'm concerned about the visibility of some of these tests. Five of the six races last 15 minutes or more, in many of them the floor will be littered with gear and, as the teams spread out over some of these long races, it will at times be difficult to know who is in which shift. This will require the broadcast to have a well thought out plan if the races are to be broadcast to audiences around the world.
Pro: the burdens for women are high! For a few years now it has seemed obvious that women have increased their ability to force at a faster rate than men since CrossFit® began. This makes sense because most men had been lifting weights for decades before that, while women have adapted to lifting weights much more over the last 20 years.
Cons: the increase in weights for women is especially seen in the lifting event! I wish the weight gain had started with something lighter (like the thrusters at 30kg in test 2).
Pro: heavy dumbbells. Test 3 in general is one of those that intrigues me the most; I have a feeling that when I watch it I will like it more than I imagine. Last year Lowlands had a relay during the semi-final and I think CrossFit® can learn something from that. We'll see if they've done their homework. Either way, the heavy dumbbells are a clever show of strength built into this test that every single lifter must complete one version of; I'm just curious to see if it will be a hindrance for anyone.
General consideration
all of these observations don't dwell on workouts at all. It seems that the tests have really fun and challenging elements.
There are also things that don't quite convince me – however, this almost always happens when I see a programming for the first time. My advice to myself and to everyone else is to feel free to weigh in and offer an opinion, but understand that you need to observe with neutral eyes.
Watch what happens. Don't try to say “I told you so” or “I knew it” just to inflate your ego. Let the whole competition unfold and then evaluate. There's always something you thought would be great that fails, and something that you thought would be problematic that shines.
As Dave Castro said, and as many others have since said, it's the athletes who take the test; so let them do it and save any overly critical judgment until the end.
Original article: Pros and Cons of Semifinal Team Programming