So the CrossFit Open season is just about in full flow the world over. all of the 99% of avid CrossFitter's out there are readying themselves for 5 weeks of testing, trying but most of all FUN times! If you aren't sure what we are talking about with all this CrossFit Open talk check out our blog post from last week "what is the CrossFit Open & Should I enter?" This time of year sees everyone working hard to hone down those skills, develop more grip strength, get on the extra conditioning pieces in a bid to be able to cope with the demand that only an Open WoD can produce. The excitement is in the air and the anticipation of what the first workout will be gets higher & higher as we get nearer the 24th February (When "17.1" gets announced her win Aus). At CBD we do program for year round Fitness & your 'GPP' (your General Physical Preparedness). This is to say that by nature we are generalists & not specialists in any one Strength or Fitness domain, If anything our specialty is not specialising. This helps YOU become more functionally capable, more Fit, have mote strength than the average person & also generally be a badass! However this time of year  presents us with a clear goal & directive if you will. Namely that of the CrossFit Open. Up here on the ROD we view the Open as first & foremost a Community event whereby all of our members congregate on a Saturday morning to throw down & bond over these workouts. Its just an extension of what we do day-in, day-out. Only this time you have someone count for you & your scores can uploaded to a WORLDWIDE leaderboard so you can compare it to others (this in itself is good for data feedback). We view it a fun time of year where we want to do our best yet have the most amount of fun doing it! We've no time for all the seriousness of being 2 reps short of completing a round or not getting that particular move/weight/time you had dreamed of. At the end of the day its about showcasing YOUR Fitness at this particular time of year. Simples really. 🙂 But it would be remiss of us not to prepare you for it. You have already seen the uptake in pace in your WoDs since Christmas & you have already built up huge amounts of strength in the lead up to Xmas. In the cloning weeks you continue to see a lot more calories & become we know there are roughly 15-20 known movements used in the Open you will be seeing a large amount of these same moves regularly popping up to say hello! But this year we thought we would try something on top of that to help you prepare further. We call it CLASS WARS!! No we are not sending you in to battle & beat each other up! We are simply going to have you & class mates go up against all the other time slots in the day & compare scores at the end of the day. We see this as great value to you and we will list the reasons why below. Take this event as lighthearted bit of competitiveness. When we say competitiveness we don't mean trash talking each other into not even showing up because you feel pressured, etc. We mean adding a bit of spice to your WoD that day will add some edge to how you perform that day. Reasons why Class Wars will work for you:

• Open WoD pre-WoD prep: for those who are entering use these days as a mock up of how you might approach the Open WoDs themselves. Get in early, do some specific extra mobility or warm up routine. Get your mindset right to hit it as best you can. (granted the Open is on Saturdays & won't be at 6am on a Wednesday but you can still take some carry-over from these).
• The Actual WoD prep: We will program Open style WoDs like AMRAPs or AMREPs, etc. We will use rep schemes similar to what we have seen in years a past, It will hep you acclimatise to that style of workout. Plus it will be easier to score you as a group. (Note: We won't be using a strength day as one of the weeks due the work capacity nature of the Open. Sorry to all our top hitters on Strength WoDs!).
• Camaraderie: Its another great chance to bond with the folks in your class. We have a fantastic Community on the ROD (the best in our eyes!!), but maybe do you get caught talking to the same people in your class. Use these chances to go chat to someone new or a member who doesn't normally train in your time slot. Throw out the cheers for each other & go after lots of high fives.
• Accountability: FYI: We will NOT be taking an average score per class. It will be a cumulative total of your scores so attendance is key! The more people attend your class, the better chance you have of winning that week & maybe the whole thing. Get ahold of your classmates details & text, email, Facebook, write a postcard even to see if they will be attending. At the end of the day we want you here in most days of the week so you can get the best of the program. You and your classmates can help ensure that happens by asking one simple question: "You in tomorrow brah??"
• IT'S FUN! Need we say anymore!

So now we have covered the why's, lets look at the how's. As mentioned before during the month of February we will allot one day in the week as the Class Wars day. We won't keep it to a fixed day to help us get the biggest attendance rate/participation. Even if you've no interest in the Open still get on in and get your Fitness on anyways. We will still be treating the class as a normal class set up so nothing will change there. We will take your cumulative total as a class (so attendance is key). As a side note we will not allow any weird & funky scaling options that allow you to "smash" a high score just for the sake of reps. You will scale as normal & treat it as a normal class WoD in that regard. In order to have your score counted in the class total you MUST log it on your Beyond The Whiteboard Account (you all have one courtesy of the gym so please make use of it!!). No logging - no counting it. 7:30am open gym. Anyone who workouts here will have their score added to the 6:45pm class (it is what it is) 4:30pm open gym. Anyone who works out here will have their score added to the 5:15pm class. If you are a "floater' who likes to attend different time slots then whichever class you attend that day will get your score. This means that if you are a stalwart 6:45am-er but on this day you come to 6am then your score goes to the 6am-ers instead. 🙂   This will all lead nicely onto the first Open WoD. Lets have a lot fun with this. Don't get too serious about it but lets see some interaction on the Facebook page. Maybe you already have a little group for your class anyways? Get social guys and start the chat. We'd love to see you guys posting team shots on Instagram or Facebook. Let all your mates know just how Fit & strong you are.   We will announce weekly winners but at the end of the month we will give the winning class a group prize to divvy our amongst themselves. No not the wipes time!!