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    By Marnu Breitenbach 28 Mar, 2024
    Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. We all knew it was coming, while we didn’t know how we would face our destiny we knew it was coming. We all presumed thrusters and some gymnastics of some sort of soul crushing combination. Once released the universe was balanced. The final open workout of the 2024 Open was : For Time of : 5 Rounds of: 10 Thrusters (95/65 lb) 10 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups 1 minute Rest, then: 5 Rounds of: 7 Thrusters (135/95 lb) 7 Bar Muscle-Ups Time Cap: 15 minutes While the numbers for Friday night lights weren’t as big as previous weeks it was still a massive turnout for the CFA community! One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make during a Crossfit Open is to watch the live announcements and think “This workout won’t be too hard” - WRONG! Everyone was going to have different strategies depending on fitness levels. For most people getting through the first round of fifty thrusters and fifty chest to bars was challenging enough and then the thought of trying to get through some heavier thrusters and bar muscle ups became very daunting. Looking at the CFA Open Results, most people got through to the heavier thrusters and completed the first set of seven. However, in a story as old as time Bar muscle ups under fatigue became the sticking point for most people. It is one thing “to have bar muscle ups” but it is an entire nother thing to have them under extreme fatigue. Watching even elite athletes struggle with the second part of this workout should make it clear how tough this workout actually is. For those who managed to get through to the heavy thrusters and bar muscle ups, there was far more standing around looking at the pull up bar contemplating life decisions. Once again there were seventy awesome efforts on Friday night, not counting judges and people cheering, but a few coaches notable stand outs were : Saskia Verhoef - getting her first two pull ups!! Amazing work! Was told by the coaches that she was literally dead hanging from the bar the day before, unable to get any pull ups done! Katerina L - after a very long injury layoff and recovery period, getting through seven bar muscle ups was an outstanding effort. Amy D - A relatively new member to our box, but a long time crossfitter was able to get through five bar muscle ups. Once again, every single person who picked up a clipboard and helped judge. Without those efforts none of the workouts would matter. Now the moment we have all been waiting for, the team scores. Few zero entry scores and few athletes failing to log scores despite doing the workout - makes team selection very important. No good being the “fun” team if your team doesn't log scores. But much like the sun rising in the morning, the Cream/White team once again dominated the evening with relative ease. Congrats to Coach Alex and his Dream Team!! In an event where every repetition counted, the Dream Team was able to pull away from the so-called opposition. Team White - 6 hours, 31 minutes and 26 seconds Team Black - 6 hours 33 minutes and 14 seconds Team Blue - 6 hours 36 minutes and 15 seconds Team Pink - 6 Hours 39 minutes and 44 seconds So much like the Kansas City Chiefs, the White Team with two victories and a second place have defended the title and are now back to back champions!! Fantastic teamwork, amazing coaching and of course remembering there is no “fun” in team! One final thought! You did it! It seems scary and most times we feel we aren't ready for the open no matter how much training we have been doing. But at the end of the three weeks we can reflect and see that it actually wasn’t as bad as we thought. Yes, the workouts hurt (they are designed that way) and yes maybe we didn't meet the internal expectation we place on ourselves, but as coaches we couldn’t be more proud of the effort and energy that every single person brought to the workouts. If you qualify for the Quarter finals stay tuned. We will be providing more information regarding when and how we will run these workouts.
    28 Mar, 2024
    There is a common phrase within the longer serving members of the crossfit community and it “Dave Castro is a Pr*ck” and slowly the crossfit newbies are starting to understand why. On paper once again this looked like a fun and easier workout, once again post workout the gym floor looked like a scene from a war movie. If your lower back wasn’t fried from the previous week, it surely was this week. With six full heats on the night, the Crossfit Amsterdam Community once again brought the energy 20 minute AMRAP of : 300 m Row 10 Deadlifts 83/61 kg 50 Double Unders With a full house of sixteen people per heat and six heats, there were many different strategies, many change plates, and ninety six exhausted athletes at the end of the night. While crossfit is sold as constantly varied functional movement performed at high intensity, here at Crossfit Amsterdam we do plenty of longer style workouts, in that twenty minute plus range, and it showed with the tremendous amounts of work that people got through. Most people started really well and felt pretty amazing for the first three to four rounds and then that was when the fun really started. For most of the population, the double unders were where this workout became tough - even being ok at them didn’t mean they were there on the night. Double unders and crossovers have been programmed regularly and it showed that the community had been practising these on a regular basis. Once again there were ninety six awesome efforts on Friday night, not counting judges and people cheering, but a few coaches notable stand outs were : George Kalee - just kept on working, kept on moving and most importantly kept on smiling! All the coaches love having George in class and his constant desire to improve really shines through! Rene Brakel. Has improved tremendously across many movements, and double unders seemed to be a sticking point so it was amazing to see him Rx this workout and complete not just one round but several!! Well done buddy! Andrea Altieri always a consistent performer and managed, with the help of his own personal cheer squad, to complete nine rounds and get some time on the rower to finish. Every single person who picked up a clipboard and helped judge - counting doubles and single unders is no easy feat, even without fifteen other people around you doing the same thing. Most important results of the evening though were the team scores. Few zero entry scores has certainly hurt every team, but as usual the cream rises to the top when it really counts. Congrats to Coach Alex and his Dream Team!! Victorious by a large margin. New year, same result for the much heralded cream team! Team White - 15,580 reps Team Blue - 14,775 reps Team Pink - 14,703 reps Team Black - 13,791 reps Not much to say here, you can see the teams that are strongly led and willing to die for those extra reps and the team that only cares about being fun! Onwards and upwards to the third and final week! Don’t forget this week is the post Open BBQ and our friends at Two Chefs will be catering again as well as supplying post workout refreshments! Make sure you sign up and bring friends and family to watch everyone suffer through
    By Marnu Breitenbach 12 Mar, 2024
    Well well well well well!! Dave Castro, you devious and sneaky devil, you did it again. They say in Crossfit that the magic is in the movement, the art is in the programming, the science is in the explanation, and the fun is in the community. Nothing could be truer after the release of Workout 24.1, which consisted of a “mushroom” style workout with either a 22.5 kg dumbbell or a 15kg dumbbell and a very daunting fifteen minute time cap. On paper a very simple looking workout, but in reality one that snatched part of your soul. The Crossfit Amsterdam community certainly brought the fun! For time: 21 dumbbell snatches, arm 1 21 lateral burpees over dumbbell 21 dumbbell snatches, arm 2 21 lateral burpees over dumbbell 15 dumbbell snatches, arm 1 15 lateral burpees over dumbbell 15 dumbbell snatches, arm 2 15 lateral burpees over dumbbell 9 dumbbell snatches, arm 1 9 lateral burpees over dumbbell 9 dumbbell snatches, arm 2 9 lateral burpees over dumbbell In what has been a record breaking year for people signing up for the open, Crossfit Amsterdam had 110 members sign up to complete the open. The Friday night lights had an exceptional turn out with close to ninety people turning up ready to throw down and feel the burn, and in the immortal words of the great man Arnold Schwarzenegger feel the burn they did. As a gym, we do plenty of burpees, but it is always surprising how a movement pattern can be modified slightly and it causes so much carnage as a result. It is fair to say that very few people enjoyed the lateral burpees over the dumbbell, and even fewer people enjoyed the double whammy of burpees after every snatch portion of the workout. This test was one of pure determination to have the pain over with as soon as possible. After the finishing of each heat, there wasn’t a single athlete laying on the ground in absolute agony as a result of this workout. Everyone gave it their absolute all and it showed. Across the board there were some amazing results and efforts from athletes and it’s hard to single out all results however as a group no one left anything in the tank and those who did, heroically did a redo on Sunday/Monday! Some notable efforts over the weekend included Alessandro Zonta - we all know he loves a heavy barbell, but to get through the 90 burpees within the time cap was a fantastic effort. Peyman A for literally never picking up the 22.5 kg dumbbell before the commencement of 24.1 In a workout designed for people under 5 feet tall, Daan Koning, Jose Verhulsdonck and Barbara Schmidt were absolutely incredible!! Alvaro Torrens and Andrea Moreno for being the fittest couple in the box after 24.1!! There was some screaming/cheering at each other during the workout but I presume they are still married :) CFA as a whole for currently being the 9th fittest box in all of the Netherlands after the first workout! In the all important second annual teams competition, it was encouraging to see some redemption from some of last year's teams. Bringing some much needed competitiveness to the night, it was nice to see some other teams excel rather than watch the mighty Cream team dominate. After tallying up all the scores here are the results from WOD 24.1 Team Blue - 4 hours, 41 minutes and 13 seconds Team White - 4 hours, 47 minutes and 4 seconds Team Black - 5 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds Team Pink - 5 hours, 15 minutes and 35 seconds Congratulations to Coach Clay and his merry band of team bluesers! Just a reminder that there will be extra points next week for the best dressed team, so get out your best outfit and represent your team with some pride. On a more serious note, well done to everyone who registered. While it's not something that worries us as coaches if people do or don't do The Open, and it's something that we don't want to push on people - We are incredibly proud that every year we have such great participation rates and even prouder seeing these numbers grow. It's never easy putting yourself out there, giving it your all, being vulnerable and putting your name up alongside the whole world. We really love everyone getting together as a community, cheering each other on, celebrating PRs, pushing boundaries and doing things and pushing to a place that previously people didn't think they were able to. But our favourite thing about The Open is everyone's own personal growth. It's hard. For many and most, it is scary doing the workout alongside someone else while also being counted and judged. You do feel nervous when putting up a score alongside other people in the world. It's a great chance to overcome something and come out the other side more confident in your ability to be resilient and challenge yourself. If you're worried or waiting until you're "ready", or "fit enough" or "can commit fully" then don't worry - that day will never come. I've done almost every Open workout since it began fourteen years ago and not once had I thought before, "Yeah I really feel great" or "I'm fully prepared". But once again, this is another mirror to life. You will probably never feel ready for what's coming but you will have to do it anyway, and you always make it through, just like you'll make it through this! At times you will be put outside your comfort zone, but you will also create some lasting memories. Ask anyone about any of the open workouts they've done - they will be able to tell you something they remember. So for the first-year rookie, lean on the veterans. Veterans help out or give some encouragement to someone new and tell them something you wish you had known. But most importantly - have fun, relax and enjoy the experience! Just like any other CrossFit workout: everyone is too wrapped up in what they are doing to care about your score - so don't worry! Well done to every single person in a team who has put themselves out there and registered. I'm extremely proud of you all. And while midway through several workouts you may be questioning why you signed up for this, you will look back and be glad you did!

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