LET’S GET PHYSICAL

On Friday the 17th of February the 2023 Crossfit Open kicked off with sixty CFA members deciding that rowing, toes to bar, wall balls, power cleans and ring muscle ups (attempt) would be a fantastic way to spend their evening.  

With many members experiencing the atmosphere of Friday Night Lights for the first time, they weren’t disappointed.  It was the first time CFA has introduced a teams competition and it’s fair to say that it was total cream out! 

With a repeat of a workout in 2014, it was a great way to see if we had gotten fitter in the last nine years.  A fourteen minute  AMRAP of sixty calories on the rower, fifty toes to bar, forty wall balls, thirty cleans and twenty ring muscle ups.  Those who had done this before were quietly confident and hopefully of an improved fitness level and those who hadn’t done it before really didn’t know what to expect .  One thing Crossfit has always preached is simplicity, it doesn’t have to be complicated to be effective - This was a prime example of this.  While looking mildly difficult on paper, once into the teeth of the workout the athletes found themselves struggling more than they had anticipated. 

Most athletes found the initial sixty calories on the rower a nice entree to the main course.  The toes to bar really tested some athletes and most people listened to the coaches advice of nice smooth smaller sets as some chose to forge their own path - once they are gone they are gone!  Wall balls had the desired result of elevating the heart rate and making sure the athlete didn’t laugh during the thirty cleans.  For most athletes, the completion of the thirty cleans was a huge accomplishment and one they can be super proud of - this was a heavy weight!  For those who managed to squeeze past the barbell the prize was ring muscle ups under all sorts of fatigue!  Even if you were a fit and competent exponent of the ring muscle up - these became pretty tough, with many failing the first attempt and attempts at sets of three quickly turning into singles.  It was great to see quite a few people get either their first ring muscle up.  Overall the coaches were so impressed with everyone but there were a few notable standouts 

Sunnette Runhaar and Ymke van der Pol completed the 50 toes to bar!!  Many hours in gymnastics class and in the box working on these paid off! 

Vera ten Hacken getting her first ring muscle up!

Saskia Blackburn getting through the entire first 180 reps after stating she wasn’t sure about the toes to bar! 

Henry van Kouswijk not just completing one ring muscle up but three!! 

Ruben Hoogenhout getting back to the rower after finishing all the ring muscle ups.

Coach Fay Tucker getting through eighteen ring muscle ups

All we can say as coaches, is that we were so proud of everyone who had a crack! Such an amazing effort, and it was great to see how fit and strong our community has become.  Big shout out to the athletes who signed up for the very first time - hopefully it wasn’t as scary as you thought. 

At the end of each fourteen minutes the gym floor resembled the floor of a bakery - chalk everywhere!   Didn’t matter what strategy was implemented, the end result was exactly the same - a feeling that they might have been able to squeeze another rep on the rings! 

For the first time Crossfit Amsterdam has implemented a teams system to add an extra layer of fun for all of those. This year we had four teams, captained by Coach Fay (Team Black), Coach Mickey (Team Red), Coach Nick (Team Green) and Coach Dustin (Cream Team -probably the most dominant, good looking, highly skilled team in the competition).  After adding up all the reps completed by all team members it was a very dominant start for the Cream Team!  Or as the people might know them - The Dream Team.  The final tally : 

Team Cream - 3436 reps

Team Green - 3397 reps

Team Black - 3357 reps

Team Red - 3346 reps

Fantastic work Team Cream.  But, we are just taking it one week at a time, looking forward to executing our game plan and making sure we stick by each other for 23.2

It is a worldwide competition, it’s fun to compare your scores against your training buddies, but ultimately the open is all about proving something to yourself.  It might be as simple as completing your first toes to the bar or you might be striving for something much greater, but ultimately every single person who steps on to the floor to have a crack is improving themselves.  For all Crossfit Amsterdam results see the below link. 

https://games.crossfit.com/affiliate/292 

Don’t forget after 23.3 we will be hosting a BBQ evening - So get keen and jump on line and buy your tickets!  We will have our sponsors there that evening - FitAid, Two Chefs Catering, Reebok Europe, Hyperice and GoPrimal

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