It’s that time of year again… The 10th Annual BBCF CROSSFIT OPEN TEAM LEAGUE!
YOU FALL INTO 3 CATEGORIES:
- You’ve participated in the BBCF Open Team League before and can’t wait to do it again.
- You didn’t, but wish you would’ve, and now you can.
- You are new to BBCF, have no idea what’s going on, it sounds confusing, but you’re incredibly curious and you will sign up because everyone else is doing it.
WHAT IS THE CROSSFIT OPEN? Every year CrossFit Headquarters (CFHQ) hosts the CrossFit Open to find the strongest and fastest athletes to qualify for a spot in the annual CrossFit Games— essentially the Olympics of CrossFit. Over 3 weeks, CrossFit HQ will announce a mystery workout each Thursday. We will be following the 3 weeks of workouts alongside the CFHQ Open, but we put our own interactive and fun spin on it— a TEAM-BASED league featuring our FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS team showdown each Friday.
WHY SHOULD I PARTICIPATE? The Open is full of opportunities to achieve what you didn’t think was possible and celebrate progress with friends. For three weeks, you—and the hundreds of thousands of other people who CrossFit across the WORLD —are taking on workouts that may require you to try a new skill, improve the skills you already have, or push yourself harder than you ever have before. This might be a little scary to new CrossFitters, but believe us when we say, it’s fun, it’s exciting, and it is a fantastic way to make new friends at the gym. EVERYONE is welcome and encouraged to participate! PLUS, you’ll get an awesome 2024 Open T-Shirt/Tank!
If you talk to anyone who has experienced the Open, or Friday Night Lights with us, they will probably tell you their favorite part was watching one of their fellow Blackbirds get a PR lift or when a friend stepped outside of their comfort zone and they watched them grind away on a workout that tested their limits. During the Open and especially at the Friday Night Lights events you often find that the loudest cheers are not for the people that finished first or lifted the most, but they are for the person with the most heart. You do not have to be competitive to participate; you just have to be open to a new experience.
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?— the quick version
- Sign up at the front desk before Friday, February 9th.
- Cost = $45— includes your t-shirt/tank.
- You’ll be drafted onto a team on February 10th.
- Complete 1 CFHQ mystery WOD per week, preferably at Friday Night Lights Showdown, but it will be the WOD during all regular Friday classes for 3 weeks.
- Divisions: Rx, Scaled, Masters Rx/Scaled, Teen (14-18), or Foundational
- Social after the final Friday Night Lights on March 15th.
- Meet new people, have some fun, and get a good workout.
- You are not required to register for the Open on CrossFit.com to participate in our BBCF Open Team League, but you may choose to do both.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS DATES:
- Friday, March 1st from 6-8pm
- Friday, March 8th from 6-8pm
- Friday, March 15th from 6-8pm with social to follow
WHAT CAN I EXPECT?— the detailed version
STEP ONE – Sign up at the front desk for the BBCF Open Team League before Friday, February 9th. Cost is $45 and includes your team t-shirt! You MUST put your t-shirt/tank size on the sign up sheet. The shirts will be a similar fit and feel as our current BBCF t-shirt. Women can choose between tank or men’s t-shirt. We will be asking for payment at the time of sign-up and will charge cards on file on Feb. 10th.
STEP TWO – Stand by for the announcement of the results of the coach’s draft on February 10th and your team assignment. We will have 4 teams with our wonderful Blackbird coaches as team captains.
STEP THREE – Get with your team, create a name, and let the fun begin. The captains will then reach out to their team to get their GroupMe set up. The Captains will use that platform to answer questions, help you decide which division to choose each week that will challenge you best, give tips and tricks for success, and just have some fun as a team! The more of you who participate, the more fun this will be!
STEP FOUR – Support your team and participate in the Open workouts that will be run every Friday at 6-8pm from March 1st – March 15th. If you can’t make it to the Friday Night Lights event each week or do not feel comfortable in a big group, you can still support your team by doing the workout during the 5:30am, 6:30am, 8am, 9:30am, noon, or 4pm class that day. If needed, you can also make up the workout on Saturdays at Open Gym 8-10am. (In special circumstances ONLY, we will give you until Monday close of business to complete the Open WOD.)
Open workouts will be the WOD for every class run on Fridays during The Open. So, even if you do not sign up for this league, you’ll be doing the workouts! We will have a special “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” event from 6-8pm each week for everybody who can make it where the teams will go head to head in heats.
***Due to Friday Night Lights, the regular 5pm and 6pm classes will be canceled each Friday from March 1st- March 15th. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
ARE THERE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS?
There’s something for everyone in the CrossFit Open regardless of fitness level or ability!
Open workouts are called tests. Each week of the Open, you can choose to complete one of three variations of the released test — Rx’d (“as prescribed”), Scaled, or Foundations.
There are three age divisions— Teen (ages 14-17), Open (ages 18-34) and Masters (35+). Note, the Masters workouts do not change until you are age 55+.
The Scaled and Foundations options are designed to make the Open even more accessible by using reduced loads or less complicated movements.
Here is an example of the division variations in a WOD:
Complete as many reps as possible in 14 minutes of:
- 60-calorie row
- 50 toes-to-bars
- 40 wall-ball shots
- 30 cleans
- 20 muscle-ups
Rx (ages 16-54)
- ♀ 14-lb ball to 9-ft target, 95-lb cleans, muscle ups
- ♂ 20-lb ball to 10-ft target, 135-lb cleans, muscle ups
Scaled (16-54)
- ♀ 10-lb ball to 9 ft, hanging knee raises, 65-lb cleans, chin-over-bar pull-ups
- ♂ 14-lb ball to 10 ft, hanging knee raises, 95-lb cleans, chin-over-bar pull-ups
Rx Teenagers (14-15)
- ♀ 10-lb ball to 9 ft, 65-lb cleans, muscle ups
- ♂ 14-lb ball to 10 ft, 95-lb cleans, muscle ups
Scaled Teenagers (14-15)
- ♀ 10-lb ball to 9 ft, hanging knee raises, 45-lb cleans, chin-over-bar pull-ups
- ♂ 14-lb ball to 10 ft, hanging knee raises, 65-lb cleans, chin-over-bar pull-ups
Masters 55+
- ♀ 10-lb ball to 9 ft, 65-lb cleans, muscle-ups
- ♂ 20-lb ball to 9 ft, 115-lb cleans, muscle-ups
Scaled Masters 55+
- ♀ 10-lb ball to 8 ft, sit-ups, 45-lb cleans, jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups
- ♂ 14-lb ball to 8 ft, sit-ups, 65-lb cleans, jumping chest-to-bar pull-ups
Foundations
- ♀ 6-lb ball to 9-ft target, 35-lb cleans*, push ups
- ♂ 10-lb ball to 10-ft target, 45-lb cleans*, push ups
- *The load is a suggested starting point. If you are completing all of the tests in the foundations division, you are free to decrease or increase the load as your skill level allows.
NEW THIS YEAR
There is no team scoring. Only 4 TEAM MVPs each week, as voted on by your team.
We’ve been doing this for ten years, and every year people get hung up on and stressed out about which division they will participate in and how that helps or hurts their team score. We are eliminating that factor.
You will choose from the Rx, Scaled, or Foundations WODs each week. Your choice will be based on which one will challenge you the most. For those who are on the fringe of getting to “the next level,” your Team Captain will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone. Some weeks it’ll be appropriate to try the Rx and go for your first pull up, toes to bar, or heavier weights, other weeks it might be best to do the Scaled version. If you are new or injured, the Foundational option is great, or even scaling the Scaled WOD is appropriate. It’s amazing to see what you can accomplish when you hold yourself to a standard you “think” is just outside your limits.
For those of you who are motivated by the competition, we will still have the leaderboard in Wodify to see how you stack up and engage in friendly competition with your friends! You can also sign up for the Open on CFHQ website.
THE OFFICIAL CROSSFIT OPEN:
We do not require you to register for the “official” CrossFit Open through CFHQ. If you do wish to do so, this will allow you to see how you stack up to everyone in your state, region, country and worldwide. There are even different divisions for military, first responders, nurses, doctors and teachers. If seeing where you rank in this way isn’t necessarily a motivating factor for you, then please feel free to enjoy participating in our intramural team league without registering for the CrossFit Open through CFHQ.
IF YOU ARE STILL INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW YOU PLACE IN THE WORKOUTS AMONGST EVERY CROSSFITTER IN THE WORLD, you are welcome to sign up via the link below and pay the $20 fee. Coach Steve will be managing the BBCF Leaderboard on CFHQ website. But, THIS IS NOT REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BBCF OPEN TEAM LEAGUE.
CrossFit Open Registration link: https://games.crossfit.com/
Any questions, ask a coach!