Would like to go support my crossfit friends at one. I'm no where near ready, cardio wise. I wish I was...so sad = (

I am seeing a lot of posts in this thread and also hearing a lot of chatter in the Box about people not wanting to sign up for fear of not being able to do all of the WOD's at Rx. Allow me to offer some perspective as a coach.

1. The CrossFit Open is a primary revenue stream for CrossFit HQ. They are not going to make the initial WOD's so tough that people cannot finish them. It would not make financial sense. If 70% of participants are eliminated after week 1, those people are not going to come back next year. The first WOD last year was 7 min amrap burpees for a reason. No one got knocked out on round 1.

2. It isn't all about you: CrossFit is as much a community activity and team sport as anything else. So what if you cannot do a pull-up or double unders? Everyone is good at something. Each week, your team's ranking is based on the top 3 men's and women's scores. Most likely, you will be contributing to your team's score at some point over the 5 weeks. You will feel rewarded for having decided to do The Open after all.

3. You are so much better than you think you are: In 2010 I saw some of the most inspiring things I have ever seen in a CrossFit gym. Sure, you may be thinking that "my box is programming The Open WOD's every Thursday anyway, so what difference does it make if I sign up?" The difference is that maybe the weight or WOD is more than you think that you can handle. But you are so much more likely to fight like hell to stay in the competition if it is do or die. I will give you the example of my wife. On so many WOD's she would have the most reps and fastest times but rarely if ever went Rx. She had been a tennis player and runner for years and was afraid she was not strong enough to do the daily programming at Rx. Then a clean and jerk WOD showed up in The Open. It was probably 20-30 lbs heavier than she had ever gone. She tried that WOD probably 7 times over 4 days to get the one rep she needed to stay in competition. The end result was that her clean jumped from 70'ish lbs to 103 lbs. She needed 110 to stay in competition and got knocked out of competition but she learned that she had the heart of a lion and she never ever ever gave up. Everyone in the gym was touched and had her back. The fact that she got bumped made no difference. She was inspired to believe in herself and inspired others as well. Just telling the story to you now, I am getting emotional thinking about it.

4. Is a great benchmark for future reference: One of the major CrossFit tools is measurability. How would you know if an exercise program or diet was working if you did not have a baseline? If you are in your rookie year of doing CrossFit, you will want to have participated in The Open to see how far you have come year after year. You are going to make your biggest leaps in year 1. Allow yourself to be inspired by looking back in a year and realizing how far you have come. To me, it's worth the $20!

I hope these ramblings will at least get you to reconsider if you have written it off or are on the fence. I mean, if you are doing CrossFit because it is hard, not because it is easy, right?

I am seeing a lot of posts in this thread and also hearing a lot of chatter in the Box about people not wanting to sign up for fear of not being able to do all of the WOD's at Rx. Allow me to offer some perspective as a coach.

1. The CrossFit Open is a primary revenue stream for CrossFit HQ. They are not going to make the initial WOD's so tough that people cannot finish them. It would not make financial sense. If 70% of participants are eliminated after week 1, those people are not going to come back next year. The first WOD last year was 7 min amrap burpees for a reason. No one got knocked out on round 1.

2. It isn't all about you: CrossFit is as much a community activity and team sport as anything else. So what if you cannot do a pull-up or double unders? Everyone is good at something. Each week, your team's ranking is based on the top 3 men's and women's scores. Most likely, you will be contributing to your team's score at some point over the 5 weeks. You will feel rewarded for having decided to do The Open after all.

3. You are so much better than you think you are: In 2010 I saw some of the most inspiring things I have ever seen in a CrossFit gym. Sure, you may be thinking that "my box is programming The Open WOD's every Thursday anyway, so what difference does it make if I sign up?" The difference is that maybe the weight or WOD is more than you think that you can handle. But you are so much more likely to fight like hell to stay in the competition if it is do or die. I will give you the example of my wife. On so many WOD's she would have the most reps and fastest times but rarely if ever went Rx. She had been a tennis player and runner for years and was afraid she was not strong enough to do the daily programming at Rx. Then a clean and jerk WOD showed up in The Open. It was probably 20-30 lbs heavier than she had ever gone. She tried that WOD probably 7 times over 4 days to get the one rep she needed to stay in competition. The end result was that her clean jumped from 70'ish lbs to 103 lbs. She needed 110 to stay in competition and got knocked out of competition but she learned that she had the heart of a lion and she never ever ever gave up. Everyone in the gym was touched and had her back. The fact that she got bumped made no difference. She was inspired to believe in herself and inspired others as well. Just telling the story to you now, I am getting emotional thinking about it.

4. Is a great benchmark for future reference: One of the major CrossFit tools is measurability. How would you know if an exercise program or diet was working if you did not have a baseline? If you are in your rookie year of doing CrossFit, you will want to have participated in The Open to see how far you have come year after year. You are going to make your biggest leaps in year 1. Allow yourself to be inspired by looking back in a year and realizing how far you have come. To me, it's worth the $20!

I hope these ramblings will at least get you to reconsider if you have written it off or are on the fence. I mean, if you are doing CrossFit because it is hard, not because it is easy, right?