It was March 11th, 2021 and I was laying face-down on my basement floor. The seconds were ticking by, and I was attempting to give myself a pep-talk, trying to will my body to move. No, this isn’t some horror story about a near-death experience, though some may have felt that way that day. I was just an hour removed from the 21.1 Open announcement, in which Dave Castro (the Head of the Crossfit Games) had announced a new movement: the wall walk.
My initial reaction was of excitement - while the message boards had quickly filled up with other Open participants stating they had never done the movement, I felt I had an advantage, albeit small. During a work trip to Las Vegas four years prior, I had dropped into a Crossfit gym and been introduced to the wall walk. I knew the basics, but I hadn’t trained them much in the years since.
By the third round of that workout, my excitement and meager confidence was replaced by frustration. My shoulders and upper back had already had enough, and my mind was telling me “you can’t”. I finished that workout only a few reps later, well short of my goal.
That was the year of the virtual Open, when all those who participated did so within 6’ squares at their gym, or from basements and garages. Our cheers for one another were muffled behind face masks, and the high-fives were replaced by hitting “like” on social media posts. Laying on the floor of the basement, I missed the noise, the certainty of getting just.one.more.rep. because even though my body was tired, my gym community believed in me. I longed for the fist bumps and hugs when we inevitably prove to ourselves that we can do more than thought possible.
The Open is a test of fitness, an opportunity to measure and compare progress over time. We know that growth is not linear and that many of us will reach a time in our lives where the priority shifts from “growth” to “maintenance”. The Open workouts offer measurements of both, but it also offers the best of what makes the Crossfit methodology special: community.
When you step into Fountain City Fitness on a Friday evening in March, you’ll be met with joy and excitement, costumes (!) and music. You’ll find support and encouragement from people whose names you’ve just learned. You’ll absorb the belief that electrifies the air that you can persevere through the discomfort and be more.
Whether your goal is movement-based, such as getting your first pull-up, or metabolic-based, such as stringing together multiple reps without needing to break, you’ll find coaches who are ready to help provide strategy and support to help you. (You can book a goal review session before the Open kicks off to receive a personalized approach to making those goals a reality) Come experience what it feels like to know that you have an entire community behind you in the bright lights of the Fountain City Fitness 2024 Open. The Open is calling - will you answer?
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