The CrossFit Games starts Thursday. Love CrossFit or hate it, it has made a huge impact on fitness and lifting. So Dani and I are here to give you a behind the scenes look at all the action.
Today we took a sneak peek at the venues, watched some of the time trials for the cyclocross event this year, walked into a few areas we probably weren’t supposed to be in, and later we’ll be hitting the 2017 CrossFit Health Conference.
We’ll use this thread to post some pics and commentary. Stay tuned.
Lots of setup going on today. There are tons of Games venues at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. Caught some of the cyclocross time trials too.
Athlete check-in.
Lots of people think this guy, Mat Fraser, will win the whole thing this year.
Teams will be using the “worms” again this year. These are 400-500+ pound beasts, all unevenly weighted and awkward. Talk about odd object lifting.
I don’t think I was supposed to be in this area…
Thanks for posting the pictures Chris. That’s pretty cool that you got in behind the scenes. The games sure are entertaining with some amazing equipment and facilities.
If Mat Fraser can come in anywhere near 100%, he will definitely take a run at the top spot; which is amazing considering the number of extremely talented athletes competing against him. I know I’m excited for it!
This sport never fails to impress me when I watch it, the number of just beastly athletes it has produced is fantastic, it isn’t my cup of tea, but they definitely have my respect.
Pre-Games events all wrapped up. The real show gets rolling Thursday.
Dani and I hit the Heath Conference, which was pretty interesting overall. Greg Glassman opened the show, then we heard:
The Crisis in Science - Dr. Jeff Glassman (Greg G.'s father actually.)
The Central Role of Nutrition in Our Health, Education, Economics, Politics, Environment, and Beliefs - Dr. Gary Fettke
Character, Self-belief, and the Search for Perfection: Psychology, Human Performance, and Diet - Prof. Tim Noakes
Summary, nutrition has been corrupted by big biz and special interests. Coke is evil, the 7th Day Adventists control everything, and belief makes you a winner. And actually, they all made a pretty compelling case… but 6 hours of talks is a bit much to sum up here.
Then we were invited to the first screening of Ogar: Will of Steel. This is the documentary made about Kevin Ogar, and we met Kevin. You can read Chris Colucci’s excellent article on that whole ordeal here: https://www.t-nation.com/training/crossfit-kevin-ogar-and-questions
The doc is worth checking out. Google it Sept. 1st.
Watching them try to ride bikes would be cute I guess, but wow, that is not cyclocross. I guess a real cross course would be way too comedic, but jeez, don’t call it that.
Fraser won last year, he’s a beast
Been looking at these guys stats
I do not understand how at 195lbs, for the champion Rich Froning
Squat
445
Front Squat
375
Clean & Jerk
370
Snatch
300
Deadlift
545
Press
205
5 km: 20min (LOL)
is good
I don’t understand crossfit it seems
Another scam where a few make a lot of money
Don’t be a sheep and follow that crap. Chris Shugart is only going where the money is.
You’ve really got a thing against crossfit dont ya?
Can i ask why?
From where?
What are your stats in all of those lifts? Also Froning hasn’t competed in years in individual. He isn’t the champ anymore. So you clearly aren’t following along. But if you think you can do better then wow that’s really cool of you to let other people win something you so clearly can win based on being dismissive of very impressive lifts.
Crossfit people get a bad rap on a lot of things but they have some of the best gyms and the top guys are very good athletes. They can do freaky freaky things for what seems like forever.
Not sure where you pulled those stats from. I’ve seen him credited with some higher strength PRs as well as bodyweight stuff and PR times on some benchmark WODs. He’s considered one of the best because he can do all of that, and being well-rounded is a thing.
Shugart’s first article about CrossFit was in 2008, a year after the first CF games and long, long before there was any money in it. In the article, he mentions that he visited one of 650 CF gyms. There are now over 10,000 CF boxes. So, yeah, you’re talking out of your ass.
What’s wrong with those numbers at 195? Yeah they aren’t outstanding, but to be as athletic as he is mixed with those numbers, that’s pretty impressive. Just go back to hating on everyone and being salty because your “Big 15” isn’t mainstream.
This bears repeating…the dudes and dudettes do it all! A lot of folks can be good/really good/great in one or two things…but in all the things?…Come on now, that’s pretty sweet.
