Seven Minutes of Burpees Revisited
The inaugural United in Movement fundraiser is past its halfway point, with four of the seven workouts having been announced. The charity competition benefitting the Red Cross, Action Against Hunger, and the CrossFit Foundation started the week off with one of the most notorious CrossFit Games Open workouts as it’s first test: seven minutes of burpees.
Hello darkness my old friend: The CrossFit community was introduced to this diabolical test by Dave Castro as Open workout 12.1. Beginning the 2012 Open with a single, mind-numbing movement set the tone for future weeks and years of the Open as Castro would combine the workout with its 12.2 successor for the opening workout of 2013 as well. Just over eight years later the test has popped up again, and below is a comparison of the current top scores compared to 2012. The 2012 scores are in bold.
Women
- Arnrun Magnusdottir 145 | Kristan Clever 143
- Jessica Uehlin 142 | Andrea Ager 141
- Claudia Gluck 135 | Jenn Chailler 140
- Hannah Gerber 130 | Barbara Salas 140
- Katie Price 129 | Mila Harris 138
- Laura Nielsen 129 | Jolene Grant 136
- Tyanna Jewett 127 | Autumn Spence 136
- Candace Muramoto 126 | Julie Foucher 135
- Marthe Voldsrud 126 | Madelyn Curley 135
- Trude Nordengen-Roli 125 | Denae Brown 135*
*Three additional women tied with 135 reps.
Men
- Jason Burt 168 | Scott Panchik 161
- Tom Hewson-Haworth 156 | Danila Shohkin 161
- Brady Fluet 148 | Drew Mckenzie 158
- Julien Gerard 145 | Travis Page 154
- Cody Anderson 144 | Tim Blackstone 148
- Markus Rhoese 143 | Craig Jennings 148
- Patrick Vellner 143 | Jarett Perelmutter 147
- Anthony Leboulleux 143 | Nick Martindale 147
- Shawn Vogel 142 | Jonas Muller 147
- Arnaldo Castaneda 141 | Craig Avera 146*
*Two additional men tied with 146 reps.
Worth noting: The biggest differentiating factor between the two sets of scores is the standard used in 2012 versus now. In 2012 athletes were required to touch an object six inches above their max reach. United in Movement introduced an entirely new standard dubbed “line facing” burpees where athletes had to jump over a six-inch gap.
- The newer standard is undoubtedly slower as it requires a higher degree of accuracy and coordination under fatigue compared to the 2012 standard and setups athletes used as a result.
- Tia-Clair Toomey and Mat Fraser performed the workout live during the stream. Toomey recorded 130 reps and Fraser 139 reps.
- Scott Panchik started his career off with a bang in 12.1, tying for the top score worldwide in his first-ever Open workout, paving the way for the first of eight consecutive CrossFit Games appearances.
- Cody Anderson’s 144 reps are a six rep improvement for the 3-time Games qualifier from when he first performed the workout in 2012 at 19 years-old.
To donate or register to compete, head over to United in Movement. Registration and score submission is open until April 11, at 8:00 PM EST.