“I’m an optimist because I know how sad, how challenging, how miserable, how unfair, how unkind life can be—and I think a pessimist is somebody who finds this out new every morning.”- Peter Ustinov
CROSSFIT QUARTERFINALS 2021
Here are the top five teams on each continent, see the full leaderboard:
North America
CrossFit Mayhem Freedom (12)
Invictus (45)
I1UVIT (61)
MoveFastLiftHeavy Crew (68)
On Track (78)
Oceania
64 Army Gold (9)
Reebok CrossFit Frankston (14)
Urban (19
Awaside (31)
Wiser1 Phoenix (41)
South America
FourMixx Brazil (14)
Q21 (29)
CrossFit Villa Luro (33)
Team SP (46)
Team Punk (48)
Europe
CrossFit Zurriola Training Culture (24)
Team Butcher’s Lab T-Bone (28)
From the Port (30)
CrossFit Oslo (40)
Team CrossFit Holistic (57)
Asia
Team Dubai (15)
Kolesnikov Team (16)
MacPherson (28)
Sour Patch Kids (33)
Redyar (39)
Africa
Eikestad Mighty Oaks (6)
CrossFit Tijger Valley (17)
Lions Bay CrossFit (24)
Eikestad Golden Oaks (33)
CrossFit Engine33 (34)
Throughout the weekend, CrossFit Mayhem Freedom and the CrossFit Games has been posting videos of Quarterfinals tests, as well as some “fantasy” match-ups, here are a few we’ve seen:
Official Invitations to the 2021 Age Group Qualifiers will be sent today.
Here are a few more Speed Reads:
Gillette launches new fitness-focused deodorant. The new Invisible Solid Deodorant is designed to tackle any WOD. They’re offering all CrossFitters a free stick for their gym bag with the purchase of any Invisible Solid Deodorant. No code necessary.
CrossFit has teamed up with HBC Event Services to offer discounted hotel accommodations for the 2021 CrossFit Games. Cancellation policies at the area hotels will take into consideration possible COVID restrictions and cancelled travel.
Now Live: Volunteer applications for the Invictus Boston Invitational. Volunteer areas include judging, athlete control, pit crew and general volunteer.
Spectator tickets for The Fittest in Cape Town, Africa’s CrossFit Games Semifinal event, are available now.
Available for Download: The PRVN Fitness Pull-Up Program e-book is out now. The book provides a progressive and measurable program for people who wish to either achieve their first strict pull-up or even complete multiple strict pull-ups.
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CROSSFIT GAMES
Team Quarterfinals: Six Key Takeaways
The Team Quarterfinals for the 2021 CrossFit Games season has officially come to a close and while there was certainly a lot of excitement this weekend, here are six key takeaways.
1: The Surprisingly Tight Leaderboard In North America
While a quick glance at the North American leaderboard shows what you might expect from the weekend, with Mayhem and Invictus sitting in the top two spots, a closer look at the numbers reveals a much tighter race. The difference in final score between the first-place overall team and the fifteenth-place team was a mere 131 points, which sounds like a large number, but in a competition featuring 157 teams, that number is actually quite low. In fact, many other teams put forth exceptional scores on the leaderboard throughout the competition and even a small slip-up could cause a dip down the leaderboard for any team in North America.
2: The Gyms Who Qualified Multiple Teams for the Semifinals
While qualifying one team for a Semifinal is an impressive accomplishment in its own right, several gyms qualified multiple teams.
Training Camps Recap: Breaking Down Elite Performances in Individual Quarterfinals
After recapping how the top CrossFit training camps and their athletes performed in the 2021 NOBULL CrossFit Games Open three weeks ago. We wanted to capture the same camps (as well as some new additions) and how they performed after the individual Quarterfinals. What we found is that some of the top performances from the Quarterfinals came from athletes who trained and were pushed by other top athletes within their own camp.
Below we break down these notable camps, athletes and performances. We did the best we could to make sure we had a complete list of athletes by reaching out to the camps as well as gathering information off athlete’s social media pages. The camps are listed in no particular order.
Former NHL Player Brooks Laich Outlines Ways to Grow CrossFit as a Professional Sport
Former NHL player and Open Gym co-founder Brooks Laich made a recent appearance on the “Talking Elite Fitness” podcast to discuss his love of CrossFit with hosts Sean Woodland and Tommy Marquez. He also spent a large portion of the interview discussing prominent issues that he sees and several steps to take that could simultaneously grow CrossFit and better benefit its athletes.
Remind me: Laich played in the NHL from 2003 until 2018, primarily with the Washington Capitals. He also spent eight years as an NHLPA representative and played a role in collective bargaining agreement discussions. Now he is shifting his focus to CrossFit’s Home Office, the athletes who make a living competing, and how they can improve the sport to benefit everyone involved.
An athletes union: Laich was heavily involved in the NHLPA during his career, serving on the executive board for eight years. He played a role in hiring and firing executive directors, as well as the creation of agreements between the league and its players. As someone that lost over $2 million due to lockouts, Laich knows what can happen when the league has all of the power while the athletes have none.
Viewing CrossFit through that perspective, “I was absolutely shocked at what I saw,” Laich explained. “What an athlete’s life is like in CrossFit. Right now, what I see in CrossFit is that CrossFit yields all of the power. 100% of it, and the athletes have no say. They are at the mercy of everything CrossFit.”
Making sure you have a solid foundation and your mass is centered correctly can be the difference between a PR and a fail. Learn where the barbell should begin relative on your foot on different lifts.
Struggling to improve Olympic lifts like the snatch and clean and jerk? The Invictus Weightlifting program is designed to supplement your CrossFit training with just three sessions a week. You also get direct access and unlimited video review from 2018 CrossFit Games athlete Jared Enderton.
Breathwork seems to be the latest hot topic, but what does it actually mean? Ben Bergeron explains the importance of breathwork, his 100-day experiment with Wim Hoff breathing, and where he recommends you start learning how to breathe better.
Train Your Weakness has a new course to improve your aerobic endurance in just three easy-to-follow workouts a week for eight weeks. Make this the summer you crush those summer runs, swims, and bike rides.
Craving tacos after a summer run, WOD, or beach day? Give these spicy cod tacos a try. A super easy recipe that comes together in minutes and is sure to satisfy those taco cravings you get. Or is that just us?
Chalk Up Highlights is our section dedicated to celebrating our community’s wins in the gym. Follow @ChalkUpHighlights and submit your highlight to [email protected] to be featured.
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