“Just do the next right thing, one thing at a time.”- Glennon Doyle
CROSSFIT GAMES
Preseason Rankings: Top 10 Men and Women Heading into 2022
The 2022 season is almost here, and although there are three distinct parts of the season to make it through before the Games this summer, it’s time for some preseason power rankings heading into the Open.
These are my top 10 ranked men and women leading into the 2022 season:
Men:
Justin Medeiros
Notable Competitions:
1st CrossFit Games 2021
1st Rogue Invitational 2021
3rd CrossFit Games 2020
1st Filthy 150 2018
Following his wins at the 2021 Games and the Rogue Invitational, Medeiros is currently the man to beat at every competition he enters. And until someone does so, he will be ranked number one.
Patrick Vellner
Notable Competitions:
2nd CrossFit Games 2021 and 2018
3rd CrossFit Games 2017 and 2016
2nd Rogue Invitational 2021 and 2019
1st Rogue Invitational 2020
1st Wodapalooza 2021, 2020, 2019
On paper he looks like the only guy who can challenge Medeiros for the title of Fittest on Earth. Second at the Games, second at Rogue, and the winner at Wodapalooza. Some may say he’s getting old, but he’s one of the best we’ve ever seen and there’s no precedent to think that a man in his early 30s who has regularly dominated most of the other men still competing is too old to continue doing so. Expect Vellner to make another title run this year.
Brent Fikowski
Notable Competitions:
3rd CrossFit Games 2021
2nd CrossFit Games 2017
1st Dubai 2019
Although he faded towards the end of the Games this past season, there are many who think he may have been a little more injured than he wants to publicly admit; some think he may have actually won this past season had he not been. He has taken the entire offseason off to prepare for another run at it. The only potential problem for him would be another online semifinal. Barring that, expect another podium run for “The Professor”.
The R.A.D® ONE became an instant hit after launching at Wodapalooza this year. So succesful, that R.A.D is now dropping its second set of colorways that are going to blow your mind.
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So head over to R.A.D to make sure you don’t miss out on the best new shoes in the game and discover some of the other R.A.D things they have coming up.
SPEED READS
…9 days until the 2022 CrossFit Open kicks off. Register today.
Who’s got the best bear hug? The second Rogue Challenge of 2022 is pretty self-explanatory: hold your sandbag for longer than anyone else in the world. 🐻 Registration is now Open and the competition goes from February 18 – 21.
Men’s sandbag weight = 200lbs
Women’s sandbag weight = 150lbs
In case you missed it, Lauren Kalil spoke to Wilson Pak on The Bottom Line about taking on two Semifinals – the Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge and the Syndicate Crown – and CrossFit’s elite getting to compete in what should feel like a post-pandemic landscape, finally.
“The athletes are going to get a phenomenal experience looking up into the stands and it’s going to be super loud for sure.”
CROSSFIT GAMES
The CrossFit Open for Newbies: Your Guide to Strategy and Beyond
The CrossFit Open started in 2011 as the first step in finding the fittest man, woman and team on earth. Today, hundreds of thousands test their fitness in what has now become the largest participatory fitness event on the planet.
Whether you’re doing the Open for the first time, or a seasoned vet, we know there are a ton of questions around how to log scores, selecting the appropriate division and what to expect, so we’ve assembled answers to the most common questions to help you navigate.
If there’s a common question that you think we missed, please send a note to [email protected].
To help make it easier to find what you’re looking for, we’ve organized questions into three separate sections: 1). CrossFit Open Overview: Divisions, Registration and Structure, 2). Performing the Workout, Standards and Equipment, and 3). Score Submissions, Deadlines and Leaderboards.
We have also included helpful links for navigating the 2022 CrossFit Open beyond the scope of this article.
Four Fan Favorites for CrossFit Open 22.1 Announcement Match-Ups
The 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games will kick off in just over a week and four stars will throw down against each other as the first people in the world to take on 22.1.
So, who’s it gonna be?: The 2021 Second Fittest Man on Earth, Patrick Vellner will take on Noah Ohlsen, who is competing in his eleventh straight Open. On the women’s side, Underdogs training partners Danielle Brandon and Bethany Shadburne will battle it out.
One big thing: This is a solid line-up with four fan favorites and will no doubt create a lot of buzz in the community. With recent changes to the Games team and the CrossFit organization, a strong kickoff to the season will be important.
What they’re saying: As soon as CrossFit announced the line-up, the athletes took to Instagram with their thoughts:
Noah Ohlsen– “Excited and honored to be kicking off my 11th straight @crossfitgames Open by helping announce 22.1 to the world next week!”
Patrick Vellner– “I’ll be honest, this really snuck up on me. I can’t believe the Open is already next week! But what better way to celebrate fitness and kick off the open than throwing down with some fit friends at altitude 😂. I’m ready for my 10th open!
Danielle Brandon– “Honestly can’t believe I get to share something like this with @bethanycf 🤩 a legend & now close friend AND teammate!!”
How to watch: Tune in to the CrossFit Games website for the live 22.1 announcement on Thursday, February 24 at 12 PM PT. And as always, the Morning Chalk Up will provide workout strategy guides and full leaderboard coverage and analysis.
LIFESTYLE
MEMBER EXCLUSIVE
What’s the Deal with Creatine?
Head to any workout supplement store and you will likely see a whole section devoted to this supplement–brightly colored, snazzy cans promising things like “pump,” “maximizing volume” and “increasing power output.” Athletes have made creatine a benchmark staple, a daily add to their list of nutritional intake, but the question remains, just what is creatine?
Samantha Coogan, the director of the Didactic Program in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, offered up a quick refresher on the famous supplement for those whose knowledge is a bit rusty.
“Creatine is most often utilized by athletes engaging in high-intensity activity with short bursts of energy and power coupled with short breaks and rapid recovery,” said Coogan, who is also a registered sports dietitian nutritionist with a master’s in Exercise Physiology. “So think start-and-stop sports like football or track which require explosive movements. Creatine can allow the athlete to perform more reps by increasing muscle stamina during activity. Essentially, creatine extends the duration of work or ‘time under tension’ therefore leading to an increase in strength, size, speed.”
On February 24, 2022 at 12:00 PM PT, the 12th iteration of the CrossFit Open will kick off for three weeks of fitness fun. As fans eagerly await the workout announcement each Thursday, we’ve assembled this historical chart of all movements which have been featured in past years.
It may sound contradictory, but keeping your chest up and leaning over the bar is both possible (and valuable) when performing your lifts. Watch this demonstration of how you can do both effectively and start impressing lifting coaches everywhere.
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Think you have a shot at the quarterfinals this year? Make sure you check out these tips from Adrian Bozman, a man who knows a little about the judging standards, to avoid common pitfalls that stop people from moving on.
From activewear to loungewear, shoes to accessories, create a free account at Reebok to save up to 35% before anyone else with code "OHYEAH" at checkout.
Way better than the deep-fried takeout version, this baked orange chicken is a quick and easy weeknight dinner. Ready in just one hour and loaded with flavor, every bite has moist chicken paired with a lightly sweetened orange glaze. Serve with rice or veggies for a perfect dinner.
Celebrating a PR, hosting a fundraiser, this, that, or otherwise. Send us a tip.
🎂 Happy birthday, Chaz Clark.
Austin Nelson from CrossFit Lubbock in Lubbock, TX put up a clean and jerk PR of 350 pounds/159kg.
Rebecka Vitesson of Butcher’s Lab CrossFit snatches 198 pounds/90kg.
Lauren Fisher stands up a pause double back squat at 264 pounds/120kg.
Congratuations Brian Selitto of Strong Together CrossFit in Chester, NJ on the 335 pound/152kg front squat PR.
Congratulations to Hil Blaze from Patriot CrossFit in Arlington, VA on the snatch PR of 225 pounds/102kg.
Erin Trease from CrossFit Hilliard in Hilliard, OH is opening a cryotherapy studio partnered with the Icebox franchise. Erin is hosting a Grand Opening at the new Icebox Westerville on March 5th at 683 Worthington Road, Hilliard, OH. Trease owned her own CrossFit gym when she previously lived in Pittsburgh, but had been seeking a new opportunity after the move to Ohio.
“I used to own a CrossFit gym,” she told The Columbus Dispatch. “I lived in Pittsburgh for seven years. Prior to right before COVID, when I moved back here, I was always big into competing and big into recovery. I was always doing cryo with my profit. I sold the CrossFit gym and wanted to move back to Columbus, thinking I’d come back to Columbus and open up another CrossFit gym and do it here,” she said. “Well, COVID hit right away. I started doing my research, but I was also ‘cryoing’ during COVID. I was thinking, ‘Man, I love this part of it. I should just open up a business for as much as I spend on it.'”
Erin is no stranger to recovery and health strategies–she was 88th on the 2021 Open worldwide leaderboard in the Women 40-44 Division and competed with Team Eleventh Element in the 2021 Team Quarterfinals.
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