We recently shared a blog post introducing the CrossFit Open: what it is, how it works, and how excited we are to be a part of it here at SCFIT – Home of Second City CrossFit! In case you missed it, be sure to check it out for the full backstory before you read on.
Now, it’s time to dive deeper into exactly what we’re doing here in Birmingham.
Why we’re doing what we’re doing
Over the years The CrossFit Open has taken various shapes and forms at SCFIT – we’ve done the workout in class, in heats, we’ve done Friday Night Lights, teams, themed shirts, points – you name it! So this year, we’re pulling out ALL the stops… and we’re doing it ALL! Yep, you read that right: we’re doing all the things that have made The CrossFit Open an awesome, fun and inclusive community event in the past – and more!
So – what’s the plan for The CrossFit Open at SCFIT?
This year at SCFIT we will be running The Open as an Intramural Open: members will be assigned to a big, squad-like team; where their participation (and this part is really important – it’s the taking part and getting involved that will have the most impact!) will earn their team points each week!
How do I get involved?
In the past, we’ve pointed members to the official CrossFit Games website to register. People would pay the fee to sign up, and get their spot on the leaderboard.
Instead, this year, members buy their CrossFit Open spot as a special package from SCFIT, and for just a few quid more than the registration, you’ll be assigned to a team, and get your hands on your exclusive team CrossFit Open tee!
Simply follow the link (members can find this special in the WODBoard community chat, or in the member newsletter from Jan 20th!) and choose your T-shirt size! Soon after you’ve bought your SCFIT Open package, we’ll send you a unique code for you to buy your CrossFit Open registration for zero cost. We can’t do this part for you I’m afraid – as you’ll need to sign in (or create a new account) and fill in some important info yourself, like the waiver! But – only we can get the special code for you, so you really must take this new route to register!
Is the t-shirt really just £5?
Pretty much, yes! We’re proud to be subsidising your CrossFit Open registration this year, simply because we’re SO passionate about it as an event, and love to see everyone get involved! So, to make it as affordable, accessible and fun as possible for everyone, you can get your registration AND team tee for just £20.
How does it all work?
The first workout of the CrossFit Open will be released on February 26th, to be completed that weekend (by March 2nd!). On the Thursday, we’ll be excitedly watching the CrossFit announcement to find out what the workout is! And no, we won’t find out before you – it’ll be a surprise for us all! You can follow the announcement on the Games site here, or by heading straight to the CrossFit Games Youtube channel!
So – once the workout is released each Thursday, we the SCFIT Coaching Team will get our heads together and make a plan for the Friday. We’ll figure out the logistics, equipment, heat timings, and plan a suitable warm up too, so you can simply get excited and book your heat!
On the Friday, we’ll run the morning classes as normal, at 6am, 7am, 9:30am. The workout of the day will be The CrossFit Open workout run in a normal class format, so if you’re an early bird and can’t make FNL, we’ve got you covered.
What is Friday Night Lights?
Friday Night Lights is our weekly CrossFit Open event at SCFIT, Stirchley, where members complete the Open workout in heats, judged and supported by the community. So how does it actually work? From 12pm on onwards, we’ll run heats for folks to come down and do the workout in a slot of their choosing! The heat times will vary depending on the length of the workout. They’ll keep running throughout the afternoon and into the evening for the famous FNL. If you can make it in the afternoon or evening, we strongly encourage it!
Friday Night Lights is a huge, exciting community experience: members cheering each other on, the music pumping – it really is a spectacle and not to be missed. Even if you plan to do the workout in the morning, we can’t recommend FNL enough: even if you simply come back for an hour after work to cheer on your peers and see it happen – you won’t be disappointed. And you’ll still earn points for your team!
What if I can’t make a Friday at all?
On Sundays, our usual CrossFit classes will move across to the gym space in Unit 19, keeping Units 20&21 clear for members to do the CrossFit Open! So if you’re working a long day on Friday or already have plans, you won’t miss out.
How do I earn points for my team?
You can score points for your team as follows!
Signing up to the SCFIT Open:
- Sign up before 30th Jan – 5 points *TOO LATE!* – But well done to those who’ve already signed up!
- Sign up before 6th Feb – 4 points
- Sign up before 13th Feb – 3 points
- Sign up before 20th Feb – 2 points
Doing the workouts:
- Complete 26.1 – 1 point
- Complete 26.2 – 1 point
- Complete 26.3 – 1 point
- Completed and logged all 3 workouts – bonus 3 points
- Hit a PB / PR, or first-ever of something (eg, first Toes-to-Bar) – 2 points
Friday Night Lights:
- Doing a workout during Friday Night Lights – 1 point
- Won a ‘Head to Head’ – 2 points
- Lost a ‘Head to Head’ – 1 point
- Judged someone else – 1 point
Anything else I need to know?
Nope – if you’ve made it this far (and read our first post too!) then you’re cooking on gas. If you have any questions, simply ask a coach in the gym. We’re here to help and our priority is making sure you have a fun CrossFit Open, whether it’s your first or fifteenth!
New here?
If you’re looking for a welcoming and inclusive CrossFit gym in South Birmingham – even if you’ve never done CrossFit before! – SCFIT in Stirchley could be just the ticket. Simply book a free call with a member of our team to discuss your goals, and we’ll find out how we can help.
FAQs
Q: What’s a head-to-head?
A: Head-to-Head points can be scored if you book a heat during Friday Night Lights, and challenge someone to a friendly ‘head to head’ in the workout! You don’t need to be taking part in the same category – i.e., one of you may be attempting the RX workout, and another ‘scaled’, and that’s totally fine – whoever has the fastest time / most reps / heaviest load wins! It’s all in the name of fun – and you can score points even if you ‘lose’… so technically, it’s actually a win-win…!
Join in on the competitive spirit and challenge a pal to a head to head, and you never know… it may even encourage you to push that 1% more!
Q: Can I still score H2H points if I do the workout another day?
A: No, the H2H points are for workouts completed during Friday Night Lights only – but you can still score points by completing the workout and submitting your score, so make sure you get your workout in before the deadline!
Q: What does it mean about ‘logging’ workouts?
A: Taking part is step 1 – logging your score on the official CrossFit Games website is step 2! After you’ve bought your Open & Tee package, you’ll receive your secret code to sign up to the CrossFit Open on the CrossFit Games website for free. You’ll need to log in and submit your scores every week before the deadline to ensure your scores are included on the leaderboard, and to score these bonus 3 points! Even if you’ve done the workout during Friday Night Lights (and someone else has logged your score on a clipboard) – you need to log it online. We’ll provide more info on how to do this when the first workout is released. Stay tuned!