2019 AIO Spring CrossFit Open Wrap Up

That’s a Wrap!

The OPEN has come and gone again — whoooosh!

As expected, we witnessed an amazing community of members come together for five weeks to take on the unknown world of the OPEN — new movements, challenges, and feats — all while discovering their power and reaching their potential.

The OPEN is more than just workouts; it’s a time to reflect, reset, and look forward to new goals and set intentions for our fitness.

This year, we had many first-time AIO athletes step up to showcase a year’s worth of hard work and put their gains to the test week after week.

The Spirit of the OPEN

There were so many victories during the five weeks — athletes achieving their first bar muscle-ups, chest-to-bars, lifting heavier weights than ever before, and perhaps most impressively, discovering a new mindset around what they’re capable of.

What made this OPEN so special were those victories — whether you felt them personally, physically, mentally, or even emotionally. It was the experience of sharing these kinetic victories together.

None of those PRs would matter as much without each other — our truly caring and inspiring community — to share them with.

Thank you for that. You made the loving energy within these walls palpable and infectious.

AIO Open Intramurals

This year we introduced the inaugural AIO OPEN INTRAMURALS, where four teams — Team Xochil, Team Carlo, Team Tom, and Team Doug — came together every week to face the Open challenge head-on.

They shared strategies, social media posts, and, most importantly, encouragement.

Yes, it was competitive — but even more than that, it was fun! We moved our egos aside to cheer on our teammates because we all know what that final round of burpees feels like or how it feels to muster up the energy to lift that last rep off the floor.

That’s what CrossFit is — community.

What We Learned

Take from these five weeks what you learned about yourself and use it to improve your movement and prepare for life’s next challenges.

The transformation that happens during the OPEN is powerful — it’s where we step inside ourselves, flip a switch, and find our courage.

We’re so proud of each of you for being vulnerable, pushing outside your comfort zone, and showing up fully.

Let’s keep this wheel turning and focus our training for October 2019, when the season begins all over again!

Week-by-Week Highlights

19.1 — A devastating couplet of wall balls and rowing put lungs and legs to the test.
Coach Carlo led his team to victory with an incredible score of 7 rounds and 10 wall balls.

19.2 — A repeat workout with a brutal 8-minute time cap featuring toes-to-bar, double-unders, and squat cleans.
We saw several PR cleans from Adam, Tiffany, and Shirley.

19.3 — Introduced two new movements to the Open: the DB box step-up and strict HSPU.
Our athletes pushed to their limits and many earned their first-ever HSPU!
PR shout-outs to Carlo, Xochil, AIOtis, Cathy, and Vanessa.

19.4 — Snatches, bar-facing burpees, and bar muscle-ups — plus a unique 3-minute rest period that tested everyone’s game plan.
So many muscle-up and pull-up PRs came through for Amelia, Sammy, Rachel, Cathy, and Lynn.

19.5 — The final and (arguably) toughest WOD mentally: a long couplet of thrusters and C2B pull-ups that tore out a piece of everyone’s soul.
Few finished this 210-rep monster under 20 minutes, but many gave it everything they had.

Coach Joe’s Reflections

Overseeing the first-ever AIO Open Intramurals was pure joy. I loved tallying scores, watching teams rally for one another, and witnessing so many first-time RX attempts.

Seeing PRs, emotional triumphs, and self-doubt melt away was incredible. Kudos to everyone who gave it their all — those weight and rep schemes were tough!

Tracking all the Instagram posts under #CFAIOOpen2019 was another highlight — it was amazing to see so many of you sharing your journeys. Shoutout to Otis, Sammy, and Amelia, our social media powerhouses!

Special Highlights

A huge congratulations to Susan Bandler, who ranked 1st overall in her age group through three weeks! Susan’s get-after-it attitude and relentless persistence remind us that age is just a number — staying fit keeps us young, strong, and beautiful.

And a special celebration for Sarah Proll, who qualified for the next stage of the CrossFit Games season, moving on to the online qualifier for Masters Women (40–44) with an overall finish of 79th in the WORLD!

Final Thoughts

We are incredibly lucky to have such a supportive, like-minded community that comes together each year to celebrate achievements in the sport of fitness.

Take all your PRs, lessons, and accomplishments from this year and channel them into your training.

We’ll see you in October for 19.6!

— Coach Joe