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Before we jump into 23.1 specifically, let's take it back a step for anyone who is new to 'The Open'.
What Is The CrossFit Open?
The CrossFit Open is the first event of the CrossFit calendar year and marks the start of a new competition season.
Held over three weeks, CrossFit HQ releases a new workout each week that every CrossFit affiliate around the globe and their members are invited to complete.
Members wishing to participate must officially register for The Open, complete the workout each week with a judge and record their scores on the CrossFit website.
Scores will then be validated and athletes will be ranked according to their scores. At the end of the three weeks, the top 10% of individual athletes will be invited to the next round of competition - The Quarterfinals.
From here, top athletes will then progress to the semifinals and then ultimately the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit Games, where the fittest man and women on earth will be crowned. There is also a teen, adaptive, masters and teams division that you can compete in through the season.
So now that the 2023 season is officially underway and the first workout (23.1) is done & dusted, we wanted to give you the highlights, lowlights and everything in between.
23.1 was a nice reminder that we should all focus more on gymnastics! It's very uncommon to see this much gymnastics in the first open workout however it does make sense considering that the head programmer (Adrian Bozman) has a strong love of gymnastics.
What Was The 23.1 CrossFit Open Workout?
The 23.1 workout was a repeat of a previous CrossFit open workout (14.4):
14 min AMRAP
60 calorie row
50 toes to bar (TTB)
40 wall balls
30 power cleans (135lb [61kg] & 95lb [43kg])
20 ring muscle ups
Who Got The Best Female Times For The 23.1 Open Workout?
1st PLACE: EMMA CARY (278 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 18 toes to bar
2nd PLACE: MAL O'BRIEN (268 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 8 toes to bar
3rd PLACE: LAURA HORVATH (261 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 1 toes to bar
Who Got The Best Male Times For The 23.1 Open Workout?
1st PLACE: ROMAN KHRENNIKOV (306 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 46 toes to bar
2nd PLACE: COLE GREASHABER (304 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 44 toes to bar
3rd PLACE: PAT VELLNER (304 reps)
1 round + 60 calorie row & 44 toes to bar
Whilst he had the same reps as Cole, his time break time was slower (7:20 vs 7:15)
Our recommended tactics / approach for 23.1 open workout
60 CALORIE ROW - Start slow, You won't win the workout with a quick row, but you may lose it! We recommend rowing around 1300 calories (for males) and 1000 calories (for females).
50 TOES TO BAR (TTB) - For intermediate athletes, quick sets of 5 should be your focus. Minimise the amount of time you're not on the bar. If needed, do quick singles! For advanced athletes, sets of 10-15 will be quick and should save the mid-section.
40 WALL BALLS - This will depend on your wall ball capacity however you want to make sure you're not out of breath (gassed) by the time you get to your power cleans. We broke it up 15-15-10. For elite athletes, go unbroken baby.
30 POWER CLEANS - Single reps! All of the elite athletes did single reps HOWEVER there is one exception to this rule. If you are pushing hard for a quick tie-break score (as you don't think you will get a muscle up), you might want to "touch and go" a few reps to try and get ahead of all of the other athletes who couldn't get a muscle up.
20 RING MUSCLE UPS (RMUs) - As an intermediate or a beginner athlete, it's highly unlikely that you'll be able to finish (or even start) this component of the workout. With that being said, we strongly recommend giving this element of the workout a red hot crack. The Open does funny things to people ... you might just snag your first ever muscle up!!
Who & How Old Is Cole Greashaber?
Cole Greashaber is 23 years old. In the past 3 CrossFit Open's, he has not placed any lower than 37th. He is a PRVN athlete who trained next to Saxon Panchik & Tia Claire-Toomey prior to the 2022 CrossFit games.
Whilst Greashaber may seem like he has come out of nowhere, he had extensive CrossFit Games experience (across teenage and elite divisions):
2017 CrossFit Games (Boys 16-17 division): He finished third behind Angelo Dicicco and Gui Malheiros.
2022 Syndicate Crown Semifinal: He finished third behind Justin Medeiros and Jayson Hopper.
2022 CrossFit Games: He finished 33rd and had two top 10 finishes (6th place in Elevated Elizabeth and 8th place in Rinse ‘N’ Repeat).
In the most recent Wodapalooza event, he had an extremely consistent weekend, only finishing outside the top 10 in two events. Overall, he came 5th.
