Our “Way Too Early” Thoughts on the 2024 Open

With the 2023 CrossFit season officially in the rear view, we are already eagerly looking forward to the 2024 season, beginning with the Open in just around 150 days. As a part of that anticipation we have been speculating on the possible new movements we could see next year, especially based on what we witnessed throughout this year’s Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and Games. Below we will give our “way too early” thoughts on some of those movements and overall trends along with our reasoning. This content is available exclusively to Members Become an member and start enjoying full access to all our community and sports content, and an ad-free experience. PROMO Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive 15% WIT discount $1 per month for the first 4 months, $8 each month after Get Started for $1 Exclusive content Ad-Free web/app experience Comments on articles Exclusive private Facebook Group Regular coffee breaks hang outs Exclusive 15% WIT discount Get Started $5/month billed annually Already a member? Log In. High Probability Shuttle Runs: Since running is such a large part of a well developed CrossFit program, HQ worked to include it in the Open for a few years, but hadn’t decided on just how to do it until last year. Since it is still basically impossible to accurately measure the outside running distances of athletes around the world, shuttle runs remain the best option at the moment, meaning we will probably see them again in 2024. The only other way to include running would be to run on an Assault Air Runner, which would likely never be programmed, because few gyms have them, they’re expensive, and they could be calibrated inaccurately as we saw at this year’s Semifinals. Wall-Facing Strict HandStand Pushups: We saw Wall-Facing Strict Handstand Pushups at both Quarterfinals and Semifinals, and we think there’s a high chance we see them in next year’s Open for a couple of reasons. First off, they are another step in the evolution of the HSPU, forcing CrossFit athletes to adapt to yet another new movement. HQ has a lot of flexibility now with the HSPU, since they can program regular, strict, and wall-facing. We may even see deficit HSPU in the Open one day as well. Secondly, and more importantly, the Wall-Facing SHSPU standard is much easier to enforce, judge, and score. There is no line on the wall in which the athlete’s toes must touch. Instead, we were gifted with a much simpler standard in which the athlete simply has to keep their hands in contact with a piece of tape on the floor while fully extending their arms on each rep. Less-Likely, But Possibly Soon More Machines: Although we firmly believe the Ski-Erg will one-day be included in the Open, we don’t think it will happen in 2024 as it is not yet as common in most gyms as rowers are. In what could be the most significant change in the Open in many years, a bike could soon be programmed either in the form of an Echo Bike. While it is the official airbike of CrossFit, many gyms have a fleet of Assault Bikes, a fact that would make it difficult to maintain a consistent test. Also, we once again run into the issue of many gyms only having a couple of bikes at most, meaning mass participation in the Open would be very difficult. Pullovers: As soon as they were announced at the Games, Pullovers were immediately met with tons of skepticism, but the athletes adapted immediately. There is a chance we see Pullovers programmed in the Open in the next few years, but for now there is still one main limiter why they may be hard to include. Most regular CrossFit gyms have rigs in which the pullup bars are fairly close together, meaning if athletes tried to attempt a Pullover, their feet could hit the other pullup bars around them. Very Unlikely 30+-Minute Workouts: Will we ever see workouts in the Open last 30 minutes or longer, even possibly up to an hour? At this point in time the answer is likely no, purely because of how long that would take gyms to complete. A 30-minute workout could eventually be included if minimal equipment is involved and many athletes can compete at the same time, but 45 minutes or longer is probably out of the realm of possibility for the next few years at least.

Our “Way Too Early” Thoughts on the 2024 Open

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