Libsyn Directory

#146 - How to Train for the New Open

Release Date: 01/13/2025

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Enthusiastic coaches can be susceptible to focusing on the details or the shiny new coaching idea they come across rather than the basic, simple things that matter the most. This coaching catnip might come from a good place of curiosity and a desire to share information, but it neglects the big rocks. This week we talk about some examples of the coaching catnip you might see in a CrossFit gym or in remote coaching, and reflect on what is actually important and what truly moves the needle forward in coaching. Check out the episode to hear more about breathing drills, secret weightlifting drills...

#160 - How does Coaching Competitors Benefit Coaching Gen Pop

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

While the goals, training, and purpose of training between a competitor and the general population may differ greatly, there are many skills a coach can develop by working more with the other group. Most would assume that the focus and attention to detail shown by a competitor are what would be transferable, but in fact, the opposite is often true. Competitors showcase what is important, what is possible, and in some cases simplify how a coach views training. Some of these athletes do everything “wrong” according to certain strength and conditioning textbooks, yet they still improve. Check...

#159 - Getting Better for Stagnant Class Members

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

There are always a few class members who, after a while, begin to progress at a very slow rate or become stagnant in their performance. This is often met with frustration and sometimes inaction, which raises the question of whether some people actually want to improve or if they are content simply turning up. This week, we discuss how class members might be able to improve and progress without necessarily doing additional work. Sometimes, having better intention and pulling the right levers can go a long way. If you're not already subscribed to our newsletter, head over to to get a weekly...

#158 - Minimum Effective Dose for Former Competitors

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Moving into a phase of lower training volume as a competitor taking things less seriously can be a difficult transition. CrossFit demands a great deal, and when you’re accustomed to putting in the work to improve and progress, letting go of some of that progress, or even just slowing the rate of improvement, can feel like a big ask. Is it possible to improve at a lower volume than competitors typically maintain in such a high-volume sport? Keeping intensity and strength doesn’t require much, but the ability to tolerate the demanding nature of competition and qualifiers can fade quickly. It...

#157 - Overused Coaching Cues

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Hang around a CrossFit gym for ten minutes and you’ll probably hear some coaching of hip extension going on. It might be “popping the hips” during a kipping movement, “finish the pull” in a snatch or clean, or the old “squeeze your butt” at the top of a squat or deadlift. All coaching cues have a degree of truth behind them, but some are overused to the point where they are unhelpful or even misleading. An overemphasis on hip extension in movement is definitely one of those cues that are overused. In this week’s episode we discuss the use of coaching cues, rant a little about...

#156 - Bootcamp to CrossFit Funnel

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

With hybrid training and events like Hyrox on the rise, more gyms are adapting—some diversifying their class offerings, others going as far as de-affiliating from CrossFit entirely. In this episode, we explore how the functional fitness landscape is shifting and what that means for gym owners. Todd draws a brilliant analogy between the spectrum of fitness offerings and doom metal. On one end, you've got the aggressive intensity of CrossFit, on the other, the more polished, accessible experience of a Barry's Bootcamp-style class. We discuss what makes a gym successful, how onboarding (or the...

#155 - Standardisation with Competition Divisions

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

As a competitor moves up the ranks, the experience they get from different competitions can vary drastically. At some competitions, the standard of the division matches really well with prior expectations and the qualification process. Whereas in a different competition, divisions are named the same as others, but it's a notch or two up or down when comparing. This difference can be very frustrating as an athlete and coach. It means that some competitions don't provide useful information to help with training and improving. It's going to be impossible to make everyone happy–for some it will...

#154 - Who's Cheating?

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

Cheating in CrossFit has been around since the early days of the Open and online qualifiers. From athletes looping videos to some competitors being exposed year after year at Regionals, it's a persistent undercurrent in the sport. But how widespread is cheating and does it always happen intentionally? At one end of the spectrum, you have blatant rule-breaking, like switching out a medicine ball for a lighter one. At the other, you see more subtle infractions, such as a judge giving a warning for a squat that is just shy of full depth. Both technically count as cheating, but they are worlds...

#153 - How to Train?

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

One of the classic clichés often repeated by coaches is that the best programme in the world, executed poorly, is far less effective than the worst programme executed well. While it’s true that a poorly designed programme can still be ineffective, there is merit in the idea that how you train matters more than what’s on paper. Teaching athletes how to train effectively and execute a programme to the best of their ability is one of the best leverage points for a coach. Much of this comes down to observing and interpreting training outcomes. These results often reveal whether the athlete is...

#152 - Are You Actually Getting Better?

Legion Strength & Conditioning Podcast

One of the challenges in a highly varied sport like CrossFit is determining whether we’re actually improving. Once an athlete has accumulated a significant amount of training volume, the classic test-retest approach on isolated elements of the sport becomes less effective. We can spend weeks or even months working on a particular movement, only to struggle with it again when the context shifts slightly. Coaches can use tools such as variation, psychological momentum, and developing complementary areas to support progress—but what happens when an athlete hits a ceiling with a...

More Episodes

Now that the Open is advancing significantly fewer athletes to the next stage of the CrossFit Games—online semi-finals—will we see athletes shifting their training to become more specialised?

Looking at the numbers, only a very small number of athletes will make it into the top 1% of the Open. This means even the best of the best cannot afford a poor performance in any of the three weeks of competition.

Given the constraints of needing to complete Open workouts in an affiliate —most likely able to be done in regular classes—we can make some educated guesses about how these workouts will be programmed. With three workouts, and potentially up to four scored events if there’s a two-part workout, the variety of movements will be limited. This means the weighting of any single movement could become disproportionately important—especially if one of the events involves a max lift, which would be scored on a single movement. It's likely we’ll see workouts designed with progressive skill levels, such as moving from pull-ups to chest-to-bar pull-ups, and then to bar muscle-ups.

These factors point towards a particular style of CrossFit workout that athletes may need to focus on in their training. For example, those who struggle with movements like burpees, wall balls, or rowing will likely need to dedicate significant time to improving in these areas.

But is it worth making such changes to your training? Considering the Games season is still evolving and will likely continue to undergo smaller changes and iterations in the coming years, it’s possible that next season could demand a different skill set.

In this week’s episode, we continue our discussion about competition and the changes to the season. We take a closer look at how these changes might impact athletes’ preparation and the decisions they’ll need to make about their training.

Listen to find out more about how these changes could impact athletes’ preparation, whether the Open now comes down to the luck of the draw, how to allocate training time for different competition styles, and the shift towards local events.

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These podcasts are posted in video format on YouTube as well.

Show Notes:

[1:00] The structure of the new CrossFit Games season
[2:20] Taking the top 1% from the Open
[4:20] What does removing the Open do for athletes?
[5:45] How many athletes will qualify for semi-finals?
[6:30] Mistakes, penalties, and judging live or via video
[10:20] Should people specialise just for the Open?
[12:30] Will things change again?
[13:30] Prioritising and allocating training time for different styles of competition
[15:00] Is the Open now all about the luck of the draw?
[18:30] The shift to local events
[21:00] Archetypes of athletes making it through the Open

Show Notes:

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