Training Guide10 min read

CrossFit Open Guide — Everything You Need to Know Before the Leaderboard Opens

The CrossFit Open is a three-week online competition held annually where athletes around the world complete the same workouts and submit their scores. It is the entry point for CrossFit competition — and the only ranking system that lets you compare your fitness against every other CrossFit athlete on earth. I have coached athletes through a dozen Open cycles. What follows is everything I wish someone had told my athletes in their first year.

Alex Mercer

CrossFit L3 Trainer · Hyrox Coach · 12 years coaching experience

CrossFit L3 Hyrox Certified Coach

What the CrossFit Open Actually Is

The CrossFit Open runs for three weeks, usually in late winter or early spring. Each week, a new workout is released — currently on Thursdays — and athletes have until Monday to complete it and submit a validated score. There are no qualifiers to enter. Anyone can register at games.crossfit.com and compete.

The Open is simultaneously the largest CrossFit competition in the world and the most accessible. In a single leaderboard, you will find CrossFit Games athletes and athletes doing their first competition. Everyone does the same workout. Scaling options exist for athletes who cannot complete the Rx movements.

The competitive pathway goes: Open → Quarterfinals → Semifinals → CrossFit Games. The Open determines who advances to Quarterfinals — roughly the top 10% of Open participants in each region. For the vast majority of athletes, the Open is a self-contained event: three weeks of benchmark testing, community competition, and honest data about your fitness.

How Open Scoring Works

For AMRAP workouts, your score is the total number of reps completed. For For Time workouts, your score is your finish time (lower is better). Ties are broken by a tiebreak time — typically a specific rep count within the workout where you log the elapsed time.

Scores are submitted either via video validation (required for competitive divisions) or as judge-verified scores at an affiliated CrossFit box. For athletes competing in the Rx division, video submission is strongly encouraged — scores that seem anomalously high relative to prior performance are frequently investigated.

The leaderboard segments by age group (masters 35+, 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+) and division (Rx, Scaled, Foundations for newer athletes). Masters athletes compete in both the Open and the Masters division simultaneously with one submission.

The 8-Week Preparation Block

Eight weeks of focused preparation produces meaningful improvement in Open performance. The key is not trying to fix everything — it is identifying your worst-performing movement patterns and addressing them specifically.

Weeks	Phase	Focus	Key Sessions
1–2	Baseline	Test benchmark WODs (Fran, Helen, Cindy), identify worst movements	3 WODs + 2 aerobic + skill practice
3–4	Weakness Work	Target bottom 2 movement patterns with dedicated volume	3 WODs + 2 strength + daily skill work
5–6	Open-Style Training	Practice Open-format workouts: AMRAP + For Time with judge standards	4 WODs + 1 long aerobic + test pieces
7	Peak + Test	One full-effort Open simulation workout, lighter training otherwise	2 WODs + 1 simulation + 2 recovery
8	Open Weeks	Compete, recover between weeks, prioritize sleep and nutrition	Open WOD + minimal accessory work

The Most Common Movements in Open History

Over 13+ years of Open programming, certain movements appear far more frequently than others. Preparing specifically for these gives the highest return on training time.

Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups — appear in the Open more than any other pulling movement. If you can only do chin-over-bar pull-ups, you will be forced to scale the moment C2B appears. Developing chest-to-bar kipping pull-ups is the single highest-ROI skill investment for Open prep.
Double-Unders — appear in most Opens. Athletes who cannot do consistent unbroken sets of 20–30 double-unders will lose significant time and face mandatory scaling in some workout designs.
Toes-to-Bar — a staple. High-rep toes-to-bar under fatigue (typically after a barbell movement) is a signature Open test. Kipping efficiency and grip endurance are both required.
Barbell Cycling at Moderate Weight — clean and jerks, snatches, and thrusters at 95–135lb for men and 65–95lb for women appear regularly. The ability to cycle these movements for 10–15+ unbroken reps is what separates competitive Open athletes from recreational participants.
Handstand Push-Ups and Handstand Walks — appear in roughly 40% of Opens. Strict HSPU capacity (not just kipping) is increasingly tested. Handstand walks are now a regular Rx movement.
Box Jumps and Box Jump-Overs — almost always programmed. Step-ups are often a required scale. Proficiency with smooth, consistent box jump-overs at speed is a meaningful time saver.

Open Week Strategy: How to Approach Each Workout

When the workout is announced on Thursday, your first decision is when to attempt it. Most athletes have the best performance on Friday (fresh after rest) or Saturday morning (with a full Friday recovery). Monday attempts are for athletes who need a redo after a poor first attempt.

Watch the workout announcement carefully. CrossFit programmers design Open workouts with specific limiting factors — identify them before you attempt the workout. If the workout has a movement you are inefficient at (say, double-unders), that is the movement to strategize around, not the movement you are good at.

Pacing on Open AMRAPs: always start conservatively. Open workouts are specifically designed to be harder than they look in the first 2–3 minutes. Athletes who sprint early in an Open AMRAP almost always fall apart in the final third. The difference between a well-paced Open AMRAP and a blown-up one is typically 10–20% more reps.

For Time Open workouts: identify the movement where you will break earliest and build your strategy around minimizing those breaks. If it is toes-to-bar, decide your set sizes before the clock starts. Pre-decided break points execute better under fatigue than in-the-moment decisions.

Rx vs. Scaled: How to Decide

Compete at the level where you can complete every movement in the workout with standard mechanics, even if it costs you significant time. Completing an Rx workout slowly is more valuable for your development than completing a scaled workout quickly.

However, if an Rx workout has one movement you genuinely cannot do — a strict handstand push-up standard, a chest-to-bar pull-up, or a movement you have never practised — competing scaled is the right choice. Attempting a movement you cannot perform safely under fatigue is not competitive, it is an injury risk.

Do not let ego determine your division. Scaled division scores are on a separate leaderboard from Rx — you will not be compared directly to Rx athletes. Your scaled score and leaderboard position are meaningful data about your performance within your competitive category.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the CrossFit Open happen?

The CrossFit Open typically runs for three consecutive weeks in late winter or early spring — historically February or March. Each year's dates are announced several months in advance on the CrossFit Games website. Registration opens before the first workout is released.

How much does it cost to enter the CrossFit Open?

The CrossFit Open registration fee has ranged from free to approximately $20 USD depending on the year. In recent cycles, CrossFit has offered free registration for the Foundation and Scaled divisions. Check games.crossfit.com for the current year's pricing.

Do I need to go to a CrossFit box to compete in the Open?

No. You can complete Open workouts in any facility or at home, provided you have access to the required equipment. Score submission requires a judge to verify your performance — this can be a coach at a box, a trained judge from CrossFit's online judging program, or in some divisions, a validated video submission.

What is the difference between Rx, Scaled, and Foundations in the Open?

Rx uses prescribed movements and weights with no modifications. Scaled allows movement substitutions and reduced loads for athletes who cannot perform Rx movements. Foundations is designed for newer athletes — simpler movements, lighter loads, and shorter time domains. Each division has its own leaderboard. Most recreational athletes compete in Scaled or Rx depending on their proficiency with gymnastics movements.

What CrossFit movements should I focus on for Open prep?

In order of Open appearance frequency: chest-to-bar pull-ups, double-unders, toes-to-bar, barbell cycling (clean and jerk, thruster), handstand push-ups, and box jump-overs. If you can perform all six competently, you will qualify for Rx in most Open workouts. If any of these is a consistent weakness, address it in the 8 weeks before the Open opens.