CrossFit Athletic Group

I have this habit of looking at something good and immediately ignoring all of the things that make it good because... really, I don't know why I do that, I just do. So when Mrs. Hill went up to me after this workout and asked how I think it went, of course I replied "Not good," but I kinda didn't want her to ask because I know she thought it went really well.

I think it really comes down to target audience; most of the people who got a good workout out of it was who this workout was designed for in the first place. For example, Dylan and Mr. Ron and Mr. Bennis helped test it out after Disney two weeks ago and they all got what they hoped for today (minus a few chutes, of course).

And so here lies our dilema on Theme Workouts: simplicity vs. creativity vs. competition: The workouts have to 1) have some kind of gimmicks that don't take place during the week, 2) run smoothly as a group once it gets going, and 3) allow teams a fair(ish) competition if they want to. Here's how I see them lining up:

The originals are all, by today's standards, lacking in creativity, and that's cool. Disney has the playlist, 80's has the playlist and the clothes, Shark Week has sharking, and Harry Potter has food; those formats were creative when they all originated (80's in Summer 2011, the rest in Summer 2010), and they're classics in that respect. The Mario Theme Workout in 2014 was probably the most creative workout we've ever done in the Champions Club, but was nearly impossible for an honest competition. And the entire premise of Star Wars was one-on-one competitions between the Light Side and the Dark Side (Coach Casey reprimanded me for not calling one of them The Force, but I can't remember which one), but it was anything but simple. Once Summer 2019 came around and the crowds grew, it became clear that all three areas had to account for 30 35 40+ people in a workout.

So... Chutes and Ladders Summer 2023.

Creative? I think so. Everyone works individually to move up the middle of the hill, 30 seconds at each station and if you don't get the required reps you move down. Then throw in the random Chutes and Ladders cards and it makes for a real twist.

Simple? I don't think so. I think this would have been better off just as 5 rounds as listed, no time limit at each station, run all the way back to the start once you hit a handstand at the top. The cards still could have been played in this format from what I can imagine. Marginally less creative and way more simple.

Competitive? Eh, not really. The 5 rounds as is format would have been more competitive across the board, and I still would split competition groups on either side of the hill.

However, overarching all three elements of a Theme Workout has to be community. It was rainy, dirty, itchy, unpredictable, and a little unorganized, and yet we still had 41 people show up. Big ups to Dillon and Cecilia for brainstorming this back in the spring at Exchange, to Mr. Bennis, JB, Mr. Ron, the Banets, and Dylan for brainstorming it after the Disney workout, to Mr. Mark for doing a private test run, to the sessions this week for doing test runs before the running/plank workout, and to everyone else who puts up with me not being able to just enjoy nice things every once in a while.

No photo gallery or highlights for this one, but no doubt there will be for our next Theme Workout, which might be taking us right back to the hill.