On December 1, 2022, athletes met at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for the first briefing of the weekend’s events at the Dubai Fitness Championship (DFC). The meeting included details on five of the eight workouts at the weekend’s competition, with more to be revealed in the coming days.
We know that the first event takes place on Dec. 2, and now we know two of the events from each Saturday and Sunday that the athletes will participate in. There are 800 points available for athletes throughout the competition, and we’re breaking down what we know below.
Event One: The Burj Khalifa Challenge (Off-Site)
The opening event for the 10th year of the DFC is a stair climb up Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It measures 828 meters (2,716 feet) tall and has 160 stories and 2,909 individual stairs. The athletes go one at a time at two-minute intervals to make their ascent.
Men to watch: Brent Fikowski, Lazar Đukić, and Luka Đukić
Women to watch: Emily Rolfe, Matilde Garnes, Hanna Karlsson, and Aimee Cringle
Saturday Workouts
Athletes were told that the following two workouts would take place on Saturday, December 3, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. GST, but we still don’t know the order of events.
Get a Grip (Three Rounds, 22-Minute Cap)
Each round has a buy-in of 40 calories on the rower for men and 30 for women, followed by 40 toes-to-bars. Then, they head to a barbell for increasing weight and decreasing rep snatches.
The men will do 40 snatches at 75 pounds in round one, 20 at 115 pounds in round two, and 10 at 185 pounds in the final round. For the women, the weights will be 55, 75, and 135 pounds by round with the same number of reps.
Both the volume of toes-to-bars and the proficiency with the barbell snatch from the floor will factor in here. Those last 10 snatches will be tough — and for some, they will make or break this workout.
Men to watch: Brent Fikowski, Lazar Đukić, and Luka Đukić
Women to watch: Matilde Garnes and Jamie Simmonds
Hang Clean Ladder (One-Rep Max Hang Clean)
For these hang cleans, the men begin at 305 pounds and the women start at 200. The weight increases for nine rounds (topping at 365 pounds for men and 250 pounds for women) until there is one competitor left. Each athlete has a 20-second lifting window and 10 seconds for the transition. In the event of a tie, athletes have to perform five hang clean squats.
Men to watch: Simon Mantyla, Moritz Fiebig, Reggie Fasa, and Fabian Beneito
Women to watch: Karin Frey and Oihana Moya
Sunday Workouts
The following two events take place on Sunday, December 4, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. GST, but, like with Saturday’s workouts, we don’t know the specific order yet.
Fast Like an Oryx (Intervals: Four Sets of 2:30 On / 1:00 Off)
The buy-in for each round here will be 10 shuttle runs, followed by 10 burpee box clears (24/20).
Following that, the athletes will do max reps of dumbbell thrusters in the remaining time. The men will start with a pair of 70-pound dumbbells, while women will start with 50-pounders. Once the men and women achieve 40 reps, they will drop to 50- and 35-pound dumbbells, respectively, for the remainder of the workout.
You must be efficient, but not necessarily fast, through the buy-in each round. Ultimately, though, the best athletes at thrusters will excel at this workout, along with any competitors who can recover and repeat quickly.
Men to watch: Jonne Koski, Luka Vunjak, Aniol Ekai, and Luka Đukić
Women to watch: Seher Kaya, Valentina Magalotti, and Jamie Simmonds
Barbell Furious (Three-Minute Cap)
This workout includes 10 cleans, 10 front squats, and 10 shoulder-to-overheads, with a weight of 220 pounds (100 kilograms) for the men and 154 pounds (70 kilograms) for the women. Dubai loves events like these: They’re short, fast, and are all about who can move the barbell.
In this case, it’s all but guaranteed that the shoulder-to-overhead will be the deciding factor. Athletes can go fast early if they want, but if they can’t hold on for at a minimum two sets of five and five on the shoulder to overhead, they’ll get passed by late either way.
Men to watch: Jonne Koski, Mortiz Fiebig, Khan Porter, Brent Fikowski, and Reggie Fasa
Women to watch: Karin Frey, Jamie Simmonds, and Oihana Moya
We should learn the rest of the workout details at briefings on Saturday and Sunday, along with the rest of the workouts for those days.
Featured Image: @dxbfitnesschamp on Instagram