To Redo or Not to Redo? The Annual Debate
The 2024 CrossFit Open has come and gone, but many of us are likely still having flashbacks (good and bad).
The Open format is unique because it allows athletes to redo a workout if they see fit and submit it by the deadline. This “redo” mentality is a hot-button topic that comes up almost every Open.
Some coaches find that the redo option doesn’t align with the CrossFit mentality, while others say it gives the greener athletes a chance to try again if they didn’t perform well in their first competition-like setting. We spoke to some coaches to give their perspective on the matter.
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The Anti-Redo Camp
The CrossFit Open is the start of the CrossFit Games season and runs for three weeks. Athletes are given one workout a week that they must complete in a certain time frame, but there is no limit on how many times an athlete can perform the workout.
Ross Twanmoh, co-owner of CrossFit Union Square and a strength coach in Manhattan, is a firm believer in a “one-and-done” approach to the Open. And while he understands the redo for personal reasons, he says that “you only have one chance to put it all together” in a real competition.
“I’ve watched too many people start the Open workouts without a real strategy only because they already know they’re going to redo,” Twanmoh tells Morning Chalk Up.
Twanmoh says he understands why athletes want to redo workouts for personal reasons, such as achieving a goal or proving something to themselves. However, he has an issue when athletes aren’t redoing workouts for placement — instead, he says, “for most, it’s ego.”
Morning Chalk Up ran a poll on its Instagram page asking the community if they did a redo this year or not. The poll results showed 62 percent said they did redo, while 38 percent did not.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love the competitive side of CrossFit. There is something incredibly rewarding about training for a competition and putting your skills/fitness to the test. But it’s not the same as a real competition,” Twanmoh says.
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He adds, however, that there is a case for athletes doing redos who are close to a cut line or trying to qualify for further stages.
The Open format, in which athletes can redo the workout as many times as they’d like, has been the rule for quite some time. Many gyms even hold a “Friday Night Lights” event, which gives athletes at least three days to redo the workout if they so choose.
Twanmoh and others argue that there are no do-overs or second chances in a real competition, so why give athletes multiple attempts to top their scores?
The “Pro-Redo” Camp
On the other hand, Paige Kolnes, a CrossFit coach at Arbor CrossFit in Boise, ID, encourages her athletes to redo an Open workout if it’s for the right reasons.
“Oftentimes with athletes […] it’s their first Open, and they’re trying to gauge these workouts. [So] they’ll often learn a lot from doing it the first time and then realizing they want to change things slightly and do it again,” Kolnes tells Morning Chalk Up.
When athletes come to Kolnes and ask about doing a workout again, she encourages them to do it once more as long as they’re not injured or sore to the point that it would be detrimental.
CrossFit HQ expanded the 2024 Quarterfinals to the top 25 percent of individuals out of the Open. In previous years, it was only the top 10 percent. This change, Kolnes adds, was an incentive for those athletes looking to qualify.
“If you learn something about yourself as an athlete by doing a workout twice that you can take into your long-term training, I think that’s beneficial,” Kolnes says.
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Kolnes emphasizes that “leaderboarding” or comparing a score to others in your gym and trying to beat them, is not the reason to redo. Instead, she encourages her athletes to “dig a little bit deeper,” and instead of comparing themselves to someone else, she encourages them to make it about themselves.
The Bottom Line
This year’s Open featured three very different workouts, each challenging athletes in different ways. As long as the Open format remains unchanged, the redo controversy will prevail.
Featured image: Anna Holman (@annaholmanphoto)