Editor’s Note: In this three-part series, Morning Chalk Up Senior Writer Emily Beers documents her journey completing the Open workouts for the first time in eight years.
I have always had a major double-under deficiency, a deficiency that, in all my years of CrossFit, I have never been able to sort out.
“Triple 3” at the 2014 CrossFit Games was my nemesis.
The workout started with a 3,000-meter row. Then it was time for 300 double-unders — an absolute nightmare for me — before a three-mile run. My goal for the workout was not to be dead last.
I came off the 3,000-meter row in about 10th place and then started bumbling my way through the double-unders in front of thousands of people at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA.
Athletes like Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Annie Thorisdottir effortlessly strung together double-unders, while I looked like a rookie using way too much energy, jumping too high, my shoulders tight, and my body tilted to the left as it always was.
It was embarrassing.
There was one thought that went through my mind: “Everyone must be thinking, ‘How the hell did that girl make it to the CrossFit Games? She sucks!’”
Two years later, when I stopped competing, I told myself I’d never make myself do another double-under again.
And for a while, I lived up to that promise.
Even when I returned to CrossFit a year ago at Kea Athletics in Surrey, B.C., I made a deal with myself: Single-unders would remain my jam.
But when I decided to join in on my gym’s Friday Night Lights for the 2025 CrossFit Open, I knew the moment had come: I would have to do double-unders.
CrossFit Open Workout 25.2
To say 25.2 scared me is an understatement. And not just because of the double-unders.
I have gone back to doing butterfly pull-ups and chest-to-bars since returning to CrossFit, but muscle-ups are another skill I have not yet re-introduced. It’s not because I don’t want to — it’s because I know technical gymnastics requires some focused effort and needs to be worked on after class, and I just haven’t been able to prioritize that.
So, my plan was to do the first two rounds of 25.2 and call it a day after the second round of thrusters.
Because here’s the thing about being less fit than you once were. As a 41-year-old mother, most of the time, I’m more than OK with where my fitness is today. But my ego has its limits, too, and the thought of failing a muscle-up in front of people was apparently my ego’s limit.
3, 2, 1…Go: The first set of pull-ups was easy, and then it was time for 42 double-unders.
- I’m not going to lie. I was self-conscious. It took me right back to 2014 during “Triple 3,” knowing how labored they look (and they’re a whole lot worse right now).
I got through them and the thrusters and finished the second round with lots of time to spare for bar muscle-ups.
I, of course, hadn’t done any muscle-up prep or drills in the warm-up, as I wasn’t planning on attempting one. So, feeling tired after the first two-thirds of the workout, I sat down and rested as planned.
Two minutes later, though, I noticed the crew of people watching, including my husband and toddler. They were chatting amongst themselves, laughing, cheering, and eating cookies. They certainly did not judge my ugly double-unders or whether I could or couldn’t do a muscle-up.
Suddenly, the voice in my head said: “Who cares if you can’t do a bar muscle-up?”
So, feeling rested now, with two minutes to go before the time cap, I hopped on the bar and tried.
And failed.
Again, I tried.
Again, I failed.
One more time at the buzzer. One more fail.
I felt defeated for a short moment. And that was it.
It’s 2025, and I can’t do a bar muscle-up right now, and my double-unders are brutal. That doesn’t define who I am, and it certainly doesn’t make me a less worthy human being.
It’s something I wish I had known back when I was competing.
It’s certainly something I wish I had known when I was fighting my way through 300 double-unders at the CrossFit Games.
Or, at the very least, I wish someone would have at least told me, “You suck at double-unders, and you know what? Nobody cares.”
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Featured Image: Ryan Steele
