Rain Causes Major Workout Changes at TYR Wodapalooza on Day 1

Adapt, adapt, adapt. It’s a skill CrossFit athletes learn to master; however, generally speaking, they’re not asked to suddenly adapt to a completely new workout in the middle of a competition. 

But that’s exactly what happened at the 2024 TYR Wodapalooza in Miami, FL, on Thursday, as rain led to slippery conditions that caused organizers to make major changes in two of the three events on tap for the day to ensure athlete safety.

The details: Event 2: Cortadito was supposed to be 21-15-9 of parallel bar dips and hang power cleans at 185/125 pounds, followed by 15-12-9 of shoulder-to-overheads and bar muscle-ups. 

But because of the steady rain that never really let up the entire day, the workout underwent a complete overhaul. Deadlifts replaced the cleans, front squats were substituted for the shoulder-to-overheads, and burpees-over-the-bar were swapped in for the bar muscle-ups.

Further, in Event 3’s interval workout “Deja Vu,” the 35 chest-to-bar pull-ups were swapped for 20 strict pull-ups for the men and 14 for the women. Additionally, organizers required athletes to step down on the box-jump-overs and alternate hands on the ground, not mid-air, on the dumbbell snatch.

Why this matters: When we consider the big picture weekend from a programming perspective, these changes are considerable as they arguably change the programming enough that it may no longer be the same, complete test of fitness that had originally been designed. 

• Yes, “Cortadito” was still a high-rep workout of lifting and gymnastics, but the movement changes meant the stimulus became completely different than was originally intended. High-rep cleans and bar muscle-ups would have tested pulling stamina, but deadlifts and burpees did not offer the same test.
• Further, the workout moved from being a more technical one with a high-skill gymnastics movement to being a non-technical, almost purely conditioning workout (except for the bar dips).
• Finally, chest-to-bar pull-ups versus strict pull-ups, while both are pulling movements, are completely different skills, and also made “Deja Vu” very different than originally intended. Athletes were able to catch their breath on the strict pull-ups as they had to break them up, whereas the chest-to-bar pull-ups would have been more of a test of muscular endurance.

The big picture: This isn’t the first time TYR Wodapalooza events have been affected by the weather. In fact, it has become almost expected for rain or a thunderstorm to postpone the competition at the very least. 

In 2020, for example, there were major rain delays on the final day of competition, which led to some divisions having their final events canceled. A similar thing happened in 2022 when a thunderstorm led hundreds of athletes to take shelter in the Intercontinental Miami hotel across the street to wait out the storm. To pass the time, the Buttery Bros, Heber Cannon and Marston Sawyers hosted push-up contests in the hotel lobby.

Whether or not the weather on January 12 will lead to more adaptations in Miami is anyone’s guess, but one thing is for sure: The athletes will get soggy again for sure, as the first event of the morning has them swimming in the bay.