The CrossFit Games has sanctioned Team Opex for cheating, a charge that Team Opex disputes, arguing that it was given direct permission to use smaller plates that reduce the height of the barbell during the bar-facing ‘burpee’ workout. The Houston Astros are being accused of electronically stealing signs from their opponents during the 2017 season and into the postseason. Per a report by The Athletic, four sources revealed that the club had stolen signs during home games with the use of an outfield camera. The barbells are loaded, the rowing machines are ready, and the weight vests are prepared in Madison, WI. Now, all that stands between the women of the 2017 CrossFit Games and the title of Fittest.
At CrossFit Stealth we are blessed to have an amazing community with great athletes. This is why I find it somewhat troublesome to have write this post. Over the past few weeks we have noticed a fair amount of what we’ll call “CHEATING” going in our box. Although we would like to think that this doesn’t happen in CrossFit we have seen certain individuals feel the need to cut corners. Most of the time “cheating” goes unmentioned. After all, this is a sensitive topic to address but right now we feel it is something that needs to be dealt with so we can start moving forward.
Cheating can vary from subtle mistakes to the blatant shaving of reps. Subtle cheating is more common, and is often something the athlete isn’t even aware of. This could include cheating the range of motion in a movement. For example, not going down to full depth in a squat, not getting the chin over the bar on pull ups, not hitting the dot with every throw of the wallball, or not opening the hips entirely at the top of a box jump. Every now and again these things happen within the WOD, and of course nobody will really hold this against you. But if these shorted movements are your personal standard, and you could do better if you simply took a few seconds of rest rather than going as fast, you ARE cheating: YOURSELF and everybody else in the box. The reason being, in continuously shorting your range of motion, you will likely see less significant gains, have difficulty increasing stamina or accuracy, and may even see negative results in performance and body structure.
Crossfit Games 2017 Cheating Gf
This subtle “cheating” is all par for the course. But on the other hand, you sometimes run into those less common people who think 21-15-9 is actually 18-12-6. This involves the obvious and most blatant form of cheating; things like ‘shaving reps’ or ‘adding rounds’ in an AMRAP. Is writing a faster time or a higher score (that, by the way, gets erased at the end of the day!) really worth losing out on the benefits of doing the workout properly and purposefully?
With that said, I think there is a difference between someone occasionally not getting their chin all the way over the bar despite their best efforts, and someone who just skips reps. It’s very true that, when you’re in the middle of a painful WOD, it can be hard sometimes to know if you aren’t all the way down in a squat, or all the way extended at the top of a press. Plus, I’m sure that each of us has inadvertently screwed up our counting (isn’t the point of what we are doing to take ourselves to the physical and mental limit?!) Whenever this happens to me, I find it safer to always assume the lower number, meaning I’ve sometimes done extra reps because of it. But I’d rather end up shorting myself on the final score in order to make sure I get a better workout!
CrossFit is based on honor and respect, and the coaches aren’t there to count your reps, we are there to coach proper form and technique. The honor and respect of CrossFit is most evident by our “Hero” WODs that are named for soldiers who died in the line of duty. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that to cheat during the carefully programmed and scientific process of fitness that you’re paying your hard earned dollar for is a less than integral behavior. If you feel like the workout is going to be too much, talk to the Coach about scaling down. Working out at your current level of ability isn’t viewed as ‘taking the easy way out’ or ‘doing less than’. Not at all! CrossFit workouts can be just plain difficult, and some days you simply may not have the gumption to get‘er done the way you wish you could. But be sure to remember that EVERYONE respects someone who works hard at each workout and finishes every rep no matter their fitness level.
So to reiterate our point. What constitutes cheating?
1. Shaving Reps or Not Counting Them.
This is intentionally shorting the number of reps you are completing or shorting the distance on a run. You think we don’t notice? We do.
Intentionally not counting. We’ve all gotten lost in workouts when you are working hard counting seems impossible, however intentionally not counting because maybe you’re mad or embarrassed with your performance is still cheating. How can you track your progress if you aren’t tracking it from the beginning?
2017 Crossfit Games Results
2. Shorting Your Range of Motion.
Yes, it is hard to get down that last bit in the pushup, or squat or locking out the last ¼” at the top of a ring dip but these things are all necessary parts of the movement. To shorten the range of motion is cheating. It is incredibly obvious from a coaches perspective to point this out. From now on make it a point to get full range of motion on EVERYTHING.
3. Not logging your workouts.
This is cheating?! You bet! You are cheating yourself! How do you know you are progressing forward if you don’t know how or what you’ve done in the past? Tracking progress is the key to moving forward!
4. Always scaling to finish 1st.
Is it cheating? Yep, you are cheating your fitness by never challenging yourself! You will never be able to progress if you stick to what is comfortable to you. Scaling the weights or movements so that it is super easy for you will do you no good. If you think a workout was “easy” you did not push yourself hard enough! In fact, you will never get anywhere with that mentality. So try to push yourself, even if that means it will take a little more time. Don’t be afraid to fail.
5. Skipping workouts or Cherry Picking.
Most likely if you are avoiding particular workouts because you see a certain movement you are not comfortable with it is cheating. These are the workouts you should be attending rather than avoiding. Work on your weakness till it becomes a strength!
Overall cheating is something that we feel deeply about (look at the length of the post) at CF Stealth. We hope you will take pride in all of your workouts.
Sincerely,
Crossfit Games 2017 Shirt
Coach Matt & John