On April 10th, we are hosting a fitness competition for athletes that love bodyweight metcons. No barbells, dumbbells, or kettlebells will be used. Just you and the machines.
This style of competition has been on our minds for years now at RxFIT. After running a barbell-biased competition last year (Gainsgiving), we felt that 2021 was the year for Metcon Mania.
For those that geek out over programming, I assure you that all time and other domains will be hit (except for those movements that fall under WL, of course). For those new to crossfit programming, here’s a crash course on what goes in to writing workouts for a fitness competition:
- All four workouts need to have separate time domains: <5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes, and 15-20 minutes.
- Workout schemes should be different: Single, couplet, triplet, and chipper.
- Workout priorities should be different: AMRAP, For Time, and Intervals (EMOM).
- Workout modalities should vary: A gymnastic-only workout, a monostructural-only workout, and then a mix of both.
- The number of repetitions should vary: <50 reps, 50-200 reps, 200+ reps.
- And finally, workout movements shouldn’t be repeated (i.e. two workouts shouldn’t both include pull-ups).
Each day I’m going to release a competition workout here on the blog. I’ll include with it a “beyond the whiteboard” brief of our thoughts when putting it together.
Final note: I will title each workout “WOD 1”, “WOD 2”, etc. This doesn’t mean, however, that WOD 1 will remain the first workout on competition day. Workout ordering is subject to change depending on the number of athletes and any COVID-restrictions on April 10th.
WOD 1

- Time Domain: <5 Minutes
- Scheme: Couplet
- Priority: For Time
- Modality: MG
- Volume: <50 reps
WOD 1 is a test of power and stamina. When testing this, we had some athletes finish the first round in as little as 65 seconds–a tremendous demonstration of power. But they quickly collapsed on round two, taking twice as long to finish their next round.
Round 1 needs to flirt with, but not match, an all-out effort on the bike. Your legs will fill with blood quickly, which plays games on your mind. You’ll find yourself questioning your ability to jump up on to the box. My fingers are crossed that the Rx division doesn’t have anyone bif it; but if you’re not careful, it’s going to happen.
For this reason, we will enforce a two-foot, jump takeoff for the Rx division. Scaled athletes, however, will have the option to step-up and over.
Here are more details that you need to know.
Rx Division
2 Rounds For Time: (Time Cap: 5-minutes)
20-Calorie Echo Bike
12 Box-Facing Burpee Box Jump Overs (24/20)
Scaled Division
2 Rounds For Time: (Time Cap: 5-minutes)
16-Calorie Echo Bike
8 Box-Facing Burpee Box Overs (24/20)
Standards
Both feet need to touch the top of the box without the use of hands. Step-ups are allowed for the scaled division, but not required.
Athletes must be facing the box when performing their burpees (i.e. a lateral-facing burpee is a no-rep).
Both male and female athletes in each division will do the same number of reps.
I think the top finishers will be right around the 3-minute mark, which will make for an exciting finish. This is a hard cap, however. If you are not finished with both rounds by the time the clock hits 5:00, your total reps will be used as a tie-break for the other athletes who were capped.
Tyler
P.S. Sign up for Metcon Mania here.