The CrossFit age group online qualifier is the second stage of the CrossFit Games season, where the top 10 percent of Open finishers in each masters division complete five announced workouts in one weekend, and only the top 20 in the world advance to the Games. I finished 122nd out of roughly 7,000 in the men's 50 to 54 division, so this weekend is my shot. In this Physical Friday I open the workout announcement for the first time and break down all five workouts on air.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
The age group online qualifier is the second stage of the CrossFit Games season for masters and teenage athletes. After the worldwide CrossFit Open, the top 10 percent of finishers in each age group move on to the qualifier, where they complete a set of announced workouts over a single weekend. From there, only the top 20 athletes in each division earn a spot at the in-person CrossFit Games. In my 50 to 54 division, that meant roughly 700 qualifiers competing for those 20 spots.
There were five workouts. The first was five rounds for time of 15 handstand push-ups, 15 dumbbell shoulder-to-overheads at 50 pounds, and a 15 calorie row, with a twenty minute cap. The second was a descending ladder of GHD sit-ups, 15-foot rope climbs, and alternating single leg squats. The third was 75 cleans at 135 pounds and 300 double unders in fifteen minutes. The fourth was a four rep max front squat in twenty minutes. The fifth was 12-9-6 reps of overhead squats at 165 pounds and burpee box jump overs on a 30 inch box.
You start by finishing in the top 10 percent of your age group in the worldwide CrossFit Open. That earns you a spot in the age group online qualifier, where you complete the announced workouts with a certified judge and submit video of each one before the deadline. The top 20 athletes in each age division across the entire qualifier advance to compete in person at the CrossFit Games. I finished 122nd out of about 7,000 in my division in the Open, so I needed to climb more than 100 places to make it.
Yes, and that is one of the things I love most about CrossFit. Unlike professional football, where you can only watch, every CrossFit competition workout is published with exact weights and standards, so you can try the same workout in your garage that the best athletes in the world are doing on the competition floor. Most people will need to scale the weight and sometimes the reps, but you can directly compare yourself to athletes like Tia-Clair Toomey, Mat Fraser, or Rich Froning on the exact same test.
Because the competition is designed to find the most well-rounded athlete, not the best specialist. You train Olympic lifts like the snatch and clean and jerk, gymnastics skills like pull-ups, muscle-ups, and toes-to-bar, plus rowing, running, double unders, and machines like the SkiErg, and you never know what will be programmed. Almost every athlete finds movements they love and at least one that exposes a hole in their fitness, and that hole is different for everyone. That is exactly what makes the format such an honest test.
A GHD sit-up is performed on a glute ham developer, a machine where you sit with your legs anchored, extend all the way back until your hands touch the ground behind you, and then pull yourself back up to the top. It is a much harder version of a regular sit-up because of the extended range of motion. The second qualifier workout opened with 60 of them, which is a big number even for athletes who train on the GHD regularly, like I do.
Here is the first qualifier workout exactly as announced for my division, and the one I planned to attack first. Five rounds for time, twenty minute cap:
If you are following along at home, scale the dumbbell down and substitute pike push-ups if handstand push-ups are not there yet. I walk through the other four events, including the four rep max front squat and the brutal 165 pound overhead squat couplet, in the episode.
Maybe you are not a CrossFit person at all, and that is fine. The reason I share these announcements is that the workouts are free, fully written out, and offer a genuine challenge you can scale to any level. The same test the best masters athletes in the world take on this weekend is sitting right there for you to try in your garage. I get into why that accessibility is so rare in sport, so press play in the player above.
I recorded this episode the moment the qualifier dropped, so you hear my honest first reactions. Some movements made me smile, like rope climbs and GHD sit-ups, which I train every day. One made me wince: 60 alternating single leg squats. The whole skill of competing in CrossFit is figuring out, in minutes, where you will gain time and where you will bleed it. I walk through my read on all five events in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The fifth event is 12-9-6 of overhead squats and burpee box jump overs, and the loading is aggressive: 165 pounds overhead and a 30 inch box for my age group. Before you worry about speed, the first question is whether you can do a single overhead squat at that weight at all. Events like this are designed to split the leaderboard wide open. I explain my strategy for it, including the warm-up advice I got from Olympic lifter Zach Rollins, in the episode, so press play in the player above.
I would love to make the top 20 and compete in person, but that has never been the point of Physical Friday. The point is to be your physical best so you can do more of what you love: hunting, fishing, hiking with your family, riding bikes with your kids. Whether you chase a qualifier or just get outside for a walk this weekend, do something active and have a good time doing it.
I have twenty-four hours to complete the first two events and the rest of the weekend for the other three. Some of these workouts set up well for me and at least one is going to hurt. That is exactly what I like about this sport: it pokes holes in your fitness and shows you precisely what to work on next.
If you want the full breakdown of all five workouts, my strategy for each, and what it takes to move from the Open to the Games as a masters athlete, press play in the player above.
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
CrossFit Open · CrossFit Games · age group online qualifier · masters divisions · handstand push-ups · GHD sit-ups · rope climbs · front squat · overhead squat · burpee box jump overs · double unders · Zach Rollins · Noah Ohlsen · Mat Fraser · Rich Froning · Tia-Clair Toomey · Wim Hof breathing
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset work I use to stay strong for a life outdoors, so fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen can keep doing what they love for as long as possible.
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