Snatch Speed Ladder & Sprint Course Events Announced!
Snatch Speed Ladder & Sprint Course Events Announced!
In case you missed it, Dave Castro announced not one but TWO new events for 2015 CrossFit Games: the Snatch Speed Ladder and the Sprint Course.
The Snatch Speed Ladder is a variation of a crowd favorite from the 2014 Games, the Clean Speed Ladder. As you would guess, cleans have been replaced with snatches, but the rest of the details are still up in the air. No one knows if it'll be power snatch or squat snatch, what the weights will be, how they'll be required to drop the bars, or even how many bars will be in each ladder, but that's not about to stop people from practicing the crap out of this event:
Dan Bailey did his own version, posted on The CrossFit Games' Facebook page, where he takes the "Speed" out of the ladder and just focuses on the snatches.
Austrialian quad model and possible future Mad Max hero Chad Mackay posted his own practice of the ladder on his instagram, making sure to let everyone know he did it multiple times with both power and squat snatches and set up the lighting to perfectly illuminate his jacked and veiny elbows:
Rookie Joe Scali recorded his practice on a potato, but still managed to speed up the footage and post it up. He seems to take a little too much time setting up his grip in my opinion, but hey who's the Games athlete here? Maybe I'll just keep my opinion to myself.
The Sprint Course sounds like it could be exactly what's been missing from the Games for years: a sweet ass obstacle course. It's described as a race from one side of the soccer field to the other with athletes going "around and over" obstacles. I kinda wish it also said "around, over, UNDER, AND THROUGH SOME FUCKING OBSTACLES YOU ARE NOT PREPARED", but we can't get all our wishes to come true right?
Here's a list of things that would be AWESOME in this obstacle course, but definitely won't be there: American Gladiators-esque jacked men and women actively impeding the Games athletes' progress, a balance beam over a tank of water, a balance beam over a tank of water filled with sharks, flaming hoops to jump through, or MXC style "whoops you picked the wrong door, this one's gonna hurt" moments.
Anyway, a bunch of Games athletes have been trying this one out because everyone knows you just need 2 weeks of warming up on monkey bars to really nail down the whole speed and agility thing. That said, there are two people who might be doing this whole thing right: Michele Letendre and Nicole Holcomb.
Michele Letendre apparently trains in an abandoned Canadian obstacles factory. Here's what went through my head while watching her traing: "pssshh, hurdling a couple boxes isn't going to be enou--where the hell?--wait where did that wal--WHAT IS THAT GIANT THI-is that a cargo net on the wall behind her?!" So hey, she might be actually practicing the right stuff.
My personal favorite is Nicole Holcomb, who really takes it to the next level by adding a tomahawk throw at the end of her training. All that's missing is a Schwarzenegger-esque one liner like "Accuracy this, Castro" or "I'm not monkeying around" or "I throw like a girl". Any of those would have been acceptable, Nicole.
The Snatch Speed Ladder is a variation of a crowd favorite from the 2014 Games, the Clean Speed Ladder. As you would guess, cleans have been replaced with snatches, but the rest of the details are still up in the air. No one knows if it'll be power snatch or squat snatch, what the weights will be, how they'll be required to drop the bars, or even how many bars will be in each ladder, but that's not about to stop people from practicing the crap out of this event:
Dan Bailey did his own version, posted on The CrossFit Games' Facebook page, where he takes the "Speed" out of the ladder and just focuses on the snatches.
Austrialian quad model and possible future Mad Max hero Chad Mackay posted his own practice of the ladder on his instagram, making sure to let everyone know he did it multiple times with both power and squat snatches and set up the lighting to perfectly illuminate his jacked and veiny elbows:
Rookie Joe Scali recorded his practice on a potato, but still managed to speed up the footage and post it up. He seems to take a little too much time setting up his grip in my opinion, but hey who's the Games athlete here? Maybe I'll just keep my opinion to myself.
The Sprint Course sounds like it could be exactly what's been missing from the Games for years: a sweet ass obstacle course. It's described as a race from one side of the soccer field to the other with athletes going "around and over" obstacles. I kinda wish it also said "around, over, UNDER, AND THROUGH SOME FUCKING OBSTACLES YOU ARE NOT PREPARED", but we can't get all our wishes to come true right?
Here's a list of things that would be AWESOME in this obstacle course, but definitely won't be there: American Gladiators-esque jacked men and women actively impeding the Games athletes' progress, a balance beam over a tank of water, a balance beam over a tank of water filled with sharks, flaming hoops to jump through, or MXC style "whoops you picked the wrong door, this one's gonna hurt" moments.
Anyway, a bunch of Games athletes have been trying this one out because everyone knows you just need 2 weeks of warming up on monkey bars to really nail down the whole speed and agility thing. That said, there are two people who might be doing this whole thing right: Michele Letendre and Nicole Holcomb.
Michele Letendre apparently trains in an abandoned Canadian obstacles factory. Here's what went through my head while watching her traing: "pssshh, hurdling a couple boxes isn't going to be enou--where the hell?--wait where did that wal--WHAT IS THAT GIANT THI-is that a cargo net on the wall behind her?!" So hey, she might be actually practicing the right stuff.
My personal favorite is Nicole Holcomb, who really takes it to the next level by adding a tomahawk throw at the end of her training. All that's missing is a Schwarzenegger-esque one liner like "Accuracy this, Castro" or "I'm not monkeying around" or "I throw like a girl". Any of those would have been acceptable, Nicole.