Pre-Order your Friday Night Lights 15.4 dinner HERE!

3 rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
275-lb. deadlifts, 7 reps
10 burpee pull-ups
53-lb. single arm kettlebell thrusters, 14 reps (7 each arm)
20 box jumps, 24-inch box

Pam got nine muscle-ups during 15.3.  She got her first muscle-up the day before, an hour after 15.3 was announced.  Here, Ryan judges her through the workout at Friday Night Lights.  Photo credit: Shayna Larsen (who also got her first muscle-up after 15.3 was announced).

Pam got nine muscle-ups during 15.3. She got her first muscle-up the day before, an hour after 15.3 was announced. Here, Ryan judges her through the workout at Friday Night Lights. Photo credit: Shayna Larsen (who also got her first muscle-up after 15.3 was announced).

First Muscle-up?

Last week Dave Castro, director of the CrossFit Games, shocked the CrossFit Open community by announcing that workout 15.3 would not only include muscle-ups, but that it would START with muscle-ups.  This was different from past years where there were muscle-ups each year, but the high skill movement came after a number of other movements, meaning everyone could play in the RX division to some extent.

This announcement did not go over well with many CrossFit Open participants, but the affect it had on athletes at Roots was nothing short of AWESOME.

A number of Roots athletes got their first muscle-up in the hours and days after Castro announced the workout.

Part of the initial genius of CrossFit founder Greg Glassman was his thought about how to develop the CrossFit community.  He did this largely by introducing, incrementally, more challenging movements, loading, and workouts on the mainsite.  If you look back at the mainsite from 8 years ago, you will see quickly this difference.  As the community has grown and developed into more accomplished athletes, it’s largely because of the consistent and steady nudge from the mainsite workouts.  The mainsite challenges us never to settle with our level of fitness.

That steady nudge trickles down through all ability levels.  It means that folks who scale a workout receive the same benefits as their workouts also become more challenging.

In the case of 15.3, I know the effect will be the same.  Not only did many athletes around the world get their first muscle-up that week, but it set a course for thousands more who did not succeed.   They will spend the next year working to get a msucle-up.  And for that reason, the entire fitness level of the CrossFit community will increase.

Did you get your first muscle-up during 15.3?  Post to comments.