Why the 2019 Open was a Great Measure of Your Fitness – The Hopper Model: By Coach Francesca Coletto

Let’s talk Bingo night for a second. Picture the metal wheel like hopper with all of the bingo balls in it. Now imagine all of those balls have a physical activity on them. One could say swimming, one could say 1RM snatch, and another could say something like log chopping. One of these balls is pulled out of the hopper at random.

Now let’s bring this back to Cross Training and this year’s Open. We all know the Cross Training Open is comprised of 5 weeks, 5 workouts used to rank athletes and qualify them for the Cross Training Games. We also know that the Open is a great opportunity for athletes to push themselves to new limits, uncovering strengths and weaknesses along the way. Regardless of an athlete’s ability level, the Open is a great example of why the Hopper Model is used to measure fitness.

Let’s go back to Bingo night. 5 random balls are pulled from the hopper. According to The Hopper Model, the most fit athlete is the one who can be competitive in all of these activities. This doesn’t necessarily mean they come out on top for every single activity. But instead they are consistently able to prove their abilities across all activities.

The Open is a great opportunity to evaluate ourselves as athletes using the Hopper Model. Athletes truly ready for any activity that comes their way will find themselves higher on the leaderboard. We always see different athletes on top for different workouts, but at the end of the Open, the most consistent ones end on top.

This is the basis of how Cross Training is programmed. We incorporate many different movements and methods into a safe and effective program so that you can become proficient at everything!

Consistently practicing different movements (especially our weaknesses) and showing up for WODs we might normally avoid will help prepare us for anything, making us the best athletes we can be :).