Cherry Picker’s Throwdown

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The first CrossFit competition I’ve ever done was 10 years ago, almost to the day.  After the very first CrossFit Games in the summer of 2007, CrossFit Oakland (where I was working out at the time) was preparing their competitors for the upcoming 2008 CrossFit Games in Aromas, California.  CrossFit Oakland hosted a throwdown for local competitors which consisted of just one workout!  The workout had a 400m run, jumping air squats with a 45lb. barbell on your back, and I think some ring muscle ups.  I came in 2nd place overall, but there were only about 10 or 12 guys competing that day.  Jason Khalipa however was one of them, he took 1st, by a pretty large margin!  A month or so later, CrossFit Milpitas, where Jason was training at the time hosted a throwdown.  It too was just one workout, 4 or 5 rounds of 400m Run, Pullups and Thrusters.  Once again I took 2nd, and once again Jason Khalipa took first (a few weeks later he “came out of nowhere” to win the 2008 CrossFit Games).

Those early days of local CrossFit competition were super fun!  There were no prizes, no social media, no online leaderboards, no aspiring professional exercisers….. just people throwing down as hard as they could for the sake of competition…. be it against others, or within themselves.  Lots has changed since then.  A lot of it for the better, some for the worse.

Local competitions went through a huge boom for many years, and then a gradual but steady lull to the current state where there are only a handful of local competitions, and even fewer that are I would consider reflect the essence of what old school CrossFit is truly all about.

In steps the Cherry Picker’s Throwdown.  I came up with this idea to embrace the great things about old school CrossFit competitions, and hopefully eliminate the less favorable stuff that evolved from the boom local competitions.

Here are some of the details:

  • No registration fee (local events got to be pretty expensive, and for good reason, they take a lot of time and resources to host)
  • Lots of workouts to choose from, only do workouts you really like!  (just as the name implies it’s a Cherry Picker’s dream)
  • Spend as little or as much time at the event as you like.  Stay for the whole day, half the day, or just show up, crush your one or two wheel-house workouts or two workouts, mic drop, and roll out to enjoy the rest of your Saturday!
  • Only open to a small group of local peeps

Here are a couple of the workouts you can choose from.  Do as many or as few as your heart desires.

 

 

“8-minute Spartan”
200m Sprint (finishing over big plyo box)
400m Row
Under/Overs
5-7 Wall Climbs
1 Rope Climb
20 Wall Balls
403m Run w/ Wall Ball
Under/Overs
5-7 Wall Climbs
1 Rope Climb
20 Wall Balls

“Clang ‘n Bang”

10 Squat Snatch 135#
20 Deadlift 135#
40ft. HS Walk
10 Ground to Overhead 135#

*3 Burpee penalty for dropping barbell
*Barbell will be loaded w/ metal 45’s

“Beer Mile”
(4) 400m Runs
*drink (1) 12oz. beer before each 400m Run

 

“Amanda at the Bar”
Solo or partner workout (same sex or coed)

9-7-5
Bar Muscle Up
Squat Snatch 135/95

*partner version will have 2 people working together to complete the reps.  Only 1 person working at a time, your choice on how you break up the reps.

 

“Assault on Grace”
15 Calorie Assault Bike
15 Clean & Jerks 115/75 (ADVanced 135/95)
15 Calorie Assault Bike

 

“Where my bros at?”

For time:

12 Bench Presses 135lbs.
5 Strict Pullups
10 Situps

10 Bench Press 135lbs.
5 Strict Pullups
10 Situps

8 Bench Press 135lbs.
5 Strict Pullups
10 Situps

6 Bench Press 135lbs.
5 Strict Pullups
10 Situps

 

 

 

“Assault Air Runner Mile”
1 Mile Run on Air Runner for time

 

“3 Person “Helen” Relay”
For time:

*ea. person does 1 Round of “Helen” 403m Run, 21 KB Swing 53/35, 12 Pullups

(Open Division) (coed division, at least one female) (combined age over 135 years division)

 

“3 Person Fran”
For time:

athlete A performs 9 Thruster 135/95 &  9 Pullups
athlete B performs 15 Thrusters 115/75 & 15 Pullups
athlete C performs 21 Thrusters 95/65 & 21 Pullups

 

“Farmer Fran”

2 person wod

21 Pullups
21 DB Thrusters 45/25
200m DB Farmer Carry

15 Pullups
15 DB Thruster 45/25
200m DB Farmer Carry

9 Pullups
9 DB Thrusters

**if DB’s touch the ground at any point during workout, both athletes must perform a 3 burpee penalty.  DB’s can ONLY be held in farmer carry position except when performing thrusters

 

“Saved by the Bell”
50ft OH Walking Lunge 53/35
20 KB Snatch
10 Single Arm KB Thruster
70m Suitcase Carry
50ft OH Walking Lunge 53/35
20 KB Snatch
10 Single Arm KB Thruster

500m Row for time (4 divisions)
Men Over 5’8”
Men 5’8” and Under
Women Over 5’5”
Women 5’5” and Under

1000m Row for time (4 divisions)
Men Over 5’8”
Men 5’8” and Under
Women Over 5’5”
Women 5’5” and Under

 

“Feel the Burn”
2 Person Teams (same sex)
Partner A performs (3) 70m Sled Pushes while Partner B holds wall sit

Sled starts with (3) 25lb. plates for men, and (3) 15lb. plates for women
After 1st sled push Partner A removes (1) plate from sled and gives it to Partner B
After 2nd sled push Partner A removes another plate from sled and gives to Partner B who remains in wall sit position
After 3rd sled push, the plates go back on the sled and the Partners switch roles

 

“4 Rounds w/ “Nate” at the Bar”
For time:
32 KB Swings 70/53
16 Handstand Pushups
8 Bar Muscle Ups

*we’ve taken 4 Rounds of the hero workout “Nate” switched to bar muscle ups, and condensed it into a quick 1 time thru chipper sprint.

 

“Zero to Sixty”
2 person workout
For time:
60 Calorie Assault Bike
*must switch every 15 Calories

“4×2 times 2 + 2×2… a.k.a High Math)

2 Person Relay
403m Run ea.
200m Run ea.
403m Run ea.

 

“BYOB”  Bring Your Own Bike
3 Rounds of “Cindy” (5 Pullups, 10 Pushups, 15 Air Squats)
2 Lap Bike Course
3 Rounds of “Cindy”
2 Lap Bike Course

“Flip Flop for Time”
2 Person WOD
6 Rounds for time

15 Cal Row
7 Power Cleans Rx’d 115/75 (ADV. 135/95) (Competitor 155/105)
15 Wall Balls
*1 person working at a time, switch working partner ea. mov’t
“Double or Nothing”

2 person wod

Partner A – 10 Double Unders
Partner B – 20 DU
Partner A – 30 DU
Partner B – 40 DU
Partner A – 30 DU
Partner B – 20 DU
Partner A – 10 D
*double unders must be unbroken or set doesn’t count

 

“5K the Hard Way”

5K Row for time

 

This only a fraction of the workouts that will be available to choose from!

The Cherry Picker’s Throwdown will be held at CrossFit Sweat Shop in Walnut Creek at the end of April 2019.

10 replies
  1. Big Mike
    Big Mike says:

    Great idea! Any chance of Master’s (aka Old People’s) modifications on some of the WODs? I like the “where my bros at”, but the 135# bench might be a little heavy for me.

    Reply

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