How Does Semifinal Programming from Week One Compare to Week Two?

How Does Semifinal Programming from Week One Compare to Week Two?
How Does Semifinal Programming from Week One Compare to Week Two?

Photo Credit: Carlos Bown | @bownmedia

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Week 1 of the 2022 CrossFit Games Semifinals is in the books and week 2 is here. Today the focus is on evaluating the programming for the two Semifinals in week 2 and how they fit in and compare with the first three slates of workouts from week 1. (If you haven’t read the article linked here, it is recommended to do so. Many of these topics are discussed in more detail there.) 

Time Domains

When evaluating time domains, we are talking about expected time domains, not listed time caps. In the table below, we have updated the time caps (when needed) to reflect the actual times needed for the top 10 or so athletes in each event. In the case that it was notably different for men than women, the men are listed first followed by a slash and then the women. 

For the MACC and Cape Town columns, those are the projected expected times for each workout. 

Non-CF Programmed Events Syndicate Lowlands Torian MACC Cape Town
E1 10:00/12:00 18:00/20:00 20:30/22:00 13:00 21:00
E2 23:00/25:00 7:00 9:30 23:00 16:00
E3 11:30/13:30 11:00 6:00 12:00 18:00
E4 6:30/7:30 4:00 5:00 7:00 7:00
Time Domains in 2022 Semifinal Events | Brian Friend

A few noteworthy items: 

  • From week 1 there was variability in terms of time needed between men and women and all four workouts relative to the other two; it will be intriguing to see if that’s the case for other Semifinals going forward. 
  • The distribution of time domains at the MACC appears to be rather appropriate given the two pre-programmed CrossFit workouts; hit the long, have a short-moderate in the finale, and two metcons in the 10-15 minute range.
  • Cape Town’s programming is very long with three workouts expected to take over 16 minutes; so far no other semi has more than one workout like that.

Handstand Push-Ups and Handstand Walking

Pretty straightforward for the next few sections; all we did was add in whether MACC and/or Cape Town had the listed movement and in what capacity.

Movement Syndicate Lowlands Torian MACC Cape Town
HS walking 400 feet 72 meters 180 feet 60 meters
HSPUs 18 def HSPUs(9/6 inches) 60 regularkipping hspus 45 strict deficitHSPUs 50 regularkipping hspus
Handstand Elements in 2022 Semifinal Events | Brian Friend

Handstand walking:

  • The handstand walking distance at Lowlands, MACC, and Cape Town is relatively similar. 
  • Syndicate still had by far the most handstand walking distance required.
  • Torian remains the only Semi thus far not to test it at all.

Handstand Push-up Variations:

  • MACC becomes the first Semifinal not to test handstand push-ups in any capacity. 
  • Cape Town, like Lowlands, has a modest number of regular kipping handstand push-ups near the end of the same chipper that also has handstand walking.

Squatting Volume:

Syndicate Lowlands Torian MACC Cape Town
150 wall balls 120 wall balls 100 wall balls
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