Exercises to Get Ready for Crossfit Games

"Unknown and unknowable."

The phrase -- one of the basic tenets of CrossFit, a workout methodology that combines gymnastic, weightlifting and other exercise disciplines to build well-rounded athletes -- forms the backbone of the annual CrossFit Games. Designed to test the world's fittest athletes after months of qualifying events, Games events are crafted from many of the same movements you'll see in traditional CrossFit workouts. There's almost always a twist, however, and some of the events are revealed only minutes before they begin, so athletes have very little time to react and prepare.

As a result, any athlete hoping to compete at CrossFit's highest level should have these exercises and skills in his arsenal -- and be ready for some curveballs.

  1. Gymnastic and Bodyweight Movements

    • CrossFit Games training should include rope climbs.

      One category of exercises often found at the CrossFit Games requires athletes to move their bodies through space without additional loads. These "bodyweight" movements include squats, pullups, pushups and situps.

      At the Games level, these movements are often modified to be more challenging. Squats become pistols -- one-legged squats -- while situps are taken to the glute-hamstring developer apparatus. Pullups, which are traditionally finished with the athlete's chin over the bar, become "chest-to-bar," a more difficult standard that requires an athlete's chest to make contact with the bar at the top. "Hand-release" pushups require the athlete to pick up his hands at the bottom of the movement before progressing to the next repetition.

      Beyond these basic gymnastic movements, Games events often require ring or bar muscle-ups, rope climbs, handstand pushups, handstand walks, wall burpees, burpee muscle-ups and "toes to bar," where athletes hang from a pullup bar and bring their toes up to the bar above their heads.

    Weightlifting Movements

    • Heavy snatches or clean-and-jerks often factor into the competition.

      Powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting exercises often make an appearance at the CrossFit Games. Athletes training for competition should regularly practice the back squat, front squat, overhead squat, shoulder press, push press, bench press and deadlift, to name a few. They should also practice the Olympic lifts -- the clean, the jerk, and the snatch, plus all of their transfer exercises and variants -- to be prepared for Games-level competition.

    Strongman-Style Exercises

    • Practice your tire flips if you want to compete at CrossFit's highest level.

      Awkward, heavy loads are a favorite element of CrossFit Games events. Athletes are required to drag, push or pull sleds loaded with weight plates. They pick up heavy, round "atlas stones" and lift them to shoulder height. Occasionally competitors are required to carry heavy objects such as logs or barbells overhead, or dumbbells at the waist in "farmer's carries." They often must snatch large weights from the ground up overhead.

      Games-level athletes also should practice flipping large tractor tires. One more recent addition to the CrossFit toolkit is "The Pig," an apparatus that mimics a heavy tire and can be loaded with varying amounts of weight.

    Miscellaneous Movements

    • Rowing of some form almost always pops up in the Games.

      Rounding out the Games grab-bag are a category of exercises intended to tax athletes' cardiovascular capacity or other, more specialized skills. These movements include traditional, monostructural activities such as sprinting, rowing and swimming, and in the case of the 2012 CrossFit Games, a modified triathlon. Past competitions have also featured obstacle courses and monkey bar-style events.

      Athletes can almost always count on seeing CrossFit favorites such as box jumps, double unders with the jump rope and wallballs, an exercise that combines a front squat with an overhead toss, all with a weighted medicine ball.