2013 IGI - EVENT SUMMARY

the 2013 insular gym invitational was an attempt to challenge standard programming philosophy while maintaining a sense of familiarity to other established testing methods. the time domains, scoring systems, and movements were all expanded beyond the realm of the typical white board graffiti produced by the many in order to experiment further down a road previously cleared by the few. read below for a deeper explanation of the theory behind each event, the success and failure we experienced with each event, and thoughts on how the application of the above stated goal could have been better achieved.

#1

relative to the average abilities of the expected participants, this was intended to be our "heavy" event of the day. the rep scheme was a "rolling" system that produced varying levels of difficulty between rounds. the idea is to produce more work in less time while tricking the body to recover during the down hill slope of lower rep rounds. at mid point during this roller coaster you're rewarded with built in recovery and the opportunity to produce additional points from a not so standard ring movement. not only was the temptation too high to go all in during the minute but the reward was excessive as well. awarding 6 points per successful inversion resulted in an unbalanced score with as much as 40% of some participants total score coming from this 60 second effort. in retrospect we would lower the points to 3 while maintaining all other elements of the effort. the second half picks up where the first left off for another short 4 minute thrill ride to the 10 minute mark where the first challenge of the day left passengers questioning both their ability to move heavy loads and to see the world upside down.

#2

there are too many fields spread across the countryside that only see action during certain times of the year and for generally very specific purposes. we like to use them for varied and unintended purposes in order to reach the goals of the minority by testing what can be done with less. in this austere challenge the idea was to see how well one could tackle different tasks, most of which were new to the participant, under the building stress of the clock and fatigue. dragging, pulling, and carrying a heavier kettlebell and awkward rope that often has a mind of it's own, worked out as designed. what wasn't foreseen was the potential for misinterpretation of the list of work to be completed. heats consisted of 6 individuals and their judges and the first was accomplished in likely the same number of ways, possibly none of which being the architects intent. more time should have been spent making sure all athletes and judges were on the same page as to what was expected. beyond that some might question the validity of the rope slam in competition but it's effectiveness at producing a specific result was such that it couldn't be left out. although the rope slam can be difficult to judge there was no lack of effort during this movement, or any other of the event, by anyone.

#3

solid seven minute efforts are commonplace in similar arenas but what's different about this one is the emphasis on the varied value of each movement, the importance of personal skill knowledge, the alternating nature of grinding and technique based work, and the broadened use of certain tools. had the double under been full value the participants with significant ability could have used the other sections as active rest and most certainly still landed at the top. likewise, if one was aware of their abilities they could gamble and take a few seconds of early recover either leading up to the 30 second efforts or ending them early. with no built in transition time it was up to each participant to use their time as wisely as possible. each movement was carefully selected to be different enough from what came before or after as to promote a non stop effort from beginning to end. the blur of spinning ropes and grinding work was partially the result of using the slam ball for two unorthodox yet highly effective purposes. another goal was to open the participants eyes to the wind robbing advantage of the russian swings faster cycle rate and the awkward challenge resulting from finding the best way to carry a heavy and uncomfortable piece of iron. the order of the swings and ball get ups, along with their time domains, were swapped during the actual event due to an unintended change in order on the score cards. double unders were worth 0.25 pts, ball box jumps and ball get ups were worth 2, with the kb carry being worth 1 point per 4' and swings a single point per rep.

#4

when reading the theory of insular gym one surely recognizes the disdain for the actual application of real world transferability promised by "boxes" across the globe, "most exercise or work done to prepare our bodies and minds is currently done within absolute parameters. rep schemes, loads, sequences, and time domains are generally known factors, all laid out before hand." i go on to state that although the results of common practice are undeniable and logistically easier to deal with, this doesn't mean we can't challenge more than just our bodies. the term "the unknown and unknowable" is rarely ever actually applied to the degree of which it could this side of the most elite multi day military challenges. in this effort participants were given the limited description above and shown or told a few other items: 1. the course loop which was just shy of a half mile and consisted of a large 65' hill roughly 300' in length at one end and a gradual elevation change around the rest of the lap from top to bottom. 2. the standard for the burpee. and 3. that the event would last somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes. unknown to them (although some figured it out before hand) was that they would be told to change direction during different points after completing their unknown number of burpees. as soon as they reached the burpee area they were given a number to complete and told a direction of travel. the combination of the progressive addition of burpees each round, with some at a lower requirement of only 5, and the alternating course direction, resulted in some laps being significantly easier than others. at the 10, 5, and 1 minute mark from the end of the event they were warned of it's upcoming close. the challenge was to decide how hard to work during the known time of at least 30 minutes and what to leave for the potential requirement of working for up to another 30. before the event started all judges knew the event would last 45 minutes.  another theory questioned by the final event was how much the common combination of metcon and strength work, with neglect for true endurance training, actually benefits the typical "crossfit" athlete in an endurance type event. those who had a background in running longer distances or have focused on the oldest and most primitive form of exercise, were greatly rewarded. others, realized how much only spending time with barbells, balls, and boxes can hinder performance on the open trail.

in the end, although not without controversy, frustration, confusion, and some temporary hatred, we believe the goals of the day were achieved. when wading in primarily uncharted waters one should expect there to be some uncomfortable and unfamiliar title waves of destruction. that being said, it's the open and experimental mind that we choose to cultivate and reward at insular gym and if that means we don't meet the expectations of the masses, then it means we're staying true to our philosophy and doing things right.