Zion Canyon Throwdown

It is funny how Las Vegas became the practical trailhead of some of the world’s most amazing natural wonders from the Grand Canyon through Bryce, Zion and a dozen other great canyons. We headed out to one such journey at Zion in a moderate 108F (42C) weather. But as the saying goes, it is dry heat…
I had an interesting discussion with the hotel’s chief personal trainer on what how we could really tell if CrossFit was better than say, living it out on a treadmill. Predictably the conversation led to the concept of the hopper. If you can pick any exercise for a throw-down to see who is fitter, then how do you pick the exercises to be fair for both parties? Hmm, some may be stronger in running, others may be lifters and others great in gymnastics. If you tried all possible exercises, the fitter person would prevail. But what if you could only pick 3-4 for the test. (Ignoring for a moment the fact that there is really no need for male machoism, this question stumped us). So the compromise we reached is as follows:
– the throw down must consist of 3 elements
– 1 endurance, 1 gymnastic and 1 strength
– one party picks the elements and the other party picks the weight and the time limit
– each party can veto 2 picks from the other person
E.g. 3 rounds for 5 min AMRAP:
– max cleans 95lb
– max calorie row
– max chest to bar pullups
Maybe another day…
Strength
Wendler deload week – Deadlift [275+]
Conditioning
21-15-9
– hang power clean 95lbs
– chest to bar pullups
– pushups
[TIME: 8:05]
Endurance
1000m row