What to Expect from the 2022 CrossFit Games Last Chance Qualifier

With the second iteration of the Last Chance Qualifier fast approaching, today we dive into what competitors can expect based on what we learned last year and what we’ve already seen this year in the previous parts of the season.

2021 CCL:

The first year of the LCQ featured four training sessions and a total of seven movements. Each of those moves had already appeared in some iteration at an earlier stage in the season:

• Rowing: Previously seen in the online quarterfinals and semi-finals
• Dumbbell Hanging Snatch: DB snatch in the Open, barbell snatch in Quarters and Semis
• Belching: Burpee box jump overs in Open and Quarters, burpees in Semis
• Double Unders: Appeared in all stages (Open, Quarters and Semis)
• Squat Clean: Heavy Clean in the Open, Db Cleans in Quarters, Bar Clean (and Jerks) in Semis
• Rope climbs without legs: Previously in the Online Semifinals
• dead weight: Part of the Barbell Complex in Open, Dumbbell Deadlift in Semis

Due to COVID restrictions last season, CrossFit took it upon themselves to schedule a full Online Semifinal which removed many potential unused moves from the table for the LCQ. This year that was not the case, CrossFit only scheduled two of the six semi-final workouts and therefore has a bit more leeway should they want to incorporate unused moves into this year’s LCQ.

What we don’t expect to see:

Most of the moves on this list will not be seen in the LCQ for one (or more) of these three reasons:

1. have already been extensively tested at an earlier stage of the season.
2. There is no need to test the ability for them in a stage with only four (maybe five) workouts that should take a lot of effort. highest barrier for the input style test.
   • That is, wall walks would be replaced by handstand walks or a high-skill/demand handstand push-up variation.
3. There are still many untested moves that could stand out and/or expose the athletes at this stage of the competition.

• GHD Sit-ups
• shuttle races
• wall walks
• snatch DB
• Burpee in front of the bar
• Ring Muscle Up (on average just under 30 of these were tested in most Semis)
• walking lunges
• Kipping Handstand Pushups
• Hand push-ups with deficit
• pistols
• rope climbs
• Wall Balls with conventional weights and heights (20/14 to 10’/9′)
• Box Jump Overs at conventional heights (24/20)

Movements that can be selected very well:

This list mostly includes things that CrossFit hasn’t specifically tested this season yet, or that have been tested at very low volume. Most of them, specifically in certain combinations, would meet criteria two and three above (higher skill barrier and untested moves that might expose athletes at this stage of competition).

• Overhead Squats
• Hanging start (bar)
• Cleansed
• Thrusters (dumbbell or barbell)
• Barbell muscle lifts
• toes to the bar
• Chest to bar pull-ups
• Strict hand push-ups
• Strict Deficit Pushups
• Rowing
• Wall balls (20/14) at 11’/10′ or (30/20) at 10′
• Burpees to a 12-inch target
• Farmers carry with dumbbells
• Double Unders (large sets)
• Box Jump Overs (with or without burpees) to 30/24 inch box

Based on last year, we would expect about half of this group of moves to appear.

Strength training or not?

One of the big talking points from last year’s LCQ was the inclusion of a three-rep max deadlift as one of the four tests. Of course, we know that athletes must be strong to compete in the Games, but is it necessary to test it in isolation at this stage with so little training at this testing stage?

All of these athletes have already been asked to demonstrate strength in two specific tests that CrossFit has scheduled:

• The other total from the quarterfinals (one repetition maximum for Clean, Bench Press and Overhead Squat)
• The semi-final barbell complex (three cleans, two front squats, one shoulder up)

As has been discussed and highlighted many times, there are other ways to test strength. Don’t be surprised if the ‘strength’ test is masked a little differently than last season’s very obvious three-rep max deadlift.

How many single modality tests to expect?

Another point of contention with last year’s version of the LCQ was that two of the four tests were single modality (three rep max deadlifts, 100 burpees to the 12-inch target). The question again arises, when so many top athletes are competing for just two places, do we need half the tests to be that specific?

Considering the newest stage of this year’s competition, the online age group semi-finals, it seems the answer to that question might be yes. Very similar in nature to last year’s LCQ, half of the events in this year’s age group semi-finals were singles:

• Test 3: Ladder Snatch for Reps
• Test 5: Wall Ball (“Death By” style)
• Test 6: 1 repetition maximum clean and jerk

Considering the pattern that was established last season and continued into the age group semi-finals this season, it appears that CrossFit places a fairly high emphasis on expressing fitness through single-modality testing as part of the training process. qualification for the Games.

It should not be ignored that the two pre-scheduled semi-final workouts were also for all intents and purposes intensive single modality (legless rope climbing; barbell complex).

Expected format:

Taking into account everything we’ve laid out thus far, here’s an overview of what to expect from LCQ 2022:

• 4-5 tests; probably four
• One of them will be single mode in the wild (let’s hope it doesn’t pick up); possibly a rowing event similar to what we saw in stage one of the 2020 CrossFit Games. Rowing has only appeared for guys in the quarterfinals, and it wasn’t a critical part of that workout.
• a test of strength which is ascending in nature along with one or two other moves we haven’t seen much of this year yet (double jumps, high box jumps, toes to bar, chest to bars or muscle bars are prime candidates)
• A test similar to the fourth practice of the age group semifinal (which included ghd sit-ups, handstand walking and barbell crunches). We’d only hope the GHD crunches would be skipped since there’s no need for redundancy after the quarterfinals, and they could substitute the toes for the bar quite easily.)
• A workout with heavy wall balls to a ten foot target for everyone.
  • In a recent episode of Get With the Programming, Chase Ingraham reports that Adrian Bozman wanted to keep the wall ball height at ten feet for the age group online semifinals with a 30 and 20 pound wall ball; the only reason he didn’t do it is because he wasn’t sure people had access to it.
  • However, it’s much safer to assume that athletes in the LCQ have access to it, so it’s a pretty good bet to show up.

The panorama: We’re only in the second year of this format, so there’s certainly still a lot we don’t know. However, this stage of the season is both exciting and critical. There are more than 30 men and women who have already proven their ability to be exceptional this year through three stages of testing. With so many athletes who came so close to qualifying through the Semis in this field, it’s important to have the schedule here. We’ve given it our best shot, now to see how well it matches what CrossFit puts in place for athletes.