The Open by the Numbers: What the Last 5 Years Tell Us
The rig-ladder has become the most preferred method of sorting athletes by strength and ability. This year it dawned on me that workouts that were self-sorting were increasing in frequency, and now I have data to confirm those suspicions.
The Most Common Movements (2022–2026)
Sixteen workouts across five Opens. Here’s what showed up most:
| Movement | Type | Appearances | % of 16 Workouts | % of 5 Years | Last Seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thruster | barbell | 5 | 31% | 100% | 2026 |
| double unders | conditioning | 4 | 25% | 80% | 2025 |
| chest-to-bar pull-up | gymnastics | 4 | 25% | 80% | 2026 |
| wall walk | gymnastics | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2025 |
| row | conditioning | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2025 |
| pull-up | gymnastics | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2026 |
| dumbbell snatch | dumbbell | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2026 |
| deadlift | barbell | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2025 |
| bar muscle-up | gymnastics | 3 | 19% | 60% | 2025 |
| wall ball | conditioning | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2026 |
| snatch | barbell | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2025 |
| ring muscle-up | gymnastics | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2026 |
| lateral burpee over dumbbell | conditioning | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2025 |
| clean | barbell | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2026 |
| box jump-over | conditioning | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2026 |
| bar-facing burpee | conditioning | 2 | 13% | 40% | 2026 |
A few things jump out in the data.
Thrusters have shown up every year for the last 5 years. They seem to be acting as a signature closer.
Pull-up, C2B, and bar muscle-up are now a package deal — they show up together as an escalating skill ladder rather than in isolation. And wall walks, which didn’t exist in the Open before 2021, now appear as often as the row. They seem to have replaced the handstand push-up as a default gymnastic movement…which seems weird to me given the amount we do handstand push-ups in class.
What happened to toes-to-bar? Just one appearance in the last five years seems wrong. Manually checking the CrossFit website confirms that 21.3 was the last time we saw them.
Dumbbell snatch anchors the opener format in three of the last five years. The first workout is almost always accessible-by-design — high reps, light load, something most athletes can do unbroken — and the DB snatch was the go-to movement for that role.
Double unders show up more than I remember. Rep scheme of 50 seems to be the default. It is also a skill we don’t do nearly enough of in class given they’ve been nearly guaranteed to show up in the Open.
How They’re Paired
The movement pairings put data to an observation I’ve had – workouts that filter athletes with escalating challenges seem to have become a thing.
Most common pairs:
| Movement 1 | Movement 2 | Times Together |
|---|---|---|
| Bar Muscle-up | Chest-to-Bar Pull-up | 3 |
| Bar Muscle-up | Thruster | 3 |
| Chest-to-Bar Pull-up | Pull-up | 3 |
| Chest-to-Bar Pull-up | Thruster | 3 |
| Bar Muscle-up | Double Unders | 2 |
| Bar Muscle-up | Pull-up | 2 |
| Chest-to-Bar Pull-up | Double Unders | 2 |
| Deadlift | Row | 2 |
| Double Unders | Pull-up | 2 |
| Double Unders | Thruster | 2 |
| Pull-up | Thruster | 2 |
| Snatch | Wall Walk | 2 |
Four of the last six Opens ended with some version of what Claude coined the “rig-ladder” – a self-sorting skill/strength based cutoff that uses either more difficult pulling movement (pull-up, C2B, BMU) or escalating weight (paired with decreased reps) to force people out or hit a wall. Here’s the last 5 instances of the rig-ladder:
| Year | Entry Pull | Top Pull | Thruster Escalates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21.3 | Toes-to-bar | Bar MU | No | Prototype; T2B entry, constant weight |
| 22.3 | Pull-up | Bar MU | Yes | Canonical template established |
| 24.3 | C2B | Bar MU | Yes | Two-tier only; interval format |
| 25.2 | Pull-up | Bar MU | Yes | Exact repeat of 22.3 |
| 26.2 | Pull-up | Ring MU | No | Ring MU replaces BMU; embedded in longer workout |
In fact, in the last 5 years, pull-ups have only been used as the entry tier of the rig ladder. In the same way, BMUs also serve a single purpose – the top tier of the rig ladder. They have also always been (in the last 5 years) the final workout of the Open and were always paired with thrusters.
Outside of the rig ladder, snatch + wall walk has appeared twice (23.3 and 25.3) as an overhead-heavy chipper pairing. Deadlift + row remains a steady conditioning double. Everything else shows up once and moves on.
Most common triplets:
| Triplet | Times Together |
|---|---|
| Bar Muscle-up + Chest-to-Bar Pull-up + Thruster | 4 |
| Double Unders + Pull-up + Thruster | 2 |
| Bar Muscle-up + Double Unders + Thruster | 2 |
Double unders appeared as a connector in 22.3 and 25.2 between rig ladder movements, scaling down the rep with the ladder at 2x thruster/pull-up reps. They are essentially a rest between movements that isn’t a rest. Double unders also appeared as a fixed rep station in chipper/AMRAP style workouts in 23.3 and 24.2 where they were paired with another movement.
What this Means for Me
While I have chest-to-bar and bar muscle-ups in isolation, I tend to pop a tire and lose the movements with pairings and at the end of workouts. Given the importance they’ve played in the programming over the previous five years, I should strengthen these movements this year if I want to place higher in the rankings. This year I need to focus on endurance and move beyond “getting the movements” and making sure those movements don’t break down so quickly.
Therefore this year I’m going to focus on the end of the rig ladder, specifically BMUs. I want to get to a point where the BMU at the end of a workout is not a hard wall for me. My goal for 2027 is to at least get a few reps in the last round, bumping me into the next tier of athletes.