It was the event that crossfit athletes surrounding the Porterville, California area had been training to compete in. WOD Wars a one-day event was hosted by the local gym Crossfit 559 and took place January 31, 2015. Crossfit 559 defines crossfit as core strength and conditioning program that includes elements from gymnastics, track and field, weight lifting, and strongman, which are combined in short intensive workouts to maximize results.
The competition started at nine in the morning inside Porterville Grounds Expo building. Athletes competed by gender in four divisions: Rx, scaled, teams, and masters. Rx is when the work out of the day is performed using the prescribed weight and reps, which is usually extreme but doable. Scaled is when the athlete cannot do the prescribed weight or reps so they modify it to their fitness needs. Masters are athletes who are 40 and older and compete among themselves.
Judge Extraordinaire John “Moose” Mufasa, a popular crossfit judge in California, judged the event. Crossfit stars Dan bailey, a four time Crossfit Games athlete, and Katie Hogan, a two time Crossfit Games athlete, were there to inspire, push, and cheer athletes. The Crossfit Games is a competition to find the fittest people on earth.
Inside the Expo building there a structure in the center where competitors could do pull-ups, ring dips, muscle-ups, hit targets with 14 pound balls, which were all included in their workouts. Around the structure were knee level wooden boxes for box jumps, ropes hung from the ceilings for rope climbs, and barbells on the ground for weightlifting exercises. A gate closed off the whole thing so the crowds could cheer from the other side. Vendors were also on the other side selling food, shirts, and equipment for Crossfit.
In each of the events masters women went first followed by masters men, Rx men, Rx women and teams. The competition was fun, intense, and competitive. The crowd was loud, full of motivation, and liveliness. The athletes were full of energy and determination to win. Almost every athlete who was competing had a nice body, which showed their hard work and dedication to the sport. It is normal for those with a nice body to take off their shirt during a work out.
After every round the athletes were sweaty and fatigued. Many had meals and liquids ready to recharge. There were athletes who would run out of breath fast and slowed down during the work out however the crowd would still scream and shout pushing them to finish. The event was so intense that it made the crowd sit at the edge of their seats and scream from top of their lungs.
“This is the closest that I’m going to be in the competition,” said Amber Prado, 20, who was at the competition. One of her feet was under the gate opening, touching the floor, on the other side were the athletes were competing. Amber had to sit out the competition because she had hurt her wrist two months ago during a work out. However, that didn’t stop her from cheering on her brother Michael Prado, 26, who was competing in a team called Suicide Squad who took 1st place in their scaled division.
“For an event this big too many things went wrong and it was not organized,” said Gustavo Amarillas, 20, who was competing in the Rx men division. Gustavo was not happy with the event’s scoring of the athletes. The results when first announced awarded him with first place, but then the judges realized that many of scores had been calculated wrong. So after the right scores were announced, Gustavo was ranked number 21.
WOD Wars brought the crossfit community in the Central Valley together for a day. It showed who was the best of the best of gyms surrounding the Porterville area. The event inspired people who attended to work out and give crossfit a try.
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The B Side 