If you’ve done the CrossFit® Open before, then you already know this thing is about way more than just your score.
Yes, for some athletes, the Open is the first step on the road toward the CrossFit® Games. But for most people, this is your yearly chance to test yourself, push past your limits, and maybe even surprise yourself a little bit.
That’s why the Open is so special.
It’s not just about winning. It’s about showing up. It’s about doing hard things with your friends. It’s about finding out what you’re made of when the clock is running and your lungs are screaming at you.
So in this article, I want to break down five of our favorite CrossFit® Open workouts from the last five years. These are workouts that were memorable, challenging, and just felt like the Open.
CrossFit® Open Workout 19.5 (2019)
Let’s start with a spicy one.
Open Workout 19.5 was 33-27-21-15-9 reps for time of thrusters and chest-to-bar pull-ups with a 20-minute cap.
And yeah… this one got nasty in a hurry.
On paper, it looks simple. Two movements. Descending reps. No big deal, right?
Wrong.
Thrusters already jack up your heart rate, and then you pair them with chest-to-bar pull-ups, which blow up your grip, your lats, and your breathing even more. So even though the reps go down each round, the workout does not feel easier. It feels like a race to hold it together.
That’s what made 19.5 so good. It rewarded athletes who could stay composed, manage fatigue, and keep moving even when everything started to fall apart.
CrossFit® Open Workout 20.1 (2020)
20.1 was one of those workouts that taught a really important Open lesson:
Just because it looks simple does not mean it’s going to be easy.
This workout was 10 rounds for time of 8 ground-to-overheads and 10 bar-facing burpees with a 15 minute time cap.
That’s it. That’s the workout.
But if you came out too hot, those burpees punished you immediately. And if you rested too much on the barbell, the clock started winning.
This one was all about rhythm.
You had to find that sweet spot where you were working hard, but not so hard that you completely cooked yourself halfway through. It was a classic Open test because it looked manageable for almost everyone, but the people who paced it best usually ended up with the strongest scores.
CrossFit® Open Workout 21.3 (2021)
21.3 was such a good Open workout because it kept asking harder and harder questions.
It started with:
15 front squats
30 toes-to-bars
15 thrusters
Then after a one minute rest, you went into:
15 front squats
30 chest-to-bar pull-ups
15 thrusters
Then after another one minute rest:
15 front squats
30 bar muscle-ups
15 thrusters
So basically, the gymnastics kept getting harder while the barbell kept showing up and asking, “Hey, how bad do you want this?”
That’s what made this one awesome.
You needed strength. You needed skill. You needed grip endurance. And maybe most importantly, you needed to stay calm. Because if you rushed the early sections or got sloppy on the rig, this workout could unravel fast.
This one felt like a true test of complete fitness.
CrossFit® Open Workout 22.2 (2022)
If you like simple workouts that punch you in the face, 22.2 was your kind of workout.
This one was a deadlift and bar-facing burpee workout with a rep scheme that climbed up from 1 to 10 and then came right back down.
Simple? Yes. Easy? Absolutely not.
This workout was sneaky brutal because both movements encouraged you to move fast. The deadlifts felt light enough to cycle, and the burpees made you think, “I can just keep pushing.”
Until you couldn’t.
That was the trap.
22.2 was one of those workouts where the best athletes looked smooth and controlled, and everybody else looked like they were slowly getting dragged into the deep end. It was a great reminder that in the Open, the simplest workouts are often the ones that expose the most.
CrossFit® Open Workout 23.1 (2023)
23.1 was a really cool one because it tested a huge range of skills in one workout.
This was a 14-minute AMRAP that started with rowing, then toes-to-bars, then wall balls, then cleans, and then muscle-ups if you made it that far.
So right away, you had a workout that almost everybody could start, but only the most complete athletes could get deep into.
That’s part of what made it such a great Open test.
You needed engine. You needed grip. You needed efficiency. You needed skill. And as the workout moved forward, the field started separating more and more.
That’s classic Open programming.
It gave newer athletes a chance to throw down, and it gave experienced athletes a chance to really show what they were capable of.
To Sum It Up
These workouts are some of our favorites because they capture what the CrossFit® Open is really all about.
They’re challenging, yes. But they’re also exciting. They create big moments. They expose weaknesses. They reward smart strategy. And every once in a while, they give athletes a shot at a little Open magic.
That’s why we keep coming back every year.
If you understand what makes workouts like these so effective, it also gets a lot easier to understand how to do well in the Open. Usually it comes down to a few simple things: pacing well, moving efficiently, staying mentally tough, and not panicking when things start to hurt.
Not sure what the CrossFit® Open even is or how it works?
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