History of Movements By Category at the CrossFit Games

Written by Barclay Dale

Image Credits: Athlete’s Eye

We are less than a month away from the CrossFit Games which means people are starting to wonder: what will we see programmed at the Games this year?

This analysis of the programming will not dive into predicting the specific movements that will show up at the Games however. We will stay at a high level and group similar movements in the same category. For example, all jump rope movements (single under, crossover, double under, double under crossover) will be categorized as “Jump Rope”, all weighted squatting movements (overhead squat, front squat, back squat) will be categorized as “Squat.”

Monostructural Appearances at the Games

Monostructural

Year

Category

‘07

’08

’09

’10

’11

’12

’13

’14

’15

’16

’17

’18

’19

’20

’21

’22

Bike

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Jump Rope

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Odd Mono

X

X

X

X

Row

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Run

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Ski

X

X

X

X

X

Swim

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Gymnastic Appearances at the Games

Gymnastics

Year

Category

‘07

’08

’09

’10

’11

’12

’13

’14

’15

’16

’17

’18

’19

’20

’21

’22

Air Squat/Pistol

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Box

X

X

X

X

X

X

Burpee

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Rope Climb/Pegboard

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Dip

X

X

Handstand Walk/Wall Walk

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Handstand Push Up

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Muscle Up

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Odd Gymnastic

X

X

X

X

Pull Up

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Push Up

X

X

X

X

GHD Sit Up

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Toes to Bar/Ring

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Weightlifting Appearances at the Games

Weightlifting

Year

Category

‘07

’08

’09

’10

’11

’12

’13

’14

’15

’16

’17

’18

’19

’20

’21

’22

Carry

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Clean

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Flips

X

X

X

X

Hinging

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Lunge

X

X

X

X

X

X

Odd Pull/Pull

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Press

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Snatch

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Squat

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Thruster/Wall Ball

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

MWG Averages at the CrossFit Games

Over the past 10 years at the Games, there have been an average of six monostructural, eight gymnastic, and eight weightlifting categories present in the programming. 

Movements Always Seen at the CrossFit Games

Some categories are all but guaranteed to show up. Running and pull ups have appeared in every Games since inception in 2007. Cleans have been at all but the 2007 Games.

Movements with 10 Consecutive Appearances at the CrossFit Games

Other categories have been in at least the last 10 Games: rowing, swimming, rope climbs/pegboards, handstand walking/wall walks, handstand push ups, and squats.

Movements with 5 Consecutive Appearances at the CrossFIt Games

Still more categories have been in at least the last 5 Games: biking, jumping rope, muscle ups, and snatches.

Frequently Programmed at the CrossFit Games

Thrusters/wall balls have been in 13 of the 16 Games, and burpees, pressing, and an odd object weightlifting push or pull (sled, snail, etc.) have been in 12 of the 16 Games.

Of the remaining categories, the most frequent to show up are in order as follows.

• Monostructural: skiing and odd monostructural (paddle, kayak, etc.)
• Gymnastic: air squats/pistols and GHD sit ups
• Weightlifting: carries and lunging

However, just because a category has been included in many of the Games to this point doesn’t mean it will necessarily show up this year. And even if the categories match this analysis perfectly, there is still so much room for speculation with regard to the specific movement(s) within a category that will show up at the Games.

Part of the job of the CrossFit Games programming team is to constantly push both the athletes and the communities forward. Interestingly enough, they seem to be able to do so while also maintaining a certain degree of consistency, which is where looking back can help us look forward- at least to a degree.

**If you found this article by Barclay Dale informative and enjoyable to read please consider buying him a cup of coffee, all proceeds will go to him**