Ep. 099: Behind the Programming — 2023 Age-Group Semifinals

“A little insight to the process, people often think it’s a one-man show. It’s not. My job is to create the big picture, then I bring it to my team, my team tries to poke holes in it and tell me why it sucks, and then you get better.”Competition Director Adrian Bozman joins multi-year CrossFit Games athlete Adrian Conway and host Chase Ingraham on the podcast to go inside the 2023 Age-Group Semifinals programming.Over the course of a weekend, the top 30 men and 30 women from Quarterfinals in each age division put up their best effort in four tests in their quest to qualify for the CrossFit Games. Once the leaderboard is finalized on May 10, the top 10 will be invited to compete in the finals in Madison, Wisconsin.In today’s episode, the crew dissects each test of the online Semifinal competition. Boz shares the inspiration for each test, noting benchmark workouts and previous events as catalysts, and explains the logic behind specific time domains, movements, formats, and loading.He also describes the intention behind the order of the tests and the scoring system used, and discusses the potential outcomes of time caps and time frames on athletes’ intensity.Listen in to learn more about Boz’s process of programming, some of the standout performances during the competition, and how age-group athletes serve as an inspiration to the community.Presented by NOBULL.Chapters0:00 - Episode introduction2:30 - Tight races in the competition3:37 - Global representation in the age-group divisions6:36 - Age-group camaraderie10:36 - Bigger picture for the season15:47 - Test 1A & 1B21:00 - Test 1B29:12 - Test 242:55 - Test 3A & 3B49:55 - Test 3B53:01 - Test 41:02:30 - Semifinals reflections