MTM CrossFit to Compete in World Wide Fitness Competition

North Canton, OH – MTM CrossFit, North Canton’s exclusive CrossFit Gym located on Cleveland Avenue, will field nearly 3 dozen athletes in The 2013 World Wide CrossFit Open Presented by Reebok.  Athletes will compete in workouts (called WODs) against more than 100,000 athletes across the 5 week online Open.  The CrossFit Open is the first step on the road to the CrossFit Games held July 26-28 in Los Angeles CA. 

Each week starting March 6th the WOD is announced on The CrossFit Games official website.  Participants have until Sunday to complete the WOD.  MTM CrossFit is holding its Open Event on Saturday’s at Noon.  Athletes competing in The Open will be held to strict movement standards and judged for fidelity of movement and repetitions. 

In total 5 workouts will test athletes in a variety of workouts: from long to short, heavy to light.  Keeping with a founding principle of CrossFit the workouts are unknown until their announcement each week.  Previous years have seen workouts as varied as 7 minutes of Burpees to 20 Minutes of Power Cleans, Toes to Bar, and Wall Balls. 

The CrossFit Open is the first step in The CrossFit Games Season.  From The Open the top 48 male and female athletes will move on to one (1) of seventeen (17) Regional Competitions.  From Regionals the top 3 male and female athletes move on to The Reebok CrossFit Games held July 26-28 in Los Angeles, Ca competing for a top prize of $250,000 and the title “Fittest on Earth.”  Ohio joins Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee to make up The Central East Region – Which has yielded Champions of the last 3 CrossFit Games including the only repeat Games Winner, Rich Froning Jr.

“We’re extremely excited about The Open this year,” said Dave MacDonald, owner of MTM CrossFit, “We’re a very young gym in the world of CrossFit opening only a year and a half ago so we’ve made some modest goals for this year’s Games Season.  As a CrossFit box we’re trying to qualify a team for the team competition at regionals.  It’ll be tough, only 30 teams qualify and the competition is getting very tough.”

Despite the focus on competition MacDonald was quick to point out that it hasn’t changed the dynamic at the gym.  “Our primary goal first and foremost is to spread CrossFit to as many people as possible.  The more people we get moving correctly, eating correctly, and having fun consistent workouts the better the entire city of North Canton will be.  That’s why we haven’t changed our class schedule and why we will have our Free Saturday Class, where anyone can try CrossFit with no experience required, at 11AM every Saturday.  After the Free Class participants are welcome to stay and watch the competition.”

Last year Walsh Junior Nathan Klein qualified out of MTM CrossFit for regionals where he took 37th place.  This year Nate is focused on helping the team qualify while Master’s competitor Jerry Wilson, Executive Chef at Firestone Country Club, is looking to qualify for The Games in the 50-54 year old division.

About MTM CrossFit:

MTM CrossFit opened its doors just over a year ago, August 3rd 2011.  From humble beginnings MTM has grown to 3-times its original physical size and next month will be revamping its offerings of classes to include CrossFit Kids and additional WOD (Workout Of the Day) times.  With this growth we’ve expanded from one to six coaches, all of whom are required to have passed an ANSI Certified CrossFit Level-1 Certification Course.

Ultimately the success of MTM CrossFit and CrossFit as a whole comes down to the community CrossFit creates.  The efficacy of the program is such that ANY person can come into CrossFit and improve their fitness level. From marathoners to the average gym go-er to the severally over-weight.  Everyone can improve their fitness through CrossFit’s unique combination of Constantly Varied Functional Movements performed at High Intensity.