CrossFit Open 26.1 Features Quad-Burner
The CrossFit Open 26.1 kicked off featuring a challenging 300+-rep workout dubbed a "quad burner." Rich Froning shared his pacing plan and coaching tips, advising breaking the workout into manageable sets, maintaining steady pace, and emphasizing recovery between rounds. A new roundup of 18 full-body exercises focuses specifically on burning belly fat, combining resistance and cardio for extended calorie-burning effects.
The first workout of the 2026 CrossFit Open, 26.1, is a grueling test of lower-body endurance and pacing, structured as a pyramid of wall ball shots and box transitions with a 12-minute time cap. Athletes will perform ascending and then descending reps of wall balls, interspersed with sets of box jump-overs and medicine ball box step-overs. The rep scheme for 26.1 is 20 wall balls, 18 box jump-overs, 30 wall balls, 18 box jump-overs, 40 wall balls, 18 medicine ball box step-overs, a massive set of 66 wall balls, followed by a descent back down the pyramid. For the Rx division, men use a 9kg ball thrown to a 10-foot target and a 24-inch box. CrossFit veteran Rich Froning's primary advice is to approach 26.1 with a clear pacing strategy, treating it like a 12-minute AMRAP (As Many Reps as Possible). He suggests writing down split targets for each segment to stay on track, especially for the daunting middle set of 66 wall balls. Froning emphasizes breaking up the wall ball sets from the beginning, suggesting descending rep schemes like 11-10-9 instead of pushing for large, unbroken sets. He also advises capping rest periods by taking just three deep breaths before resuming work to maintain intensity without burning out. For efficiency, Froning recommends catching the wall ball while descending into the squat to create a cyclical motion. On the box jump-overs, the key is to stay low and minimize any extra steps or high jumping to conserve energy. The CrossFit Open is the first stage of the CrossFit Games season, serving as a worldwide online competition for athletes of all levels. It has grown significantly since its inception in 2011, when about 26,000 people participated, to hundreds of thousands of registered athletes globally. Following a dip in participation in 2025, registration numbers for 2026 are reportedly surging.
