Our 6 Favorite Things at the CrossFit® Games

2016 marked our team’s fourth year attending the CrossFit® Games, and boy did we have a blast. The Games are always special for us, but this year seemed extra special. There was a different energy in the air, a higher level of competition among the athletes and amazing conversations were had at our tent in Vendor Village.

It’s hard to narrow down our favorite things about this year’s Games, but we took our best shot at it. Here are our six favorite things about attending The 2016 Games.

1). Meeting our customers in person

Without a doubt, meeting so many of our amazing customers in person was the top highlight of our week. We had customers from all around the world, who shared the commonality of using our box management solution, stop by our tent. We had a blast chatting with them, handing out shirts and taking pictures. Be sure to check out our album on Facebook and tag yourself and your gym!

2). Getting amazing feedback on our solution

All of our customers who stopped by provided great feedback on our solution, the enhancements we’ve made over the past several months and ideas for future updates. This feedback is invaluable to us, and helps drive the future of our solution. If you didn’t get a chance to stop by, we’d still love your feedback and welcome you to send it to product@zenplanner.com.

3). Watching the competition live

Streaming The Games is fun, but there aren’t words for how amazing it is to be in the stands of the StubHub Center watching the fittest people in the world compete. You leave feeling inspired and ready to take your training to the next level. If you ever get the chance, we highly recommend making a trip to The Games. You won’t regret it.

4). Being part of a bigger community

The five of us who attended The Games workout at local boxes back in Colorado. Each of our gyms has an awesome community. It was amazing to see that this feeling of community reaches far beyond the box. Being at The Games made all of feel like by doing this sport, we’re part of something much bigger, which is an incredible feeling.

5). Watching fans compete

Every day, we had a fitness competition at our tent for fans to compete in. Our competitions included:

• 50 air squats for time
• Handstand hold for time
• 20 alternating pistols for time
• 25 hand-release pushups for time

We were floored by the level of competition there was. Our handstand hold winner was able to stay up for 1 minute and 23 seconds, and our customer, Janyce Okamoto of CrossFit Santa Barbara, completed 20 pistols in 20.92 seconds! We’ll have to think of some more challenging competitions for next year…

6). Snagging some awesome gear

Vendor Village is essentially a gigantic mall dedicated to athletes. Everything you could possibly want, from new clothes and fitted wrist wraps to supplements and paleo snacks, was in one spot. Insider tip: wait to make some of your purchases on Sunday, as many booths, such as the Reebok tent, have awesome sales on the last day (but know that sizes become limited).

Here’s to another fantastic year at the CrossFit® Games! We’re already looking forward to next year.