CrossFit Open 23.1: Our Modified Home Gym Version

Get a taste of the monstrous 14-minute workout with just a pair of dumbbells

The Crossfit Open kicked off with a bang, offering up participants a monster 14 minutes of fast rowing, explosive throwing, heavy lifting and gymnastics, in what might possibly be one of the most quintessential CrossFit workouts every devised.

We’ve already shared our top tips on tackling this behemoth, from one of the fittest men in Britain, right here. But, if you’ve been an interested observer in the ‘sport of fitness’ for a while and want to get a taste for this test from the (dis)comfort of your own home gym, then get ready to take on our modified dumbbell-only version.

Featuring none of the machines, medicine balls or high flying gymnastics, but following the same template and reps with some clever substitutions — all you need to do is warm-up, grab your dumbbells, set a timer for 14 minutes and make it as far as you can through the following workout before the buzzer sounds.

Finished before the bell? Start again from the beginning.

Squat down and place both hands on the floor between your feet. Jump your feet back into the top of a press-up and lower your chest to the ground (A). Straighten your arms and hop your feet forwards, before jumping into the air with hands on head (B) Repeat.

After your final burpee flip over and move immediately into sit-ups. With your legs bent and your soles together, lie with your hands behind your head (A). Tense your abs as you lift up, and touch your hands to your feet (B). Reverse the move, touching the floor behind your head on each rep.

Clean your dumbbells up to your shoulders and squat down, keeping your back straight and your chest up, until your thighs are beyond parallel to the ground (A). Stand back up explosively and, in one motion, press both of the dumbbells overhead to full lockout (B). Now, reverse the movement lowering the dumbbells to your shoulders and dropping into a squat. Repeat.

With dumbbells on the outside of your feet, hinge down and grab them with a flat back (A). Stand back up explosively with a slight jump, using the momentum to pull the dumbbells on to your shoulders and stand tall (B). Lower under control to the ground and repeat.

After your final clean, drop into a strong plank with both hands on your dumbbells. Lower your chest to the ground and back up performing a press-up (A). Next, shift your weight onto your left hand, row the right dumbbell towards your hip (B). Pause briefly, then lower the weight under control. Repeat on your left side. That's one rep.

With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.

As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men's Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that's through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.

Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.

You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.

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