The Protein Habit Challenge

The 2026 CrossFit Open Community Throwdown at 12 Labours is a three-week, gym-wide experience built around one simple idea: showing up and doing hard things together. Running alongside the CrossFit Open, this event is about participation, effort, strengthening the community that trains side by side every day. Every member is welcome to take part, including RX, Scaled, Foundations, teens, and brand-new athletes. If you show up and try, you belong. Athletes will be placed into four teams, each led by a volunteer coach captain, with a mix across skill levels, class times, ages, and experience. This will encourage members who may not normally train together to connect, cheer for one another, and share in the challenge. Teams earn points not only for performance, but for attendance, encouragement, judging, and bringing energy into the gym. While workouts are scored across RX, Scaled, and Foundations divisions, participation and community points carry major weight. Teams are rewarded for having athletes complete workouts, judge for others, bring friends to watch, show team spirit, hype teammates, and create memorable moments. From best team theme and hype crew to grittiest performance and best moment of the week, the scoring system is designed so that effort and presence matter just as much as results. Teams will be revealed during a kickoff week with names, colors, and a visible gym leaderboard that stays up for all three weeks. Workouts are announced on Thursdays, followed by team hype leading into Saturday’s main event. Weekly recaps, standings updates, and celebrations will be posted throughout the week. Judging will be available with clear standards, encouragement, and lots of cheering. Leaderboards will be displayed in the gym and shared online so progress is celebrated together. At its heart, the Open Team Throwdown is about commitment, courage, and connection. It is about choosing to show up when workouts feel intimidating, leaning on teammates for support, and celebrating effort over perfection. This is a chance to push personal limits, build relationships, and experience what makes this gym a community, not just a place to work out.

In 2010, shortly after moving to Annapolis, I read an article in a local paper about a new workout concept called “CrossFit”. I joined the local facility and haven’t looked back since! My initial goal was to improve strength and cardio fitness to support my real interests - running and playing golf. While that is still the case, along the way I discovered that I really like lifting weights. One great satisfaction for me is being able to track progress - both in the amount of weight I can lift correctly but also being able to complete more complex movements like TGUs and squat complexes, which were completely unfamiliar to me pre-CrossFit. Caveat - I have not yet been able to do some CrossFit standards such as a handstand pushup or a decent burpee, that’s on me not the coaching staff. There is still time! Part of the CrossFit appeal is the structure of the workouts but another equally important part is the community of CrossFit. Both the fabulous people I work out with at the 6:30AM classes - as well as the attentive and patient coaches (who all can come up with a million scaled versions of a movement before letting you quit!) keep me wanting to come to class. Anyone who thinks they know what CrossFit is like and have not attended a class are missing a tremendous opportunity to become part of an accessible fitness program in a nurturing environment. Come out and see what you are missing - you have nothing to lose and much to gain.