KAILUA-KONA — Does teamwork make the dream work? ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Does teamwork make the dream work? Nearly 150 athletes will find out the answer to that question at CrossFit Pohaku’s fourth annual Double Trouble event on Saturday. There will
KAILUA-KONA — Does teamwork make the dream work?
Nearly 150 athletes will find out the answer to that question at CrossFit Pohaku’s fourth annual Double Trouble event on Saturday.
There will be 72 teams of two from around the island and state in the competition, which will feature five workouts that focus on a variety of aspects of strength, agility, coordination and gymnastics.
The event is set to kick off at 8 a.m. at CrossFit Pohaku on Alapa Street in the Old Industrial Area. The final workouts are slated to finish up around 5 p.m.
“A lot of people love the partner concept,” CrossFit Pohaku owner Andy Huebner said. “It doesn’t just hinge on one person’s ability. You have someone you can play off of if you get too tired or have a skill you need to work on.”
For many, hearing terms like kipping, EMOM, double-unders or AMRAP might be foreign and intimidating. But the goal for Huebner and his crew is to make the competition as accommodating and inclusive as possible to athletes of all levels, offering male, female and co-ed divisions. Within those categories are scaled — for newer athletes — and RX — for the experienced competitor — divisions.
“For a lot of people, this is their first competition. So no matter what level someone is at, we try to find something for them. Nobody is ever standing around,” Huebner said. “But then when you get to the RX division, they are going all out and there is a lot of strategy involved.”
Regardless of division, the workouts are grueling and designed to push athlete’s to their limit. For example, one routine combines clocking calories on a rowing machine, box jumps and a shoulder workout (either hand-stand pushups or a shoulder-to-overhead lift, depending on division). But there is also a degree of secrecy to the workouts, limiting the time to prepare both physically and mentally.
“I don’t like having people practicing a workout over and over again,” Huebner said. “I release some of them the week of the competition, and we don’t release the last one. It’s a little surprise for competition day.”
One thing athletes can anticipate is a raucous environment during the workouts. There is rarely a dull moment during the full-day event, thanks to a supportive and loud crowd in a fairly small area.
“People usually end up doing things they can’t do,” Huebner said. “When it comes to a competition like this, people put it all on the line and the crowd is a big factor.”
The competition has a reach beyond the gym as well, raising money for charity. Last year the event raised around $1,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project. This year the charity will be the West Hawaii Fatherhood Initiative.
