DAVE CASTRO | CrossFit Open 18.0 and Fighting Mat Fraser

1. 0:00 – 0:47

   Why “18.0” existed: a pre-Open workout announcement idea years in the making

   1. CWChris Williamson0:00

      (wind blowing) Mr. Dave Castro?

   2. DCDave Castro0:07

      Yes.

   3. CWChris Williamson0:08

      Main man, how are you?

   4. DCDave Castro0:09

      Good, thank you.

   5. CWChris Williamson0:09

      Welcome.

   6. DCDave Castro0:10

      Thank you.

   7. CWChris Williamson0:10

      Welcome to London. Um, 18.0 has just ended me.

   8. DCDave Castro0:14

      (laughs)

   9. CWChris Williamson0:14

      Um, can you explain where that came from?

   10. DCDave Castro0:17

       Yeah, so the, uh, the idea of doing an 18.0 or a pre-workout before the Open starts has been something that's been floating in my head for years. I've always wanted to do it. We've never activated on it or moved on it, uh, within CrossFit. We've never made it a priority to execute on. And this year, Reebok asked me if I'd come out and do this event with them, and they s- they reignited that idea and they said, "Would you be open to doing a pre-Open announcement?" And I said, "Sure, let's call it 18.0."

   11. CWChris Williamson0:46

       Uh-huh.

2. 0:47 – 0:59

   Designing 18.0: simple, core CrossFit with small rule twists

   1. DCDave Castro0:47

      And so we decided to, uh, to do it here. And the workout had to be true, core CrossFit. You know, simple. Nice bite. Uh, two movements that are common to the Open, but with different twists.

   2. CWChris Williamson0:59

      Yeah.

3. 0:59 – 1:10

   New movement standards: dumbbell snatch change + burpee over dumbbell debut

   1. DCDave Castro0:59

      The- the- the dumbbell snatch we put a new standard on it of just bringing it down below the, uh, head before you make the switch.

   2. CWChris Williamson1:07

      Mm-hmm.

   3. DCDave Castro1:07

      And then the burpee over the dumbbell is something new. We hadn't seen that.

   4. CWChris Williamson1:10

      Yeah, it is.

4. 1:10 – 1:37

   Misdirection and hype: 18.0 as an “Instagram post,” but live

   1. DCDave Castro1:10

      So it's pretty cool 'cause now you- you're gonna have people, uh, assuming, and they might be assuming right or they might be assuming wrong, that that burpee that we just introduced will be the burpee in the Open.

   2. CWChris Williamson1:21

      Well, you like to throw a couple of curveballs in, right?

   3. DCDave Castro1:24

      Yeah, and so this is- this is- this, uh, 18.0 has provided a nice little, uh, it's gonna get people talking about what might be coming.

   4. CWChris Williamson1:31

      This is just-

   5. DCDave Castro1:32

      We'll be all.

   6. CWChris Williamson1:32

      ... another Dave Castro Instagram post, isn't it?

   7. DCDave Castro1:34

      Yeah, basically-

   8. CWChris Williamson1:34

      (laughs)

   9. DCDave Castro1:34

      ... but just for Reebok and live and for this event.

5. 1:37 – 2:23

   Do athletes ever try to distract Castro during announcements?

   1. CWChris Williamson1:37

      For sure. Um, so yesterday on Instagram, I saw you trying to put Dan off during a photo shoot?

   2. DCDave Castro1:43

      Yeah.

   3. CWChris Williamson1:43

      Um, have the guys ever tried to put you off during the games? Have they ever tried to come up behind you and whisper just random movements in your ear so that you end up, like, saying the wrong thing or forgetting?

   4. DCDave Castro1:53

      Not during the games. During the games people ... they're pretty occupied with what they have to do.

   5. CWChris Williamson1:58

      Yeah, that's true.

   6. DCDave Castro1:58

      And they respect that I'm pretty occupied with what I'm doing.

   7. CWChris Williamson2:01

      Yeah.

   8. DCDave Castro2:02

      So, uh, during the games, no. But at other events and in other, um, stuff like this, yeah, guys, the guys, especially the guys I'm close with, will, uh, will push me or poke at me and- and do stuff. But, um, but typically not at the games.

   9. CWChris Williamson2:16

      Uh-huh.

   10. DCDave Castro2:16

       'Cause everyone has their own things going on.

   11. CWChris Williamson2:18

       Yeah, for sure.

   12. DCDave Castro2:18

       Their own demons they're facing.

   13. CWChris Williamson2:19

       But maybe some of the Open announcements or something like that, they might try and just nudge you or-

6. 2:23 – 3:19

   The pressure of Open announcements: performing minutes after hearing the workout

   1. DCDave Castro2:23

      Uh, the Open announcements they'll try to ... They'll- they'll make little jokes, but they're also very nervous at that point too.

   2. CWChris Williamson2:27

      Yeah.

   3. DCDave Castro2:27

      'Cause they don't know what they're about to do.

   4. CWChris Williamson2:29

      Yeah.

   5. DCDave Castro2:29

      And the Open announcements are tough because they have to, uh ... I announce the workout and a few minutes later they have to do it.

   6. CWChris Williamson2:35

      You gotta go.

   7. DCDave Castro2:36

      Yeah. So ...

   8. CWChris Williamson2:37

      For sure.

   9. DCDave Castro2:38

      It's a demanding environment for them.

   10. CWChris Williamson2:40

       For everyone.

   11. DCDave Castro2:41

       Yeah. Well, and- and especially for those top athletes because of the fact that, like, you know, if you're not doing an Open announcement, you get to watch the workout then you get to process and you get to see what everyone else is doing. Then you get to, you know, "Do I wanna do it tomorrow? Do I wanna do it Friday?" You get to do all ... You get to set your own schedule.

   12. CWChris Williamson2:56

       Yeah.

   13. DCDave Castro2:57

       At ... If you're part of the Open announcement, you don't get to set your own schedule.

   14. CWChris Williamson3:00

       For sure.

   15. DCDave Castro3:00

       You have to do it within five minutes after it's announced.

   16. CWChris Williamson3:03

       Especially last year with some of the new movements that we saw.

   17. DCDave Castro3:05

       Yeah.

   18. CWChris Williamson3:05

       Some of the stuff like the dumbbell cleans and then the racked up lunges as well-

   19. DCDave Castro3:10

       Yeah.

   20. CWChris Williamson3:10

       ... and stuff like that.

   21. DCDave Castro3:11

       Yeah.

   22. CWChris Williamson3:11

       The techniques that everyone developed, you get the guys that do the Open announcements, they're the worst. They get the- no chance to prepare.

   23. DCDave Castro3:18

       Uh, they're-

   24. CWChris Williamson3:19

       No coaching.

7. 3:19 – 4:08

   Mat Fraser example: elite performance even with zero prep

   1. DCDave Castro3:19

      ... not always the worst though. Like you even look at, uh, Matt, Matt and Scott when they did eight ... I guess it was 18.3, the snatch.

   2. CWChris Williamson3:28

      Squat snatch, yeah.

   3. DCDave Castro3:29

      Squat snatch event. Um, Matt had the fastest time in the world I think.

   4. CWChris Williamson3:33

      Nailed it.

   5. DCDave Castro3:33

      No, he, uh ... No, Ben ended up having the fastest time. He beat him at the last minute, but Matt had the second-fastest time.

   6. CWChris Williamson3:39

      With no prep.

   7. DCDave Castro3:40

      On his first go. Yeah.

   8. CWChris Williamson3:41

      Do you know if he repeated that?

   9. DCDave Castro3:43

      I don't think he did. I'm pretty sure he did not.

   10. CWChris Williamson3:45

       I think you know when you've emptied the tank, don't you?

   11. DCDave Castro3:47

       Well, I don't think ... Here, it's not even emptying the tank. I don't think he emptied the tank. I think he could've gone faster. It's more of, um, he didn't need to do it again.

   12. CWChris Williamson3:55

       Have you done enough? You don't need to end-

   13. DCDave Castro3:57

       He- he did-

   14. CWChris Williamson3:57

       ... yourself ready for next week.

   15. DCDave Castro3:58

       Yeah. He-

   16. CWChris Williamson3:58

       Right?

   17. DCDave Castro3:58

       He's looking at the marathon. He's looking at the complete picture.

   18. CWChris Williamson4:00

       Yeah.

   19. DCDave Castro4:01

       He doesn't want to win just that event. He wants to win the whole thing.

   20. CWChris Williamson4:03

       For sure.

   21. DCDave Castro4:03

       So he did enough for him to be set up for success for- for the rest of the competition.

8. 4:08 – 4:59

   Reebok x CrossFit partnership: expanding reach while keeping organic growth

   1. CWChris Williamson4:08

      I understand. Um, so Reebok and CrossFit have got a really strong partnership now. Um, today's community I think has shown just how cool that can be and the sort of small events that you can do locally that affect CrossFitters that are on the local level.

   2. DCDave Castro4:22

      Yeah.

   3. CWChris Williamson4:22

      Um, can you explain what the partnership with Reebok's enabled you to do that you might not have been able to do without them? Has there been more accesses? What have you been able to do with Reebok?

   4. DCDave Castro4:33

      Yeah, the partnership's been great. They've exposed us to a new, uh, community of people that traditionally, um, that we wouldn't target or work with just in the mass fitness community outside of, uh, you know, bringing in media, bringing in people who aren't from your traditional CrossFit realms. Um, we actively don't go out and try to promote ourselves. We let the brand promote itself organically. We let it grow by word of mouth.

9. 4:59 – 5:42

   Programming for 400k+ people: ranking the fittest while staying broadly doable

   1. CWChris Williamson4:59

      So this year it looks like more than half a million people might do the Open.

   2. DCDave Castro5:03

      Hopefully.

   3. CWChris Williamson5:04

      420 or something last year? 420,000?

   4. DCDave Castro5:07

      Something like that, yeah.

   5. CWChris Williamson5:08

      Um, how does it feel knowing that your pen and paper is going to influence the lives of so many people?

   6. DCDave Castro5:12

      Uh-

   7. CWChris Williamson5:12

      Like if you ... What you write on a piece-

   8. DCDave Castro5:14

      Yeah.

   9. CWChris Williamson5:14

      ... of paper is literally gonna de- define someone's weekend.

   10. DCDave Castro5:18

       Yeah. It's, uh ... I don't think about it like that too much. But it is, like, if I step back and think about it, that is pretty s- cool, significant. But I think it ... I- I don't look at it that way. I'm thinking more about the test that I have to program being that it's ... Here's what I'm thinking about. Programming a test that's gonna, um, rank the fittest in the world, but also be appropriate for 400 other thousand people.

   11. CWChris Williamson5:39

       Gotta be inclusive, right?

   12. DCDave Castro5:40

       Yeah. That anyone can do it.

   13. CWChris Williamson5:42

       Do you find-

10. 5:42 – 6:33

    “Anyone can do it” (but not literally): the experience floor and why technique matters

    1. DCDave Castro5:42

       You know, and here's the thing about the anyone can do it. That- that statement is true, but it's also misleading in the fact that anyone can do it if you ... You need some experience, right? Like, you need to have a l- you need to know how to do some basic CrossFit movements.

    2. CWChris Williamson5:55

       For sure. Even the scale.

    3. DCDave Castro5:56

       Even the scale.

    4. CWChris Williamson5:56

       Yeah.

    5. DCDave Castro5:56

       Even the scale. You still have to have some concept. I would say-Not anybody can do the scale division, but a majority of the world can. You just have to have some understanding of CrossFit-

    6. CWChris Williamson6:08

       Yeah.

    7. DCDave Castro6:08

       ... and the movements to participate, which isn't asking a lot, and which is, it makes sense, you know?

    8. CWChris Williamson6:13

       Yeah.

    9. DCDave Castro6:13

       'Cause if, if it, if it was set up that anyone could do it, we'd just have, you know, a walking competition.

    10. CWChris Williamson6:18

        There'd be no accomplishment, right?

    11. DCDave Castro6:19

        Yeah. Well, you'd, you'd have to do movements that are so basic that have no instruction.

    12. CWChris Williamson6:22

        Yeah.

    13. DCDave Castro6:23

        And essentially all of our movements, our body weight movements, anything with a barbell, there's some level of instruction or some level of technicality to them that you have to, uh, do.

11. 6:33 – 7:56

    Castro testing workouts: when he actually fears doing the Open events

    1. CWChris Williamson6:33

       For sure. Um, so you said that you test the Open workouts-

    2. DCDave Castro6:38

       Mm-hmm.

    3. CWChris Williamson6:39

       ... yourself-

    4. DCDave Castro6:39

       Yeah.

    5. CWChris Williamson6:40

       ... sometimes before sending them to anybody else.

    6. DCDave Castro6:42

       Yes.

    7. CWChris Williamson6:43

       Do you ever find that you're fearing them as you write them down, or wanting to back off the intensity, seeing as you know that you're about to punch yourself in the face with it in about 30 minutes?

    8. DCDave Castro6:51

       Well, here's what I fear with the Open workouts. I, I just, like, I, I fear not... I don't mind doing them when I'm creating them in that process.

    9. CWChris Williamson7:01

       Mm-hmm.

    10. DCDave Castro7:01

        But I mind once scores have been established and once people have done them, 'cause now you see, oh man, a, a middle of the pack time is this.

    11. CWChris Williamson7:09

        (laughs)

    12. DCDave Castro7:09

        Now I have to do that or better.

    13. CWChris Williamson7:11

        Uh-huh.

    14. DCDave Castro7:11

        I get the anxiety from them when I have to actually do them and I know other people's scores.

    15. CWChris Williamson7:15

        You're gonna watch that score go up.

    16. DCDave Castro7:17

        So when I do them in prepping for them before anyone's ever done them, I'm not too worried about it, 'cause I know it's like, I'll get a sense of-

    17. CWChris Williamson7:23

        You're number one in the world, right, in every Open workout. (laughs)

    18. DCDave Castro7:26

        Yeah, exactly. I'll get a sense of how it feels and how the movements feel, and overall that it hurts. But, but then when I do them... 'Cause I'll test them, and then during the Open week, I'll do them officially.

    19. CWChris Williamson7:37

        Cool.

    20. DCDave Castro7:37

        So, like, I don't use my scores from when I tested it.

    21. CWChris Williamson7:39

        Okay.

    22. DCDave Castro7:39

        I make it official, and I do it within the window with a judge and go through the whole process.

    23. CWChris Williamson7:44

        I understand.

    24. DCDave Castro7:45

        And, uh, th- that's when I fear them. But in the creation... And, you know, some of them, like, I don't like movements like thrusters and the things people typically don't like. So when they have those in there too, I'm not excited about testing them.

12. 7:56 – 8:38

    Gear minimalism: shoes don’t matter much if you can “make it happen”

    1. CWChris Williamson7:56

       Yeah, the... I bet so. Um, so new 908s been released this week. Um, what is your favorite pair of Reebok shoes from over the years? Have you got a favorite pair that sticks out?

    2. DCDave Castro8:08

       I never really think of my shoes.

    3. CWChris Williamson8:10

       Yeah.

    4. DCDave Castro8:10

       I just move.

    5. CWChris Williamson8:10

       Okay.

    6. DCDave Castro8:10

       And like, I just... I'm good, I've... And it's kind of how I've been brought up. It just, you wanna be prepared for whatever-

    7. CWChris Williamson8:17

       Just crack on.

    8. DCDave Castro8:17

       ... you have.

    9. CWChris Williamson8:17

       Well, that's the Salem mentality, right?

    10. DCDave Castro8:18

        Whatever you're gonna... Yeah, whatever you're gonna work with, whatever you're gonna use, you make it happen. So the, uh, same, I feel the same way about barbells. Barbell is a little different. I'd rather that... Of course you want a nice one, but if you don't have a nice one, you can, you can make it work.

    11. CWChris Williamson8:29

        For sure.

    12. DCDave Castro8:30

        Yeah.

    13. CWChris Williamson8:31

        Uh-

    14. DCDave Castro8:31

        So... But I do like these, they feel great. And I felt, I, I thought the 7s were great. I think these are great.

    15. CWChris Williamson8:35

        Yeah.

    16. DCDave Castro8:35

        Yeah.

    17. CWChris Williamson8:35

        A little bit more of a heel drop in these, I noticed, which feels quite good.

    18. DCDave Castro8:38

        Yeah. Yeah.

13. 8:38 – 9:57

    Quick-fire personal bits: group chats, favorite gyms worldwide, and China’s surprise scene

    1. CWChris Williamson8:38

       Really, really good. Um, what's the coolest group chat that you're in?

    2. DCDave Castro8:43

       Coolest group chat?

    3. CWChris Williamson8:44

       Yeah. On iMessage or, like, WhatsApp or whatever. Have you got some cool group chats that you're in?

    4. DCDave Castro8:49

       No. I, I have some business text groups that I'm in-

    5. CWChris Williamson8:53

       Uh-huh.

    6. DCDave Castro8:53

       ... with some of my core team, and, uh, those I don't really... They're just all business.

    7. CWChris Williamson8:58

       Okay, I got it. Um, so I wouldn't like to guess how many gyms you've been to around the world.

    8. DCDave Castro9:03

       I don't know anymore, but I've been to a lot.

    9. CWChris Williamson9:05

       An awful lot.

    10. DCDave Castro9:06

        Yeah.

    11. CWChris Williamson9:06

        Um, have you got a top three coolest?

    12. DCDave Castro9:10

        Gyms?

    13. CWChris Williamson9:10

        Yes.

    14. DCDave Castro9:11

        There's some-

    15. CWChris Williamson9:11

        Any that come to mind?

    16. DCDave Castro9:12

        There's some gyms in China that were really cool that I just remember that were very unique, and partly because they were in China and you wouldn't expect to find such nice CrossFit gyms. I mean, I didn't. I mean-

    17. CWChris Williamson9:22

        Yeah.

    18. DCDave Castro9:22

        ... you can't... Once I was there, now it makes sense. But before I went, I went a couple years ago, I had no idea that I'd find some of the nicest CrossFit gyms in the world in China.

    19. CWChris Williamson9:31

        Such an emerging market for CrossFit as well.

    20. DCDave Castro9:32

        Yeah, exactly. So that was, that was unique. Um, yeah, I don't have a, a favorite CrossFit gym.

    21. CWChris Williamson9:40

        Mm-hmm.

    22. DCDave Castro9:40

        I just, I like-

    23. CWChris Williamson9:41

        Some of those ones.

    24. DCDave Castro9:42

        They, they all have such different flavors and such different looks-

    25. CWChris Williamson9:44

        For sure.

    26. DCDave Castro9:44

        ... and such different, um, experiences that... They're all unique in a different way.

    27. CWChris Williamson9:49

        Yeah, definitely. Bu- but also the exact same training methodology-

    28. DCDave Castro9:53

        Yeah.

    29. CWChris Williamson9:53

        ... that arrives in a, in a culturally different way, right?

    30. DCDave Castro9:56

        Yeah, totally.

14. 9:57 – 11:49

    Who’s hardest to “kill”? Why Mat Fraser’s mentality makes him most dangerous

    1. CWChris Williamson9:57

       Um, you're in the Hunger Games and there's only other Games athletes there. Who's gonna be the hardest to kill?

    2. DCDave Castro10:04

       I don't even know what the Hunger Games are.

    3. CWChris Williamson10:06

       You know, like, Battle Royale? You've got to, like, try-

    4. DCDave Castro10:09

       Like WWF? (laughs)

    5. CWChris Williamson10:10

       Kind of. Kind of. Okay. Who... WWF, who's gonna be the hardest to get out of the ring do you think?

    6. DCDave Castro10:15

       Um...

    7. CWChris Williamson10:15

       Out of all of the Games athletes from this year?

    8. DCDave Castro10:17

       From this year?

    9. CWChris Williamson10:18

       Yeah.

    10. DCDave Castro10:18

        Out of all the Games athletes?

    11. CWChris Williamson10:19

        Yeah.

    12. DCDave Castro10:19

        Let me think about that. Well, I think Matt's pretty... Here's what I respect about Matt and why ............................ 'Cause he's really a fighter. And what I mean, I don't mean a physical fighter, but I mean a mental fighter.

    13. CWChris Williamson10:28

        Mm-hmm.

    14. DCDave Castro10:28

        It's like he really wants to win no matter what it takes. And in years past, there's been athletes who, um... And even now you still hear some that, uh, "I'm just competing against myself and I, you know, I wanna do as best as I can." But the reality is when you get out there, you have to compete against those to your left and right, and you have to do better than even what the best you can is or what it thinks it is-

    15. CWChris Williamson10:50

        Uh-huh.

    16. DCDave Castro10:50

        ... if you wanna win. And Matt understands that. And when you watch Matt... And Rich Froning had that too.

    17. CWChris Williamson10:55

        100%.

    18. DCDave Castro10:56

        When you watch those two, they're not trying to do the best they can. They're trying to beat the guy to the left and right of them.

    19. CWChris Williamson11:01

        Absolutely.

    20. DCDave Castro11:02

        And sometimes that doesn't even mean they have to be the best that they can. It means they could be 70% of what they are and they're still beating the guys to their left and right.

    21. CWChris Williamson11:09

        That's what, that's what makes a good competitor, right?

    22. DCDave Castro11:11

        Exactly.

    23. CWChris Williamson11:11

        As opposed to just a good athlete.

    24. DCDave Castro11:12

        So that t- type of mentality also would make the type of person I wouldn't want to fight in a cage or I wouldn't want to be with in a-

    25. CWChris Williamson11:19

        Absolutely.

    26. DCDave Castro11:19

        ... in a scenario like that.

    27. CWChris Williamson11:20

        Yeah.

    28. DCDave Castro11:20

        Because they, uh, they want to win at all costs. And that's, that's a powerful thing.

    29. CWChris Williamson11:26

        I know.

    30. DCDave Castro11:26

        And it's, uh, it's powerful.

Episode duration: 11:47