Dave Castro: forever keeping us on our toes. While everyone has been anxiously awaiting the start of the CrossFit Open, Castro unsurprisingly had something up his sleeve: something he’s calling 18.Zero, along with two new movement standards. 18.Zero will be an extra workout, but not directly related to the rest of the Open. The workout is a couplet consisting of dumbbell snatches (50 pounds for men, 35 pounds for women) and burpees, completed as 21-15-9, for time. But wait — there’s more.

Previously, with dumbbell snatches, the athlete could switch hands while the DB was overhead, in between two reps. Now, the DB must be below eye level, before they can switch hands.

And there’s one more change: burpees just got a little tougher (as if they weren’t tough already). For starters, you can no longer step back and step up one foot at a time. Both feet must kick back simultaneously, and return forward again simultaneously. Otherwise, it’s considered scale.

In regard to 18.Zero, the athlete is required to put the DB next to them (on their side), and — keeping both feet parallel and in line with it — must jump over it to complete each burpee. Any variations of this will render the burpees scaled!