The First European Fitness League: The Kings of WOD

Last month, on September 28^th, the 2nd stage of The Kings of WOD took place within one of the most media covered events in the world: the Arnold Classic Europe, in Madrid. “What is the heck is The Kings of WOD?” I hear you ask. Well, according to the Kings of WOD website, it is “a new and innovative fitness league” that appears to be taking off in Europe.

The premise of the competition is based off of battling tribes in ancient times, in which each tribe would choose a group of ‘warriors’ (or single individual) to battle a neighboring tribe for supremacy. The league features six ‘tribes’: The Slavic Force, The Vikings, The Celts, The Romans, The Barbarians and The Iberians. Anyone has the opportunity to sign up for one of these tribes for the chance to compete at one of the three ‘battles’ in the league, which, in 2014, have taken place in Portugal and Spain, with the last battle before the final set to take place in Italy. Prior to each battle, there is an online three-week qualification phase. Hopefuls will have to complete three posted workouts each week and post their scores online—similar to the process of the Open before the Regionals. There are two categories: Elite Male and Female, and Masters Male and Female. To clarify, athletes competing in either of these categories will do so as individuals, and compete against one another to determine who will make it to the stage final—i.e. the battle(s). The three battles (Portugal, Spain and Italy) are part of the European Kings of WOD league, in which athletes are able to gather ranking points. The athletes with the most points will move forward to “The Great Final”, where the best athletes will be crowned as champions and receive cash prizes (athletes competed for 10,000 euros—about 12,800 dollars—in Madrid).

Phew, that’s a lot of information! Feel free to take a look at the Kings of WOD website yourself if you want to find out more information about the league. It will be interesting to see how and if this style of fitness competition kicks off in other regions, but it’s certainly unique to see a multi-stage, multi-nation competition take place. Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger made an appearance at the Spanish stage (since it did take place during the Arnold classic), giving more proof that functional fitness is taking hold all over the world.

Photo courtesy of Sonia Ariz