So We’re “In The Open”. Now What?
In the last blog, we gave you a little bit of information into what “The Open” is and why it’s a good thing to do. Regardless of where you are at in your fitness journey, I would encourage us all to sign up and enjoy the added sense of community that comes from competing with your friends!
Open events have typically been released on Thursday night. You then have until Monday night to complete the workout and enter your score online (we’ll go through all the logistics of this at the whiteboard in the gym in case you aren’t sure on how to do that). 306 will have the Open workouts programmed for you to do on Friday’s during the Open weeks. So, yes, every member who plans on working out on Friday will be doing the workout anyways. You might as well register and enjoy the process! It’s a whole lot of fun.
I’m not going to go in to “rest days” and “nutrition” and all of that for an Open event. If you are at the level where that kind of thing matters so you can submit your absolute best score possible, then you already know all of that. For the rest of us, some mindset, movement prep and forethought will go a very long way. First and foremost, the Open is FUN! It is meant to provoke a little more emotion; some of us might even be a little bit nervous. That’s all good and positive. Use that emotion on the day to dig a little deeper than you normally would. Get excited, be supportive and be supported by everyone around you.
Before the event, as with all 306 WOD’s, coaches will lead you through a movement specific warm up. Open workouts are kept in tight secrecy until the live announcements on Thursday night. Just the same as you don’t know our daily WOD ahead of time, you have minimal time to think about the Open events as well. When you see what the movements are, give some extra attention to the movements you are not as confident in. We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. Spend a little extra time working through positioning and warm ups for those sticking points. Get everything moving and working well. During the workouts, move quick through your strengths. You spend less energy going quickly through movements you are confident in and limit the time under tension so you can slow down the others and focus on staying true to form and efficient.
The last thing I’ll talk about is some forethought on that particular workout. Visualization is a huge tool and key to success in the competitive world. While we may not care a whole lot about the leaderboard, executing to YOUR fullest potential is incredibly rewarding. We all know that Crossfit likes to make you a little uncomfortable. Usually we don’t think about that part of it until it hits us. Square in the face! To maximize your potential, think about when that “uncomfortable” part is going to happen in the workout. Be ready for it. I have done blogs in the past on mindset and, as a competitor, I could dive into the deep end on it. However, planning for that moment when it’s going to get uncomfortable is probably the single biggest tip I can give you. Be ready for it so it can’t surprise you and when it comes, welcome it. That’s when it’s time to do some work.
The Open is all about the community and being together to take part in a world wide event focused on fitness. For most of us, it’s the only “competition” that we do within Crossfit. That is fantastic! Give it a little extra attention through some of the tips above and you might just surprise yourself with what your fitness can do. Execute to your potential. Be the best you that you can! Welcome to the Open.