How to thrive during the Crossfit Open

We are already a week into the 2022 CrossFit Open and, with two weeks still remaining, we wanted to make sure you are all making the most of it!

Every year we see and hear the same things, from the beginner, all the way to the competitor who is hoping to make semi finals. So here are a few tips to getting what you actually want from the Open.

1. To repeat or not to repeat?
   Our opinion on this is that, irregardless of your Open goals, if you are a driven individual and you finish a workout knowing you could have done more, go for it. There is no worse feeling than knowing you didn’t give your all on something at the time you did it, or you realised you did something stupid and you could have shaved seconds off your round times. This is someone chasing self improvement and we are all for it! HOWEVER. Did you finish happy with your efforts, and only after finding out your friends / arch enemies score decided you MUST go again. You simply aren’t good enough unless you beat this score. This is not healthy. Basing your success off the results of others isn’t a recipe for long term improvement. If you only went harder after seeing your friends score as a target to aim for then you should start asking yourself why you couldn’t achieve that score in the first place. The answer is belief in yourself.
2. Making the most out of the first attempt.
   Imagine you only have the chance to do each workout once. This is an in person competition or you can’t make it to the gym next week because of some crazy world ending storm in the UK (LOL). If you approach the workout knowing you may do it again, chances are you will ease up when it gets hard.
   In the warm up, practice the pace that gets you the score that you want. It sounds so simple but not many of us do it. If you know you want 10 rounds in a 15 min AMRAP, do a warm up round at 1:30 pace per round and see how it feels, from here you will know if this is achievable or if you actually could aim for more.
3. Ask Questions.
   Follow your coaches guide, these guys are here to help you. They've probably been through the open many times before and seen it all before. Ask for workout tips, warm up exercises, how to cool down and follow their lead on how to train between workouts.
4. Maintain a normal training regime.
   This is especially important for those training for Quarter Finals. Obsessing over the workout you did on Friday and missing Saturdays session to be able to repeat the workout on Monday isn’t setting you up for success in the next stage. Even if it means you have to accept you could have done more in the Open. Return to your normal routine straight away and focus on what you can be doing each day to be better for next week.
5. Do it with your friends.
   Actual friends, not people you just want to beat. Go head to head with people who push and support you and and vice versa. Suffering is always better with company.
6. Recover.
   This should be pretty standard anyway however it is especially important during the Open as you probably are more stressed, have consumed more caffeine and are pushing harder than usual. Hydrate, eat well, take rest days, stretch and get your sleep routine in order. These are all things you can control, what you do outside the gym will have a big impact on how you perform inside the gym.
7. AVOID the leaderboard until Tuesday morning.
   This is when everything is final and no matter how many times you check it, there’s nothing you can do about it. People will put in scores wrong, don’t stress when you see someone finish a 20:00 workout in 09:30 - they aren’t good with technology. Go back to your normal routine, watch Netflix with your wife, or cat, or by yourself, nobody wants to hear that on Saturday night you were 29th and now you’re 37th but will probably change 100 more times.

With all that being said. Go and get it these last two weeks, enjoy the process, trust your fitness and test the work you've been putting in over the last year.

Go Get’em!

-Pursue Your Potential