Tips For Competing In The CrossFit Open

Glendale Physical Therapist

The CrossFit Open season is upon us. A time to not only compete with your fellow box members, friends, and training partners but to also compete with people worldwide. With that being said, here are a few simple pointers to keep you on track to hitting PR’s and doing your personal best in the 2016 CrossFit Open:

Stay Hydrated:

Drink plenty of fluid prior to performing the workouts, especially the night before and the day of.

Rest:

Don’t do a long and or heavy metcon the day before you do the work out, instead think about brushing up on your skill work or technique and then do active recovery.

Mobility:

Work on mobility the day before and the day of you plan on performing the work out; especially when you know what the movements are going to be.

Warm-up:

The warm-up is key, prime the central nervous system, proprioceptors, and musculature system prior to performing the work out for optimal performance and injury prevention.

Be aware of what you are doing:

I know it is a competition, but be mindful of what you are doing during the work out. Don’t be absent minded just going through the motions and reps prescribed. Be aware of your body. Give yourself constant feedback, “what am I doing really well?” “What could I do to be more efficient right now?” “When should I pick up my pace?” “when should I rest?” “How many breathes should I rest for?” Staying focused on what is going on internally and externally then adjusting your plan accordingly is a great way to stay focused on the task at hand.

Breathe/Visualize/Plan:

I personally love doing this before every training session, it keeps me more focused, disciplined, and accountable for myself. Here is what you do: Look at the work out. Take note of the movements, the rep scheme, and the structure of it (AMRAP, for time, for load…) now you have that information go somewhere you can relax and focus. Now perform box breathing (4 count breath in-4 count hold-4count breathe out-4 count hold-repeat) While doing this visualize the work out. Chances are you have performed the movements prescribed so you have a good reference point for how the work out is going to feel for you and where you might struggle at. From here all you do is plan. Figure out how you are going to pace it: how many reps are you planning on doing for each movement before resting? Whether you go unbroken, break it up into certain numbers and so on and so forth. Last thing you need to plan is where you will rest and for how long. Try not basing your rest on a clock, instead base it off of deep breathes. For example: “After I do x amount of thrusters I am going to rest for x amount of deep breathes) Keep in mind you should be doing the breathing pattern the entire time you are doing all of this!

After you have completed all steps you should be focused and ready to go! Let us know if these tips helped you as we finish up this seasons CrossFit Open!