Tips To Prepare For The CrossFit Open 2019

It’s that time of year again folks…the smell of cold steel, chalk prints on the barbell, paleo diets, and THE CROSSFIT OPEN!!! Now, people get pretty worked up at the prospect of the Open, which is understandable. The Open can be used as a sort of measuring stick for your progress over the last year and your level of domination over your gym friends. This is cool but can also add pressure to perform well.

Here are some of the biggest questions/issues that arise during the Open and my tips to address them:

1. Should you re-do a workout?

Whether or not you have Games aspirations (it’ll be a lot harder this year to make the Games through the Open) or just want to take the Open seriously, you SHOULD re-do a workout IF you think that you can do better. Even if you believe that you can just shave off one rep or one second, that will make a difference on the leaderboard and in your head. If you know you can do better, you need to go out there and leave it all on the floor…you’ve been training for this!

A good timeline of recovery to be able to push for a second and even a third attempt if you need them goes something like this:

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Open/rest	Heavy training day	Moderate training day	Light training day, movement prep	Open	Active recovery or rest	Open/rest

2. What is your strategy?

You must have a strategy – this is between you and your coach and I wrote about it last year, but build a strategy and stick to it. Your ideal strategy should include:

Playing to your strengths

Moving at a moderate pace at the beginning to avoid burning out early

Breaking up the work into manageable sets and sticking to them

Observing others to pick up movement tricks/tips or see where their breakdowns happen

Checking YouTube for tips/tricks that competitors, gyms, etc. will be putting out.

3. Have fun!

The Open can be a stress-inducing time, but it can also be an exciting and fun time. At Friday Night Lights, most of your friends from the gym will be out, supporting and commiserating with each other. Most gyms will have food and/or drinks that you can partake in after crushing the workout. Plus, when you are relaxed and having fun, you will most likely do better on the workout!

As always, we hope this helps! If you have any questions or if you would like to read about certain topics, feel free to send us an email at TeamSP@SportsPerformancePT.com.

-Dr. Nick Schroeder, PT, DPT, CSCS