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It’s Open Season Baby

Tom Stevens

(Focus: The Crossfit Open, The Athlete Mindset, Knowing your Limits, Setting Expectations)


It’s Open Season Baby! And this year we are hunting gains. If you don’t know already - the Open is an annual CrossFit event that starts off each CrossFit Games season. It is done by every CrossFit gym around the world and is part of what ties us to the global community. The Open takes place over 3 weeks and consists of a different workout each week. The workouts get released on a Thursday and are done over the weekend. At the end of the Open the top 25% of individuals move on to the next round: the Quarter Finals.  



The Open holds a very special place in my heart. It’s a chance for all of us from across our classes to get together and do a workout. The fun loving 6:30pm-ers can meet the dreaded 6am-ers. The lunch-time hero’s can meet the weekend warriors. Coach can meet coach. Amy can finally see Kieran. It’s an exciting time for all. It’s also a chance for us to see how we stack up against us from a year ago as well as other people around the world. 


A lot of us therefore approach the open season with a series of goals. For some that’s to finish the Open for the first time, others want to do all the workouts Rx, and a further group are looking to qualify for the Quarter Finals. Due to this it can be important to set our expectations properly. 


The Open has three categories: Foundations, Scaled, Rx. Foundations is for people who are new to CrossFit or it may be your first Open, there is a lower ceiling for gymnastics movements and some weight based movements. Scaled is for people who have been doing CrossFit for a while, you may have some gymnastics capacity and can move a barbell well but some of the heavier weights are still a bit too much. Finally Rx is for those who can do all the gymnastics movements, have good fitness capacity and can lift the set weights.  


It’s important to choose the right workout for you. It can be really tempting to choose the Rx workout because everyone around you is. Do what’s best for you. Decide what you want to get from the Open at the beginning. Is it to get the highest score on the leaderboard no matter what? Is it to have a great time with friends? Is it to have a pop at a brand new skill? Is it to finish and have a great workout each week? Each of these questions is going to give a different answer and one that’s personal to you. If that means going scaled because the first movement is a bar muscle up and its not going to be great fun to stare at the pull up bar hoping to be blessed by the CrossFit Gods then that is an awesome option to go for. 



Open workouts are an opportunity to push yourself to new limits, try weights and movements you have never tried before, engage on a deeper level with your fitness and your community. However that doesn’t mean throwing everything you’ve worked for out of the window at 3-2-1 go. Maintain your standards, you wouldn’t be OK lifting a barbell with a curved back or let yourself Tarzan swing all around the bar in class, so why let yourself do that in the Open. Keep your quality of movement high and you’ll be more efficient, less likely to blow up and will end up posting a better score. So know your limits - remember we are all training to have a healthier and happier life. Not an injured one. So be realistic with workouts and make sure you respect the challenge in front of you. At the very least listen to what your coach says and you’ll have a good time for three weeks. 


Finally dial in your Athlete mindset. Athletes gearing up for any competition will always try and focus on the small things. The Open is here - there’s no extra sneaky workout or lifting session you can do now that’s going to get you fitter. You are as fit as you can be at this point. But you can control the little things; your recovery, your nutrition and your mentality. 



Start with your recovery, make sure you sleep. Mat Fraser accredits all his success to one thing above all others; he always made sure he slept. It’s like a steroid for your brain and body. By getting 8 hours or more of sleep leading into your Open workouts you have more energy, better mental acuity, your stamina and mental fortitude will be greater and you’ll feel stronger and faster. 


Next up nutrition, make sure you eat. If you are doing the Open on an evening make sure to eat normally throughout the day with a regular intake of protein, then have some quick release carbs an hour or two before the workout. If your doing the Open in the morning, carbo load the night before and then have some quick release carbs before you hit the workout. A power banana before the WOD could be the difference of a few reps.


In the end, remember you trained hard for this, you are as fit as you can possibly be. Every workout you’ve done this year has helped you build your fitness to conquer life. The Open is one small hill compared to that mountain. Take a back seat and enjoy every moment of the next three weeks. You’ve done work. Just go out there and execute. This is your Open season after all! The hunt has only just begun. 


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