It feels like the last Open was 5 years ago… Or is it just me? It’s been quite the year, but here we are, one week out from the next Crossfit Games Open. With the gym closures, the many restrictions we had to endure, and just not really knowing what we were training for or when our next opportunity to compete would come, it’s actually quite nice to finally have something on the calendar.

As I write this, I know many of you are still out of your gyms and my heart goes out to everyone in parts of the country that are still on lockdown.

I am grateful for the Open rolling on in and offering us all a chance to participate in some capacity. In some ways, it feels like a first step towards normalcy for me. It’s giving us something to look forward to, even though it’s just online, and for some might be done at home and equipment free. Let’s face it, most of us weren’t competing for a chance to be at the Crossfit Games anyways. To me, it’s 100% for myself, to push my own limits and for a sense of belonging to this amazing community.

A few changes this year: 3 weeks instead of 5, equipment free and light equipment options to accommodate for Covid. Plus, the additional incentive to make the top 10% in your category to move onto the next online level, the Quarterfinals or Master Qualifiers for us old folks, which is good news for many of us. As I write this, I am battling an injury, so my goal is to hopefully still do well enough to make the top 10% and be back to health by the time the Masters Qualifiers come around in May.

I believe it’s important to set intentions before going in. To me, I train almost every day, and I use the Open as something to motivate myself in my training. But I think it is important to remember that your self-worth is not determined by how well you do in 3 random workouts. Let’s put things into perspective for a second. I am a mom, a wife, and a business owner who also happens to compete in the sport of Crossfit for fun. Chances are that there is a lot more to you as well than competing in Crossfit. 

What can we control?

  • Our training.
  • How much sleep we are getting. 
  • The rest days we take or don’t take. 
  • How much food we eat. 
  • The effort we put in. 

What we do not control?

  • Home and work stress. 
  • If we catch a cold or get sick in that 3 weeks. 
  • The workouts that come out.
  • The restrictions we have to work around in our area.
  • The judging standards in other gyms. 

If you are someone that puts a lot of expectations on yourself, realizing what is and what isn’t within your control is going to be important. But on the same token, you can’t be upset if you didn’t put in the work or focus where it matters. You need to make sure your actions match your expectations. If you expect to perform like an athlete, you need to start living and breathing like one, meaning your life style choices have to reflect this.

  • Be realistic about your time. If you want to do well in the Open, going out every Friday night for happy hour isn’t going to lead to top performance on Saturday morning, or great recovery if you throw down on Friday night! Burn the candle on both ends and soon it will be gone!
  • Eat to support your training and recovery. Now is not the time to cut back and try to lose weight. Even if you think losing a few pounds would make you perform better, it’s too late for that. A week out, your best focus is on eating to support your performance and recovery for the next 3 weeks. Weight loss and body composition changes are best approached in the off-season. 
  • On that note, now is also not the time to jump on a new training program or order some new supplements. Stick to what you know, you can fine tune some things but no major overhaul.
  • More on that coming! Pre + Post + Competiton fuelling post to follow. 
  • Prioritize your sleep. Sleep and nutrition come before training; if you don’t dial in those two, no good will come out of going to the gym.
  • Watch your training volume and listen to your body if it needs extra rest.
  • Focus on relaxation and stress management. Spend time on activities that help you down regulate, like yoga, walking, meditating, reading.
  • Be proactive instead of reactive with your self-care and body work. 

Above all of this, remember your intentions, remember that for most of us, this is a hobby and something we do for our general health and fitness, so go out and have fun! Want to follow along? First workout will come out on March 11th, and everything can be found on the Crossfit games site https://games.crossfit.com/open .

Keep an eye out for the sport nutrition specific posts.

Annie 🙂