Coach Iz’s Tips for a Successful Open Experience

By: Coach Iz

The first WOD of the 2017 CrossFit Open is in the books, and hopefully you’re happy with your performance. But, if things didn’t go quite the way you planned, don’t stress. The Open is a long game; you still have four more workouts.

We’ll be hosting Open workouts every Monday for the next four weeks, which will give you time to physically prepare to do the movements and develop a strategy for approaching the workout. If you’re unable to make it on a Monday, we’re happy to make other arrangements for you on Friday or over the weekend. And while you’re allowed to re-do a workout, we typically don’t recommend it. We want to avoid injuries at all costs. Plus, this is supposed to be a fun, friendly competition!

Here are a few more tips for the Open:

• The last couple months of programming was designed to prepare you for the Open WODs, which are predominantly aerobic workouts that last 8-13 minutes. If you’ve been getting to the box regularly, you should be prepared. Now is not the time to try to set new PRs or crush every workout. Once the Open is over, we’ll be returning to our normal programming.

• Get to Friday’s class, which will include a specific practice for Monday’s WOD.

• If you’re not sure how to approach a workout, chat with a coach a day or two in advance. We’re happy to give you advice on pacing, breaking up work sets, etc.

• Aim to finish as strong as you started. Get enough sleep, take rest days, eat right, and don’t overdo it during the week.

• If you start to fall apart in the middle of an Open workout, take a deep breath and focus on finding a more realistic pace that you can sustain.

Remember that we’re here to help. Now let’s have some fun!