The Open is Over: Now What...
Well folks, it is that time of year-the time of year when we realize the CrossFit Open is officially over.
All the scores have been validated; blisters on ripped hands have healed, and the brutality of 23.2 is fading far away in our memories (if only we could forget some of those Intramural costumes so easily..). So once you’ve spent your weekend re-purposing all your costumes for regular wear, what do you do?
The Open is over-now what?
Change How You Train
During Open workouts our main focus is getting a score. As much as it is fun, the Open is a competition-either with our previous year’s rankings, our personal expectations, another person in the gym, or some random person you follow on Instagram. Our class workouts are not competitions. What this means is that a score isn’t the most important aspect of what we’re doing.
Now that the Open is over, you can adapt the intent and goal of your training.
Perhaps you’re sick of the barbell. Sign up for our upcoming Trolley Run Training Group and focus on building up your aerobic engine. Maybe you avoid the Echo Bike and now is a good time to always seek it out. Or, maybe during the Open you went singles with the gymnastic movements simply to get a few more competition reps and now is a good time to always strive for the “touch-and-go” method of stringing reps together. Maybe we spend this next cycle doing only strict gymnastic movements. Maybe we always go “full send” on a workout or maybe we set specific pacing intentions. The options of approaching workouts are endless.
One way to stay fit and interested after the Open is to change, adapt or modify how you train.
Catch the competition bug? Let me know if you'd be interested in taking your talents to a bigger stage. There are many local competitions for ALL skill levels, we can find the right one for you!
Stay Connected to the Community
Part of the reason why we do CrossFit and the Open is because of the relationships. After the Open, stay connected to the awesome folks at FCF. Come to class, even if you aren’t planning on working out super intensely. Just be around people. Go to the community events (like Royals games, Chicken and Pickle, and Trivia Night). Check the FCF Members’ Page on Facebook to keep in touch with people’s Bright Spots and to post your own.
Part of staying fit and interested is staying connected to people who are also pursuing health and fitness.
Set a New Goal
A good way to keep momentum after the Open is to have another goal lined up. It could be doing a competition in the summer, or learning a new skill like Double Under’s, kipping pull-ups, or rope climbs.
Perhaps there was one movement that got you stuck during the Open (such as strict HSPU’s, Bar Muscle Ups, Double Under’s, Toe’s To Bar…I’m noticing a gymnastics theme…). This next cycle or period in the year would be great to address those and work past what got us stuck.
Intentionally focus on them during class, or book a Personal Training session to speed up the process.
Maybe the goal is attendance driven, such as committing to coming to class at least 3 times each week for the next six weeks. Often times it's hard to set physical goals when we don't have enough consistency to really know what our baseline is.
Part of world-class fitness is learning and playing new sports and developing new skills.
Maybe we set a goal to hike the Colorado mountains this summer, or head to RoKC and rock-climb, or play some pick-up basketball, or I hear pickleball is now all the rage.
Setting up a Goal Review:
No clue where to start, we're here to help! Even if you DO have a clue where to start, let us help guide and keep you accountable. Most of our value at FCF comes from actually knowing and caring about YOU, so we look to have a goal review with every single member every 4 months. We've already started this process by reaching out to members, but if you'd like to meet with a coach right away you can schedule your own meeting with us here:
The Open is a short-burst of intense fitness and a lot of fun. Keep the momentum going even though you’re no longer submitting scores to a judge and wearing a Harry Potter outfit during your workout!
