The Open is Over, Now What?

Here are a couple of my ideas and suggestions.  First off, hopefully you made it through the past five weeks unscathed and healthy.  If not, the first order of business should be to get 100% healthy.  While physical health may be what first comes to mind, don’t neglect your emotional and spiritual health as well.  If there is something nagging the body, visit with a coach and seek a professional opinion if you think it’s needed.   Our community is filled with expert knowledge in the health and wellness fields.  360 PT will gladly do a “systems check” to help ensure you’re running at top notch.  When thinking about your emotional and physical health, get back to a good sleep routine.  Meditate and reflect on your accomplishments and create goals that you want to work toward in the next year.

One of the best things we can do is work toward getting comfortable with the uncomfortable.  That means making friends with adversity, working on the things that challenge us.  One of the beauties of CrossFit is that we are always continually humbled.  While there was so much excitement over the many firsts for folks (and rightfully so), I guarantee all of us also came away with the realization that there was something (at least one thing if not many, like me) we could work on. No time like the present! In Ben Bergeron’s “Chasing Excellence”, he notes a discussion with Brent Fikowski in regards to Brent’s drastic improvements from his previous years of missing the games to his demolishing of the 2016 regionals and earning a spot at the Games.  Brent noted how an injury forced him to focus on that adversity as an opportunity to work on his weaknesses, specifically pertaining to his upper body strength.  Don’t forget the basics, but embrace the opportunities to work on those things that we struggle with.  We strive to be well-rounded athletes.

If you need help with creating a program to work on weaknesses, talk with your coaches.  Provide us with feedback with what you want to work on, because I guarantee that there are others with the same needs and wants. We are always looking at how we as coaches can serve our community better.  Keep an eye out for the strict pull up and muscle up seminars coming up in early April!

Last thoughts…Open season give you that itch to get more competitive?   Did you know we have a competitor’s program?  Consider jumping in the competitive training group, where additional workouts are shared and by surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals, you will help push even farther than you can imagine.  Remember the old adage, “iron sharpens iron”.

Finally, know that this isn’t the end.  It’s only the beginning.  Ultimately we are competing in the game of life, working to continue to function independently and for as long as we can.  Pat Sherwood, of CrossFit HQ fame, so eloquently put it this way in a social media post before the start of the 2018 CrossFit Open:

Better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today.  Let’s do this CrossFit Fort Vancouver family!