Open Prep (aka Life Prep)

The CrossFit Open is coming. Will you be ready? If you haven’t signed up for the open yet, or are on the fence, then just do it. It’s a great community event to be a part of and it will push you past your limits. Here are a few things to focus on to help you be at your best for the Open.

A. Sleep
Making sure to get ample sleep will help your body be alert, fast, coordinated, and powerful. Sleeping for less than 7 hours always makes me feel like crap, so I try my best to get that extra hour every night. A few things that can help you doze off earlier include: Magnesium supplements like Purepharma M3 (helps calm you down – take 30 minutes before bed), a night guard (for those who clinch their jaw), and either black out curtains or an eye mask (complete darkness tells your body it’s time for sleep). Also, try not to use your phone/tablet/electronics right before bed.
B. Nutrition
I always preach to you the importance of diet when talking about your fitness goals. Shout out to my Zone Challenge peeps! Focusing on the quality and quantity of your food will help you perform at your best. Try to clean up your diet if that is an area that needs attention (that pretty much means everybody). Paleo, zone, or paleo-zone are all good options. If those don’t work for your lifestyle, then simply do your best to take out processed carbohydrates, eat plenty of lean protein, and cut out fast food. Easier said than done, but give it a try and see how much better you feel. Hydration is also important, make sure to get half of your bodyweight in ounces a day. Try to drink the bulk of your water around 1pm. This will help ensure you don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom.
C. Mobilize
If you have issues performing certain movements in the gym because of your flexibility, then you really have to focus on getting your body right. In order for that happen you need to go into that pain cave for a few minutes everyday in order to make long lasting change to you hips, shoulders, ankles, etc. Do 1-3 mobilizations away from the gym for a few minutes each. Ask your trainer in class for ideas on how to fix your weak points.
D. Practice your weaknesses/”goats”
We all have movements that cause us plenty of frustration. Double unders, chest to bar pull ups, overhead squats, olympic lifts, the list goes on. The only way you will get better at them is practice. Duh, right? I have found the best way to improve on weaknesses comes from two things: study and repetition. Watching videos or reading articles on the movement outside of the gym will help give you hints and cues to use when practicing. When you come to the gym, make sure to practice your “goat” everyday. It doesn’t have to be tons and tons of reps every time. Focus on quality over quantity. Get good movement patterns in your head. When you feel your form go to crap, then it’s time stop for the day.
E. Biggest training secret of them all
Hard work + long period of time = the results you want. No matter what you want out of your experience at Aquila Fitness (and life for that matter), this is the simple recipe for success. There is no get rich quick scheme for fitness. Consistently putting in the work will yield desirable results. This is neither a new concept nor what people want to hear, but its the truth. Work hard!

I hope these tips help you out for the upcoming Open season. There are pretty good guidelines to follow all the time as well. Imagine that.