Well it's been a busy last five days. My poor wife has had to shift houses (almost solo) while I have been chipping away at the Masters Qualifying WODs with Cherise.

And with the leaderboard dust finally settling, it looks like I've come in equal 21st - one point away from the Top 20. There may be some more shifting as validation isnt for another 12 hours and then video's will need to be assessed.  However, no matter what happens, these leaderboards are proof of two things:
1) You become a good CrossFitter by strengthening your weaknesses - not by strengthening your strengths (which is what we tend to do).
2) In competitions, every rep and every second counts!

Point number 1 I will go over in detail in my next series of blogs, as this is what your program (as an athlete) should be based on. This is different to the original CrossFit programming methodology of randomness, which I think works brilliantly for the general population and beginner athletes. But not if you want to keep improving as a CrossFit athlete.

Point number 2 is what I personally think about during each and every WOD, especially online WODS where you don't know what your competitor is doing. For throwdown type comps, as long as you stay ahead of the other athletes, you're going to do pretty well. However for an online comp, every WOD is a make or break situation.

For example, we (Cherise and myself) stuffed up videoing WOD 1 - that horrible chipper that started with 100 Db snatches. We did it straight after the WODs were announced, and we didn't put in the perpendicular burpee line! Which meant we had to do it again.
My sister did it the next day (I wasnt so brave) and had the same score but a better tie-breaker. I did it 2 days after and got a better tie-breaker and one more MU. However.... if I had gotten two more muscle ups I would be off to Madison. If you had told me that before the WOD, I still don't believe I could have done it!

Why do I believe that? Because I only think of two things when I'm actually competing. The number one thing is process. I'm always thinking..."How can I do what I am doing easier, or how can I do it faster without working harder. For example, this WOD started with the 100 snatches. I know from the first time I did it I get about 20 a minute in with no breaks. So as I'm doing them I try to subtly change the way I snatch. I use my back more and I use my legs less. This hurts my back more but makes me less puffed and saves my legs. Which means I go into the row with a tighter back (so what?) but less puffed and better legs. 

Similarly with the burpees, I changed my technique to a jump up, small step and jump over the bar (I stepped up last time) and then a very small jump back and a fall onto my chest. This was faster and saved my shoulders slightly for the MU.

So my process is slightly different. Remember, THE PROCESS IS 'THE HOW'. My best tip for you to be more efficient is to always be thinking of the how.

How can you do a particular movement better? How can you make it faster, or less puffy, or less stressful on a certain body part? Always be assessing as you are moving. Dont focus on the crowd, or the music, or the other athletes. Be focussed on you.

The second thing I am always thinking about (for online WODs) is THAT EVERY SECOND COUNTS. Don't walk to the next movement if you can jog. Don't rest for 12 seconds if you only need to rest for 10. Don't chalk up or have a drink if you don't need to. You HAVE to constantly be aware of your seconds.

Watch the top athletes. With the number of reps they get you would think they would be in fast forward. But they still look to be moving silky smooth - almost gracefully. They are calm, they may rest often, but they get through those reps faster than anyone else. And it's because they don't waste seconds. And it may only be one or two seconds a round or movement change, but over 10 rounds or 20 movement changes that adds up.

So my challenge to you now is, 1) do your movements better and 2) think in terms of seconds when you're competing.

That way, when you miss out on going to Madison by 1 point over 9 WOD;s you wont have any regrets.  And while the outcome definitely sucks, you'll know that for every WOD, you gave it your best. And in the end, that's all we can ever do.



​

Firstly, my apologies for not blogging during the Opens. Things got a little busy and I just couldn't get the time for them.

Secondly, if you did the Opens - Well Done! No Opens WODS are ever easy, so whether you completed them all Rx, all scaled, or anything in between, you should be proud of your achievement. Remember, when you look at the scoreboard, you're comparing yourself to other CrossFitters. Not the general population.

So what now? It's difficult not to get an Open's Hangover and feel a little lost! Here are some ideas and strategies to get you back on track and feeling motivated again:

1. Make sure you record your results and rankings for each WOD. The Opens are a great way to assess your improvements over the years. I would open an Excel spreadsheet and put my affiliate, State, Country and World rankings for each WOD into it. If you have time, do this for the whatever years you have been competing.  I actually did this as a certificate for all of my (44) clients who registered. It really doesn't take that long and gives them a nice momento of the Opens and their achievements.
2. Work out where your strengths and weaknesses are. What WODs did you do well in and what did you crash in? If you want to be a  good CrossFitter, don't focus on your strengths. YOU NEED TO REMOVE YOUR WEAKNESSES! We all have them and we all hate working on them. But if you're serious about improving then these are the areas you can make the most improvements.
   
3. What other areas can you improve on? How was your diet? Did you warm-up appropriately? Did you feel energised before each WOD? Were you overthinking the WODs days before? Did you not enjoy the experience because you were too stressed? Did you strategise the WODs well? Did you recover well?     Make sure to write down anything that you feel you can improve on.
4. Arrange to have a chat with your  coach and see how you can incorporate your weaknesses into your program. This shouldn't be too hard and you can normally just do a few extra sets in the warmup or after the WOD.
5. Look around for more competitions. These are often the best way to assess your training. Online comps are good as they allow you to redo the WODS. So you can change some variables such as strategy, warm-up, pre-workout, time of day etc and then retest. Make sure NOT to change too many variables, otherwise you don't know what the change in score is due to. For example, if you change your strategy and change the time of day you do the WOD, then you can't be sure if your change in score is due to one or the other, or both.
6. Set some goals and make a plan! Time flies by, and it won't be long before Castro is announcing '18.1 is....'. In my next blog I will detail how to put a year plan together. It's not that tricky and it will pay huge dividends. 

If you did get into the next round, the best advice I can give is don't overtrain. With 10 days left before they're announced you may have another 3 or 4 days of hard training. I would suggest you then back off and not do anything that will hurt you too much. Any training you do is not likely to have any effect within a week. The physiological changes take a lot longer than that. Here is what I will be doing:

• Recover, recover, recover. Make sure you get at least 8 hours sleep. Devote more time to triggering and stretching. If you can get some massages. Be strict on your diet!
• Diet: I will up my carbs about 7 days out by adding about 50-100g extra a day. This is the equivalent of about 200 to 400 calories a day. 
• Don't drink coffee if you want to use it as a drug during the qualifiers. You get used to caffeine so you need to be off it for about 2-3 weeks for it to be useful as a drug.
• Get your supps right. Im taking creatine, BCAA's, magnesium and beta alanine in the build up. Creatine and beta alanine take a while (several weeks) to become saturated in your body.
• Not stressing! It is what it is and you have either done the work or not. Control what you can and let the rest go. Stressing does not help, so if you're serious about doing well, find ways to reduce it.
• Lastly, make sure you read the rules. WODs have to be videoed a certain way. You have submission deadlines. Ignorance is no excuse so when you have time, read the rule book, and keep up to date with the CrossFit Updates.

Don't let the post-Open blues get you down. Assess your performances, set your goals and write them down. Then start to design a plan.
You have 12 months to create a better you!
​3, 2, 1, GO!