I know many of you are wondering how the blog and Power and Grace plan to attack the Open. What days am I scheduling it? Will there be a repeat day? Should I even think about repeating it?
All valid questions.
First lets answer the schedule question.
The plan is to have you complete the Open WOD Friday. I will post a couple quick ideas and thoughts based on the Thursday reveal to the blog Thursday night. If this is your plan we are still planning to workout Saturday to knock off some of the impact of the WOD from Friday. I know many of you are planning to do it Saturday with your gym or training partners or whatever. That’s fine BUT make sure you do something on Thursday. Don’t rest! You need to rest the day before the Open WOD and you don’t need to rest two days in a row. And if you do the WOD Saturday make sure and do something light Sunday to move and flush out the soreness and stiffness of the workout from Saturday. With that in mind, I also realize that some of you will repeat the workout at the last hour on Monday. If that is the case try to do the Open WOD first when you are fresh and modify the lifting to suit your energy levels after the Open workout. I will be programming a short conditioning piece and some lifting for maintenance purposes for that day.
Now to answer the repeat question.
Last year if you asked me about whether or not you should repeat the workout, you would have likely gotten a NO. However, I would have been wrong and by the end of the Open last year I had flipped my decision. We learn so much about the workout as more and more people complete it. Also, everyone else is repeating it and HQ gives you that option. If you’re in contention for a Regionals spot or you have a certain goal you are trying to reach and you aren’t repeating the workout, then you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage. My stance on repeating it is simple. Watch the leaderboard and if you think your repeat of the workout might gain you enough reps or rounds or seconds to get you closer to your goal then go for it. If you just want to repeat the workout because you did poorly and think you can do better. Go for it. If you have done well, feel you will not improve enough to make a substantial difference, and you are content with your score then don’t. Save yourself and your body for the next week when your feelings or standing may be different.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Open is here. We’ve trained all year for these next five weeks and for those of you following the public blog, this is your championship. This is the pinnacle of your season. Make sure everything is right for the next five weeks; sleep, food, stress, mobility etc. You’ve worked far too hard to not show that work starting Thursday!
Good Luck!