The 2017 Open season has concluded and many of you, including affiliate owners, may be breathing a sigh of relief. For the majority of Crossfit athletes, participating in the Open is the end goal after a long year of training. With the final workout being announced last Thursday and scoring closing this past Monday, you may be asking yourself…now what?

Take a moment to reflect

The days after the Open has ended are a great time to reflect back on your experience. You may have had workouts that you performed great on or others that didn’t quite go as planned (I know I certainly did!). Take some time to step back and evaluate each workout. What went well and what went wrong? Did you learn something new about yourself as an athlete? Were you able to identify weaknesses or skill areas that you need to improve on?

Prelude athlete Linnea hit a HUGE snatch PR during 17.3!

Go back to basics

Now that we no longer have to worry about doubling up on a given movement before an Open announcement, we can go back to basics and dial in technique. If during your reflection time you noted that your form on toes-to-bar broke down on 17.2, make a plan to start strengthening your kip and the individual components of the movement. Determine which skills need attention and take action to improve upon them. Remember, you can always reach out to a coach for additional help outside of class!

Set some goals

We have another year to work on weaknesses and become better athletes! What do you hope to achieve this year? Maybe you have your focus set on getting that first bar or ring muscle up. Maybe you want to build strength and dial in your nutrition. Whatever goal you have in mind, make sure you take the necessary steps to guarantee that you are successful! Express these aspirations to your coach and develop a plan to get you to your end goal. 

This year’s Open was Bobby’s first! Here he is crushing deadlifts during 17.4!

Acknowledge your achievement!

Regardless of your overall finish, if you tackled the Open this year give yourself a big pat on the back! Whether you performed the workouts scaled or rx, taking on each curve ball Dave Castro throws is no easy feat. Take some time to celebrate your 5 weeks of hard work!