Open Season
Open season is an exciting time of year. It brings with it emotional highs and discouraging lows. It humbles you as an athlete with the unpredictable programming and can also be really rewarding when you see the hard work you put in pay off.
I like to think of the open as a weakness finder. Because of the unpredictable aspect of the programming, the weaknesses you have are quickly brought to the surface. Although this can be frustrating, i think it is really valuable. It gives you a clear indicator of what you need to work on for the rest of the year. It also lets you know that you have been training the right areas if you see improvement.
One of the mistakes i made this year was not attacking my weaknesses early enough. Throughout the majority of the year I pushed the things i really sucked at to the back burner and did a lot of workouts with movements i was good at. Although i improved a lot overall from last years Open, some of the movements that had given me trouble last year came up again and showed little progression. Another mistake i made was not practicing movement standards that would be enforced during the Open workouts. The main movement for me was handstand pushups. Having not practiced doing them to a line at all during the year made it really tough when it came to doing them in a workout. I found that as i got tired i would rush the reps and fall short of getting my feet over the line. I got a lot of “no reps” in that workout.
When this years Open came to a close, I sat down and replayed it through my head. I thought about each workout and where i could have improved. I also made a list of the movements that slowed me down. For me its a lot of gymnastics movements. So every day i pick one movement from that list and attack it with everything i got. For example, muscle ups, handstand pushups, toes to bar, and c2b pull-ups are all areas i need to improve. I have a checklist of how many times i drill one of these movements. I try to work each of these movements in three times a week. With these higher skill movements i am trying to vary how i train them. For example, with muscle ups I will commit one whole session drilling technique and make sure that i am resting enough to where i am maximizing output and concentration. The next time i do them, i will throw them into a metcon and challenge myself under fatigue. I have been noticing a huge difference in composure and I feel i am getting a lot more efficient with them.
Another key aspect of my training that i have changed is goal setting. Last year i didn’t set enough goals. I had some strength numbers that i wanted to hit by the end of the year, but i never really made any short term goals that I could realistically achieve. Setting goals is the easiest way to track your progress. You will be able to see were you started from and appreciate all the hard work that you have put in to make that goal happen. They also keep you accountable. If i can stay conscious of my goals, I know that I will be more likely to spend time in the gym working on them. It is really motivating to see myself improve and come closer to reaching these milestones whether that's a new snatch pr or an a unbroken string of muscle ups. I know that setting these realistic goals will help me succeed next year in the Open. My goal this year is to make my weaknesses my strengths.
If you participated in the Open this past year and want to improve for next year, don't put off training your weaknesses. If you start now you have the majority of the year to drill these movements. That way you can start building your confidence for February when the Open starts. I encourage you to sit down and really be honest with yourself. Figure out what were the limiting factors in each of the five workouts. Make a plan and set goals for this upcoming year to attack these areas. Don't hesitate to practice movements you know you are not efficient with. Working to eliminate your weaknesses will make the most difference in your training when it comes to competing. Also remember that these things take time. You don't just get muscle ups overnight. So don't get discouraged when your two weeks of pull-up and dip work doesn’t get you one. The consistency of your training and being relentless in the gym is really whats going to pay off.
Good Luck!
- Jon Martens
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