It’s that time of year again. The CrossFit open is right around the corner.  For those of you new to CrossFit this is how the open works.  Anyone….yes anyone….can sign up online once registration starts.  Jason will post with more directions on that process once it opens.  Crossfit HQ will then release a workout a week.  Thousands of people from all over the world will complete this workout in their own gym and then submit their scores online.  From those scores the top males, females, and teams from each region will go onto Regionals and the top from there go to the Games.  Now…you may be saying to yourself, “I am new to CrossFit and really not sure why in the world I should do something like this.”  If those are your exact thoughts here are my top 5 reasons why you should do the open.

1.  Get out of your comfort zone-CrossFit is all about being comfortable in the uncomfortable.  We learn to push our bodies to their absolute limits and then come back in the next day with a smile on our faces ready for more.  For those who have competed you will surely agree with me that there is nothing like competing in front of friends, family, and fellow CrossFitters. You will push your body much farther than you ever imagined. The adrenaline rush is much different than just a typical class. It is healthy for us to be a little uncomfortable once in awhile.  That’s where most of our greatest growth as individuals happens.

2.  It will be a gym workout anyway so why not see where you stack up-Each Friday throughout the open we will program the open workout as our regular gym workout.  This will work great for the structure of CFNL because the majority of members will be coming off a rest day and should be fresh for the Open WOD.  Bottom line here…if you’re at the gym doing the workout anyway why not submit your score online and see how you did compared to thousands of people your age around the world.
3.Build and support our community-On Friday nights throughout the open we will have the “Friday night lights” type of atmosphere here at the gym.  For those interested and really wanting to experience the competitive craziness that the Open brings we will be holding Heats on Friday nights. (Times Yet to be determined.) These will be judged by CF L1 Certificate Holders and verified by Jason and myself to send in to CrossFit Headquarters.  Bring families and friends to watch you go head to head with other members in a fun supportive environment.

4. You will set PR’s and realize you are better than you think you are-You should enter knowing that no matter what you do someone else is going to be better.  This alone is worth entering the competition.  Equally important is that you should compete because you are going to realize that you are better than you think you are.  Until you measure, you don’t know.  Measuring in the Open will allow you to measure against thousands of other people.  You are going to be better than some, and you aren’t going to be as good as others.  You will establish a line in the sand, and then next year, when you compete again, you will know where that line is and you will know how you have fared over the next year of training.

5.  You can participate the whole way through and it’s fun! – Unless you can’t compete the first movement of each workout you will not be pulled from the competition. CF Headquarters is smart and just like everything within CF they want to make this competition all inclusive. Sure, there will be hard workouts but more advanced movements won’t be introduced until later in a WOD so you will be able to at least start the WOD. There is also now an option to enter your results as scaled or RX. It is also just plain FUN!  Yes, it’s fun to check the rankings and to see how other athletes did.  It’s fun to see how your friends did.  It’s fun to see how you did.  It’s just FUN.  You should compete because it’s a commitment, during which time you will train harder, you will eat better, and you will connect with your coaches and community in ways you may not even realize exist.  You should compete because you can.
 
If I haven’t convinced you enough check out the following link!  See you in the gym tomorrow. games.crossfit.com/video/im-competing-open-because
 
-Amy