How To Be Calmer During The CF Open

Are you feeling especially nervous about The Open this year?

Is the hype getting to you?

Do you feel pressure from your own expectations and the scores of others?

Are you finding it hard to unwind, relax and sleep well?

Are you over-caffeinated and under rested?

Are you feeling shitty about yourself after seeing others perform?

Do you want to learn how to go through The Open with a calmer state of mind?

If you answered yes to 1 or more of the questions above, ya gotta keep reading.

First off, some worries, frustrations, and doubts are part of doing something that you love and are truly invested in. You can begin to look at your nervousness differently. But, if you’re freaking out and having so many concerns that you’re incredibly anxious or upset most of the week, then it can be different.

You can actually perform your best AND enjoy the experience.

If you’re scanning through social media every free minute you have, and updating the leaderboard all week long, then you’re setting yourself up to be stressed out, overwhelmed and caught up.

If you’re constantly on Facebook groups, chats and texts with those from your box, then you’re likely not creating time to turn off your “CrossFit brain.” It’s a recipe for disaster.

If you’re following what each of your competitors is doing all day on Instagram, watching every CrossFit YouTube strategy video, and only reading fitness-related content, but then wondering why you’re so anxious…ya gotta stop! There is another way.

Better ideas? I got lots.

1. Take social media off of your phone, or sign out of it in the evenings
2. Put your damn phone away or turn it off for periods of time every day, and every week
3. Commit to only looking at the leaderboard for 5-10 minutes each week, or not at all, and just let a coach input your score and let you know what’s up
4. Go drop in and train at another gym or do the Open WOD somewhere else to change it up and give yourself a break from the normal expectations or comments from others
5. Stay out of the gossip and negativity
6. Practice saying no, and simplify your life a bit
7. Create healthy boundaries with how many strategy videos you’ll watch, how many other athletes you’ll watch and how many other people you’ll talk to about their plan of attack. 1-3 training partners or coaches is plenty
8. Spend some qt outdoors, always helps ease the mind
9. Get yourself to bed at a decent hour and turn off your electronics, do some non-CrossFit-related reading instead
10. Have some fun and relax with your favorite people throughout the week, doing something other than training or judging
11. Don’t watch any “behind the scenes,” games videos or “update shows”
12. Don’t make it even more stressful by talking about all that you can’t control
13. Limit the amount of caffeine you’re taking in, and spend some extra time unwinding
14. Be still, and quiet (with no technology or interruptions) for at least 10 minutes a day (pray, meditate or just let your mind wander)
15. Practice breathing and visualizations
16. Stick to a powerful morning routine

Stop trying to keep up with everything on social media, everything your friends or competitors are doing, and everything on games.crossfit.com.

The more competitive you want to be, the more you’ll want to rely on your coaches to tell you what’s important to set yourself up for the best performance possible.

So many athletes want to FEEL calmer during this time of year, but they aren’t willing to make any changes.

Are you going to do things a little differently so that you can be confident and more relaxed this season?

What will you implement from the list above?

Comment below.