Staying injury free during the CrossFit Open

Author: Marcel Wallace

The CrossFit Games Open is an annual event that consists of 5 weekly workouts that individuals globally complete and submit scores online to rank against each other. It’s a great opportunity for the CrossFit community to come together and for individuals to put their fitness to the test. The workouts are almost always “challenging” to say the least, and with the element of competition and time pressure to submit scores athletes will push themselves to their limits. Here are my suggestions to help you get through and beyond the open unscathed, and hopefully with some PBs to boot!

Taper

You’re not going to improve your marathon time by running 3 marathons the week before. The same goes for the Open.

Despite this fact, most of us try to fit in as many re-tests and benchmarks as possible in the week or two leading into the Open. Unfortunately, “cramming the night before” your test of fitness is not going to have the desired effect. Going into what may be the 5 most physically demanding weeks of your year tired and beat-up will compromise your capacity to recover and increase the chance of picking up a niggle or injury. More importantly, you can’t play catch-up with fitness, if you’ve left it too late you can’t make up for lost time.

Instead of pushing right up to the first open announcement I would suggest reducing your training volume 20-40% and dropping to 1-2 intense MetCons per week in the 10 days before the open. I would recommend EMOMs as a great way to practice Open specific skills under controlled workload and intensity.

Stay away from the Leaderboard (if it makes you stressed)

Refreshing the Games Leaderboard 78 times a minute is not only going to crash your computer; it may cause you unnecessary stress. If your heart beats faster every time you drop down the leaderboard it may be best to stay away from it. Higher stress levels have been found to increase injury risk in athletes. 1

That said, if you enjoy the leaderboard as a way to compete with friends, then crack on, otherwise spare yourself the stress until all is said and done! 

Know your limits

If your 1RM deadlift is 110kg, is 45 reps at 102kg going to be a good idea? Is that something you would normally do?  Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t push yourself and go for PBs and new achievements, but it is easy to get carried away in the excitement and make poor decisions. 

I would recommend setting some goals and limits for your workouts. For example, how many attempts you will have at a PB clean on 18.1B or how many unbroken chest-to-bar pull-ups you can hang on for in 19.5. With this in mind, you’re more likely to make better decisions and be successful in your workout. Knowing your limits, and how far to push them is not only going to help you to stay healthy through the open, it’s also going to allow you to maximise your performance.

Final note

While these tips apply more specifically to the Open, there are many ways to reduce injury risk year-round, such as appropriate training volume, nutrition, stress management and getting adequate sleep. If you do find yourself injured during or after the Open, we are happy to help you get back on track! If you’d like to find out more book a call using the button below.

References

1 Slimani, M., Bragazzi, N. L., Znazen, H., Paravlic, A., Azaiez, F., & Tod, D. (2018). Psychosocial predictors and psychological prevention of soccer injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Physical therapy in sport, 32, 293-300.