The CrossFit Open is here!

The CrossFit Open is an annual, three-week-long international competition that anyone, regardless of age, ability and fitness level, can take part in. Athletes of all abilities from all over the globe will compete against each other in three weeks of workouts. 

The open kicks off the start of the 2023 NOBULL CrossFit games season and determines which athletes in each division will move forward to the Quarterfinals. For three weeks commencing on February 16th and ending March 6th, a workout will be released each Thursday. Athletes will then have until the following Monday to complete the workout and submit their scores.

Should I compete in the Open?

You may be wondering, “Why should I participate in the CrossFit Open if I’m not trying to qualify for the CrossFit Games?” The Open is fun! It’s a great way to see how your score compares to your friends at the gym and everyone else in the world. It doesn’t matter if the Open is your first day of CrossFit or if you’re a professional athlete, anyone can participate. Options to scale the workouts make the Open suitable for any athlete regardless of level or ability to compete.

How can I prepare?

The 2023 CrossFit Open workouts are anyone’s guess, but the HWPO Training team has some tips and recommendations on getting through this year’s Open season.

HWPO Training team member and CrossFit Open veteran Jake Marconi shares his experience to give us his top five tips for anyone thinking about competing. 

Watch the Open announcements and write down your plan for the workout.

Jake recommends watching the Open announcements each week, which will take place Thursday nights, starting on February 16, for 3 weeks. Watching the announcements will give you a good sense of what the workout entails and will give you a chance to think about your strategy. 

When writing your strategy, consider your personal strengths and weaknesses. Anticipate areas of the workout that may cause you trouble and those that may be easier. Write out your plan, include notes about how you’re going to break up reps, how long you want to spend on each round, areas when you may need to take a breather and things that could go wrong or be difficult. It’s important to be as detailed as possible. 

“What I would do when I was really focusing on the Open is I’d write down my whole strategy, and then I’d write down three things I was going to tell myself during the workout. When I’d start to question to myself if I could do it, those were the things I’d tell myself and I’d have them written on the board.” 

Be prepared to adapt your plan

Open workouts don’t always go as planned. In fact, most of the time, they don’t go as planned, and that’s ok. Be prepared to adjust your strategy if it isn’t working for you in the moment, and don’t panic.

If your plan doesn’t fall apart, that’s a bonus!

Fuel up

For most people, the Open workout is going to be their most intense workout of the week. It’s important to fuel your body so you don’t burnout and disrupt your regular training. 

Jake recommends eating a decent-sized higher carb meal the night before you attempt each Open workout.

“This does not mean that you’re doing high school pasta dinners, but if you have chicken and rice for dinner double the portion of rice.”

Warm up

Take the time to warm up before each Open workout. The most important thing about warming up for intense Open workouts is getting your heart rate up. Even though you don’t know exactly what your heart rate will be during the workout, try to estimate it and touch that heart rate during your warmup at least once. 

“You want to touch a workout, game pace heart rate a couple of times in your warmup before you go into that workout.”

Most people are able to maintain a high heart rate, but initially reaching that heart rate can be uncomfortable. The first time your heart rate spikes, your body tries to lower it, so you’re likely going to sweat and feel fatigued quickly. It’s important to get your heart rate up for the first time in your warm up rather than during the workout so you don’t get burnt out immediately. 

Open workouts come in all shapes and sizes, and so do warmups. It’s important to sufficiently prepare your body to avoid injury and comfortably complete each workout. For short workouts, spend more time warming up than you would for a longer workout. 

Have fun! 

The Open can seem daunting and stressful, but try to enjoy it. Participate in all the Open activities. If your gym has Friday Night Lights, go to them. Compete against your friends, but don’t get too worked up over your scores. 

“The Open is a great time to test yourself beyond what you might do in normal training.” 

Community is one of the defining characteristics of CrossFit, and the Open is a community-focused event that anyone can and should participate in. 

HWPO Training team members share their 2023 Open tips

While at HWPO headquarters we took the opportunity to ask some of the other HWPO Training team their top tips for being successful at the 2023 CrossFit open.

Mat Fraser

“Don’t rush into your first attempt. Take your time, practice the movements, practice the transitions and have a game plan. Stay calm. The goal is to have the fastest total time for the workout, not the fastest first round or first movement.” 

Matt O’Keefe

“Go hard and when it hurts, go harder. Make mistakes, go fast, enjoy finding your limit and build off of it week to week and year to year. It’s a journey!” 

Josh Godinez

“Trust your training and give your best.”

Sam Petrich.

“Remember that it’s about having fun! Hitting the workouts with friends is the way to go.”

Justin Ahrens

“Have fun! Take it as a learning experience more than anything leave it on the floor without any regrets.” 

Steven Fawcett

“Your result is not the be-all and end-all. Embrace the challenge and give each workout your best honest effort.”