Are you competing in the CrossFit OPEN? If you're one of our athletes you might be asking yourself, “How should I mix in the OPEN workouts with my PERSIST workouts?” If you are in the Individual Design program, let your coach know and they'll create a custom approach for you - but here's the recipe for combining Persist with the Open workouts. We'll take advantage of Persist's active recovery days to set you up to feel most prepared for the Open workouts every week. We also have a great podcast on this topic, which you can find here.
Sample Week:
Thursday - This is the day that the CF OPEN workouts have historically been announced. The first day you can perform the workout for most people is Friday after the announcement. Conveniently, the PERSIST Active Recovery days inside the PERFORM, PUMP, and MINIMALIST tracks fall on Thursdays. I would encourage you to do the 30mins of blood flow and the full Bodyweight Strength and Mobility session with Dr. Adam Fetter (found in your ATOM app) on this day.
Friday - OPEN DAY - Follow the warm-up and pre-fatigue/hot start as written in PERSIST. This might not be specific to the weekly OPEN WORKOUT, but the act of getting in a warm-up and pre-fatigue/hot start is important, regardless if the movements match up exactly. If you'd like to tailor your warm-up a bit more to the OPEN WORKOUT, we encourage you to sub in movements that hit the body parts you are using that day in the event. This will get you specifically prepped for the event.
During the OPEN WORKOUT, give your best effort and make sure you review your performance afterwards and take note on areas you could have done better or made more strategic decisions. This will be important if you wish to repeat the event again before submitting your scores. An extra-long cool down is appropriate after an OPEN event. Make sure you do about 15-20mins of steady biking at a slow pace to flush your legs out and then do your daily COOL DOWN mobility.
Saturday - Normal Training Day - come to the gym and get in a normal training day. Moving is going to help you recover. Be sure to adjust your RPE during training today down to a 6-7 out of 10. You don’t want to push your intensity the day after the OPEN.
Sunday - Active Recovery - spend this day just like you did Thursday. Get 30 minutes of blood flow and a full Bodyweight Strength and Mobility session with Dr. Adam Fetter on this day. You can pick one from weeks past or head to the PERSIST Recover page on our website to get access to the library of follow along mobility videos.
Monday - OPEN WORKOUT REDO or Normal Full Intensity Training Day - Monday after the rest day is your chance to redo the workout if you want another crack at it. While it is likely that upon a redo you will find ways to improve your score, it is also possible that you won’t improve. That doesn’t make it wrong to attempt it again. Just commit to doing it and do your best. If you choose to not repeat the workout, then the rest of your week through Thursday will be NORMAL Persist training. Work hard early in the week and set yourself up for the mental edge you will want to have on Friday when you do the next OPEN WORKOUT.
Tuesday - Normal or Partial Intensity Training Day - If you did the OPEN workout yesterday then just approach your training today in PERSIST with a 6-7 out of 10 RPE. Keep intensity moderate.
Wednesday - Normal Full Intensity Training Day - Today is another day to train hard. These hard reps and the mental edge it gives you will pay off when you arrive at Friday and have another event to compete in.
Thursday - REPEAT just like last week.