What I learned #InTheOpen
Well, another Open has come and gone! We saw three workouts with very approachable movements and great scaling options, and a whole lot of energy for the athletes competing, Rx or scaled. First, an AMRAP of wall walks, dumbbell snatches, and box jumps had us testing our midline upside down and rightside up. Then a couplet of deadlifts and burpees over the bar had us testing our mental grit. Finally, we got the gymnastics test we had been waiting for, made more challenging with increasingly heavy thrusters. With each workout came a lesson learned; here are mine for 2022:
1. You won’t throw up (probably).
22.1 had me really pushing the limit on my breathing. With a weaker shoulder due to a previous dislocation, I paid extra attention to its stability during the wall walks. That meant more breath-holding and a spike in my heart rate, especially towards the end of those 15 minutes. With a goal of 6 rounds, I knew the pace I would have to keep to make that possible. Resting to catch my breath and give my midline a break was not an option as minute 14 was closing in, so I went for it. The quick box jump overs followed immediately by inversion with the wall walks to start the next round had me testing my resolve to keep my lunch down. I succeeded, thankfully, and learned that my line of failure is a bit farther than I thought it was. I pushed myself past what I thought my limit was, to find that my limit is actually a bit farther.
2. Keep your pride out of it.
Just another way of saying: scale. Did I want to scale 22.2? No. Is 155# close to 60% of my current 1RM? Also no. I chose to scale this workout in order to keep the stimulus of high intensity and get through as many of the 200 reps as possible. Getting a higher rep count was more important to me and would tell me more about myself as an athlete than struggling through slow deadlift reps and risking a low back flare-up. Remember, those burpees were just there to be annoying and give your back another reason to get angry. With a good low back prep and warm up, I was able to push the meter on my speed, test my mental toughness, and get those reps.
3. Keep your grips on.
After hearing the 22.3 announcement, I decided I really wanted a bar muscle up. Not that I thought it was going to happen in the open, but I knew I could at least get that far to attempt it. My goal was to have two or so minutes for an attempt, and I was confident that I would get that far. I ended up having about 90 seconds, but in a rash moment, I decided to chuck my grips. Knowing that I wouldn’t be stringing anything together, I thought I would have no problem, but after a big kip and slamming my chest into the bar, I came down with a massive rip in the center of each palm. Since I’m not of big fan of bleeding all over the bar, I decided that was going to be my only attempt. While I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t attempt again, it only helped solidify my goals for the following year.
What I learned, put in practice:
The 2022 Open had me really challenging my capacity, and motivated me to work towards bigger goals this year. So I am putting this out in the universe: my goals are to move faster, lift heavier, and fly higher this year. What are yours? What did the open teach you? Drop a comment and let me know!
