To Open or not to Open

Crossfit announced the dates of this year's Open competition and social media is buzzing with the news. I think it's important for some to hear this.  Just because you Crossfit does not mean you have to do the Open.

People follow a functional fitness program for a variety of reasons. They want to lose body fat, they want to keep up with their kids, they enjoy the atmosphere of the gym, they like pushing themselves to do new things, and some to take their skills outside of their own gym and compete against others.

You are not weak, selling yourself short or some kind of Crossfit-fake if you don't do the Open. It is a stressful, multi-week competition designed to crown the fittest on Earth. The idea of training for something that you have no intention of winning is a tough pill for some to swallow.

All that aside, the Open can push you to try movements and weights you never thought possible. My fondest memories of the 2013 Open are the elation of watching a friend get a weight over her head she had never done before. She had won her Open.

It's cliché. Each day you walk into the gym your biggest competition is yourself. Approach the Open the same way.