The CrossFit Open kicks off on February 25th… What are you doing to get ready? There’s still time to make sure The Open is as awesome as it’s cracked up to be. Here are five quick tips to get you started:
1. Prepare your athletes.
In the week(s) leading up to the open make sure your coaches consistently enforce very strict movement standards. Make sure members are not surprised by the “no-rep” and know how to handle it. Coaches need to be honest with athletes who plan on doing the open about where they need to get deeper, touch both feet the the bar, hit the target, or lock out. Encourage, but don’t baby them. Make sure they understand why it’s way better to do a single legit rep than 15 oh-so-close reps. It’s not just one measly rep, its an awesome achievement!
2. Build excitement.
Let members share their favorite open moments in a guest blog or quote them on your social media posts. Dig up some old pictures from last year that will get your members pumped and use them to encourage people to sign up. It’s also a great idea to have your coaches pump up your members before each class with reminders and reasons to participate. Do what will be most effective for your members – think about what they will respond to best!
3. Keep the competitive spirit positive.
Don’t let the open bring out the worst in your extra competitive members and cause problems for others. The simplest way to do this is to create boundaries so there is no fuel for the fire. Simple rules like not judging your good friend or not letting members go through other people’s score sheets will help keep any negative chatter down.
4. Coaches have to be the head judge.
Being a judge can be just as stressful as being an athlete, if not more. Maybe the athlete is trying really hard and the judge feels bad for them, or maybe that athlete is intimidating their judge. Either way, there has to be quality control to keep negativity (and the rumor mill) down. If a coach sees a judge give reps away, that coach has to step in and be the voice for that judge.
5. Celebrate!
Give props to your top performers by installing the CrossFit Open custom leaderboard widget on your website (we can help with that). This is a cool way to make your athletes feel important and recognize their hard work.
From a community standpoint, a great way to bring everyone together to celebrate the end of a grueling five weeks is a gym party or get together of some sort.
Then, when it’s all over, put your marketing hat on and write a blog highlighting the best moments and photos of the open at your gym… and don’t forget to share it!
Here’s to the best CrossFit Open yet!
Have something to add? Tell us in the comments…
