CrossFit Open 2024 Mindset Prep

The 2024 CrossFit Open season is rapidly approaching, and as a gym we’ve intentionally focused on how we

approach workouts by maximizing our strengths and becoming aware of weaknesses so we can be as prepared as

possible for the unknown and unknowable. We have fought to build our cycling with a barbell, deadlift capacity, and

skill work.

But what about the skill work between our ears as we become self-aware and anxious as we approach a heavy barbell for a one rep max? What skills can we implement to ensure that we can move through an automatically learned skill such as the thruster or snatch?

While pressure begins to build in our minds to perform to a certain level, we may also see an increase in anxiety

and self-awareness, which leads us to actively think about executing specific skills flawlessly and may lead to

diminished performance. The self-focus theory proposes that pressure causes us to pay attention to elements of

performance, such as the turnover of the clean or the depth of our squat, and it interferes with automatically learned

skills. A more simplistic way to say it is paralysis by analysis.

What strategies can we implement to limit distractions or self-focus to improve our performance by

trusting our ability to perform learned skills?

In 2009, research was conducted on five basketball players who displayed signs of performance anxiety. To help

refocus their attention, researchers had athletes listen to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty

Python’s Life of Brian. While all four athletes were unable to recall every lyric of the song, they were able to focus on

the chorus and stated that it did lower their anxiety and self-focus and improved their performance. So, one strategy

could be picking a song you can recall most if not all of the lyrics and begin singing it in your head 10 to 15 seconds

before you approach the bar, focusing on the lyrics and limiting your self-focus as you approach the bar for your

lifts. I used this method while in the Army when I became anxious during airborne operations, and my go-to

song was “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey. As soon as I boarded an aircraft, I would start singing in my

head, and it would divert my attention away from my absolute fear of jumping out of a perfectly good

aircraft.

Another method is to have an external focus. For example, instead of thinking through every step of a weight-

lifting movement concerned with your bar speed or path, focus on an external cue, such as pushing your feet against

the floor. One study on internal and external focus with athletes found that athletes who had an external focus, such

as pushing through a force plate, generated more power where, whereas the internal focus led to less intermuscular

coordination, especially early in the movement. By focusing on pushing through the floor, you limit the self-focus

and critiquing of every movement through a lift. As important as it is to strive for technically perfect lifts, it is not

always possible, and it is more advantageous to have technically sound lifts that allow efficient movement of heavy

load.

You all have worked hard this last year to improve your skills and build strength and aerobic capacity. You need

not lose sight of that as we approach the Open and have possible nerves regarding the inevitable 1RM. Try to apply

one of these two methods into your training as we lead into the Open by playing your favorite song in your head

before approaching a heavy barbell or focusing on pushing through the floor so you never lose focus on your

abilities!

Article Written by Newest Ergon Elite Coach, Amanda Peterson