5 Weeks of Functional Fitness Programming During the Competitive Season

The competitive season is upon us.  You’ve been working hard all year to try and move up the rankings.  You’ve carefully tracked your stats, and been very disciplined in your programming, but what kind of program should you do during the open to maximize your fitness for this month long event?  Keep reading to see 5 weeks of programming that is specifically tailored to allow you to crush the open WODs, and continue to improve your fitness.

The first thing I should go over is the general goals of this program.  It is designed to allow you to keep the current level of fitness, and increase your conditioning.  Realistically this is test time and if you haven’t studied for it it’s going to suck, but we are in luck, because the open is over a month long.  This allows us to continue to sharpen our edge and make some decent improvements.

Often times it’s somewhat of a mystery for many athletes as to what they should be doing during the month of the open.  Do I take it easy?  Do I workout harder? More cardio…olympic lifting….shake weight?  Trick question, the answer is always shake weight.

God this shake weight spoof is funny.

Assumptions

The first assumption that you will be doing the WOD on Friday’s, and that you probably will not be repeating your workouts.  This is not to say that you cannot repeat Open WODs, but you will have to take Monday WOD’s a little easier, because they are programmed to be the most difficult.

The second assumption is that you will continue to work hard all the way through the open.  I know it can be mentally taxing, especially if you have a bad WOD that moves you down the rankings.  Keep after it, your score isn’t done until after week five so don’t worry about that leader board.

Week 1

You will notice that the harder WODs appear earlier in the week and gradually reduce in intensity as you approach Friday, which is when you will be doing the Open WOD.  I’ve prioritized olympic lifting as well as interval WOD’s because a month is long enough to increase neural efficiency in the lifts, as well as increase conditioning.  There won’t be a lot of volume in this program.

Week 2

During this week you will see the increase in sets for olympic lifting, while maintaining a fairly heavy weight.  You will also continue to see more interval WODs because they are key for increasing your functional fitness specific endurance.  The idea is that you practice spending time at a pace above your normal AMRAP pace so that your body can become accustomed to that increased work rate, and ultimately maintain that for an Open WOD.

Week 3

This is the highest volume week for olympic lifting.  Monday’s workout will be pretty rough and you’re likely to be pretty sore in the legs, but you should be completely recovered by Friday.  It’s also important to point out that you don’t need to be 100% fresh to WOD.  This is a mistake most athletes make.

I bet if you think back to some of your best performances, you will see that they occurred when you were a little beat up, and didn’t really expect much.  I can also recall, from personal experience, times when I was completely fresh and tanked.  Your body get’s used to performing in a certain state and is best suited to do so.

Week 4

This week we have changed the olympic lifting up slightly.  It is roughly the same volume, though a little lighter, to allow you some recovery from those pretty heavy reps we’ve done the previous three weeks.

This week is tough mentally, as most folks are ready for the Open to be over, but you have to continue to be consistent and work hard.  Likewise, don’t underestimate the simple things.  A lot of athletes will neglect those technique work days, but these can really pay off in your efficiency during a WOD.  Remember getting just a few more reps can move you up hundreds of spots in the final standings.

Week 5

This is the last week of the open.  The same kinds of patterns continue into this week and you need to continue to be mentally strong.  The WODs are a little shorter which should allow you to complete them with maximum intensity.  At this point your performance is going to really depend on your mindset so attack these short WODs, and kill that last open Workout.

Recap

If you’ve noticed a theme throughout this article, it’s that you need to be mentally tough, and that’s what the Open is all about.  Can you overcome not performing well one week or are you going to tank the rest of the open because of one subpar performance?  Of course you’re not, because you aren’t a quitter, and if you were you’d be dead to me, just kidding, or am I?

These WODs will allow you to become a little more efficient during the open and slightly increase your conditioning.  This is great for you, because now you don’t have to worry if you are doing the right programming.  This will work for you, but the real question is will you work for it?

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