From Dani

First Competition

I get a lot of athletes asking me questions about competing; here are a few things I would recommend from personal experience.

 1) The week leading up to the competition do not change a thing, keep everything the same.  Don’t try new shoes, eat new food or try a new jump rope, keep everything the same.  This is not the time to experiment with new technique or supplements, be confident with your training leading up to the competition.  After the competition if you want to try new technique, food, or gear go for it.  Whenever I finish a competition I always write a reflection about what I learned from the competition, what went well and how I need to improve.

2) Make sure that you eat and drink enough food leading up to the competition.  Eat good whole foods with protein, carbs and fats.  Stay hydrated with electrolytes, I use the Nuun tablets.  I probably have 3 – 4 Nuun tablets a day, I can definitely tell a difference when I’m not hydrated with electrolytes.  I also have used Gatorade instead of the Nuun tablets to get some carbs in my body.  If you want to have a “cheat meal,” plan on it for after the competition.

3) Pack more than you think you’ll need, you never know what the weather will be like.  The last thing you want is wet socks or to be freezing!  Try to pack an extra pair of sneakers and always bring two jump ropes.  Most gyms have jump ropes, but the athletes normally always bring their own jump rope.  Hopefully you have your own jump rope, one that you’re consistently using.  Bring your protein powder and any supplements you take pre or post work out. Bring warm clothing, blankets, chairs, ect.  You don’t want to be cold!

4) Try to get a full 8 hours of sleep a night for a week leading up to the competition.  If you can squeeze a nap it during the day leading up to the competition, do it.  Sleep is the most important piece for recovery.  The night before the competition, try to get to bed early.  Try not to think about the workout while your trying to fall asleep, I know this is really hard.  Sometimes before I go to bed at a competition, I watch a funny TV show to take my mind off the workouts.

5) Take at least one day of rest before the competition.  The day before I like to do a lot of mobility and some light easy rowing or running.  This is not the day to be going for a new 1 Rep Max back squat.  The week leading up to the competition, still come to the gym, but take it easy.  Don’t be trying to max out every day.

6) On the day of the competition, get there early.  Most likely there will be an athlete briefing, where they go over movement standards and anything you will need to know.  This is a time where you can ask questions about the workouts if you have any.  If you’re an athlete that takes a while to warm-up, getting there early will give you extra time to warm-up before the event.

7) Every competition is different, some run on time and some don’t.  They will assign you a start time for each workout, I would recommend being ready earlier than they say.  The last thing you want is to be cold going into an event.  I normally start warming up about 45 minutes before my first workout should start.  Sometimes I want less warm-up before an event, sometimes I want more time.  Listen to your body and how it feels. 

8) If the workouts get released early, I would do them. Once.  Don’t do them everyday leading up to the competition.  Do them one time and treat it as a run through.  After you do it or even if you don’t do it, come up with a game plan.  For example, how are you going to break up the 20 pull-ups?  How many sets? Unbroken?  Once you have a plan, great.  When you’re in the middle of the WOD and the plan goes out the window, be ok with it.  Let’s face it, things happen in the middle of a WOD and you are forced to change up your plan.  Changing up your plan is perfectly fine, as long as you stay relaxed.  There’s no need to freak out if you have to change your plan, freaking out will do you no good.  Freaking out will only add stress and take away your energy.

9) There will be a judge counting your reps and letting you know if they count or not.  You may get no repped; getting no repped means that rep won’t count.  If you don’t understand why you got no repped, ask your judge.  It will be due to movement standards, range of motion.  Whatever you do, do not argue with your judge.  When you’re in the middle of your workout, accept what your judge is saying and finish the WOD.  After, once you’ve completed the WOD, BEFORE you sign your scorecard, talk to your judge about your no reps, get and idea of what you weren’t doing for the future. Once you sign the scorecard, it’s too late to dispute your score. 

10) Reward yourself after the competition, get yourself a treat!  I know “We’re not dogs, we don’t need to reward ourselves with food” ( a quote I see a lot), but sometimes a nice ice cream sundae is deserved after all your hard work.  You could also treat yourself some other way too, maybe non-food related.  Just make sure you do something fun and for YOU after the competition.

11) After the competition, give yourself a day or two off.  Go to the gym; maybe do some light rowing and a lot of mobility.  Give your muscles time to recover that is when you make your gains.  If it’s nice out, go outside and enjoy nature.  Do something outside of the gym if you can.

12) During your WOD’s stay focused on you and only you.  Don’t worry about what your neighbor is doing next to you, do what you need to do and get it done.  Make sure there is some chalk close by in case you need it, I like to keep a small piece by my area during the WOD, just in case.  Yes, you may be nervous and that is ok.  It means you care about the competition, just try to channel those nerves into your workout.  Before you start your WOD, review the movement standards with your judge.  Show them a few reps that way you know what YOUR judge is expecting.  The difficult thing with judging is every judge has different standards, you should show them a few reps of everything before you start that way you know what your judge is expecting.  Let your judge know if you want them to either count off the reps for you or what you would like from them.  I always want my judge to count out loud for me, loudly.  I always reinforce, please be loud.  There’s always music playing and it’s noisy during the WOD, ask your judge to be loud. 

13) Remember to have fun.  Yes it is a competition and you should be focused, but have fun and enjoy every moment of it.  I always want it to be over with ASAP and it always is over quickly, but I know it’s important to enjoy every minute of it.  Between the workouts during the wait, rest and eat when you can.