The team comp season is upon us with the NZ Team Nationals this weekend, 2Toa the weekend after and NZ Fitness league just around the corner.
Here are our tips to help you work your way up the leaderboard.
1. Have a plan A, a plan B, and a plan Z
Things often go wrong in workouts when you are working out by yourself, when you're in a team with five other people there is five times the opportunity for something to implode.
Trust me iv seen some of the best teams in the world standing on the competition floor with their hands in the air trying to come up with a new plan on the fly.
That's why when you are making your team's workout strategy have your best case option, followed by a backup plan and then plan Z “the nothing else has worked let's try this plan” this plan is usually damage control but is still very necessary.
2. It's all about transitions
The difference between a top 10 finish in an event and bottom 10 finish can be a matter of seconds.
Think about all the time spent transitioning in a workout; changing the working athlete & moving from exercise to exercise.
Are you hustling between movements or just walking? Do you keep the rower straps loose enough so everyone in your team can slide in and out without adjusting them? Are you controlling the barbell to the ground so it is not bouncing everywhere for the next person to try to pick up?
In team workouts, you can have 30-40-50+ transitions depending on the particular workout. If you can shave just 1 second off each transition by being onto it and more efficient in your transitions you'll be laughing all the way to the top of the leaderboard.
3. What happens on the competition floor stays on the floor
As I mentioned earlier there is a high possibility that someone will stuff up or something might not go 100% to plan. When this happens it's vital for team morale that you support that person to bring them back up, I highly doubt they did it on purpose and they will not be feeling great about letting the team down. So once the event is over there is no going back in time, leave whatever has happened on the floor and move on to the next event (This should go without saying but I see it happening all too frequently.)
4. Worm Work & Syncro Movements
We heard a rumor that there is going to be a “Worm” at team nationals this year. The worm for those of you that don't know is a 220kg sandbag that requires 6 people to move, it was specifically designed for the CrossFit Games team competition.
It is the ultimate test of teamwork as everyone has to be working in synchronization. If you're not you'll find yourself sitting on the floor with the sandbag on top of you. Even one person out of time can throw out the whole team.
The following applies for all synchro movements;
Have your loudest person calling the reps it's going to be loud AF in the stadium and your team needs to know when to move on each rep. In saying this they caller should also be one of your fittest athletes. I don't know if you've ever tried having a conversation in the middle of an event but it’s bloody hard.
-Strategize around your weakest athlete for the particular event
There is absolutely no point in making an amazing strategy for an event around the fittest athlete on your team, you're only as strong as your weakest link and if you try to magically get them to do more than they can handle all that is going to happen is they get more and more fatigued and start moving slower and slower. Keep them within their threshold until the final part of the workout and then push them to bring it home.
-When something goes wrong count to 5
Take a deep breath, count to 5 or 10 regain your composure as a team and then try again, going back to my first point it might be time to switch to plan B.
Enjoy It!
Competing on a team, in my opinion, the best part of CrossFit, No doubt you guys have spent hours training together and getting to know each other better. Now you get to put yourselves to the test on the competition floor, have a laugh and have some fun enjoy your successes and learn from your mistakes.
All of our CrossFit games teams from CF East Tamaki first competed at domestic comps together, the fun they had working as a team was what fueled the fire to give the CrossFit Regionals and then the Games a crack.
Does your team have what it takes to be NZ’s next team on their way to the CrossFit Games?
No comments:
Post a Comment