Many people compete in the CrossFit Open every year, but is it really for everyone?

This was a loose “experiment.” I didn’t have funding and the people involved all have lives and families, so I did not include things like blood testing, adrenal testing, food logs and verification, special times to workout, and a whole lot more to remove unwanted variables. In truth, I wanted the variables to exist, because those variables, or ones just like them, exist for everyone in real life.

So, from both a realistic and scientific perspective, my question was, “How does the Open break you down or build you up?”

A Study of Three Athletes

The three athletes in my “study” consisted of one female and two males. I originally started with five athletes, but two dropped out because of work commitments. Of those who stayed, one of the men was given a plan – a preprogrammed workout schedule, sleep goal, and nutrition protocol. The other two subjects I let go wild, so I had one control and two free-for-alls.

The control athlete was given a strict set of rules to follow. Besides a meal plan and workout schedule, he was only allowed one single effort for each Open workout, whereas I knew that one of the other two athletes would attempt the workouts multiple times.

“The turn-around to recover and begin training again for that weekend is crucial and thus far I have seen not taken seriously.”

My main hypothesis was that multiple attempts at Open workouts at high intensities and with little recovery would cause negative results. The fact that athletes can repeat the workouts is something I see as a key flaw in the Open construction. It encourages people to make 100% efforts several times on the same workout. This is not only damaging to people’s scores, but also their physiology.

Yes, we have all seen that a person can improve his or her score the second time around, but the damage done to the individual by multiple, 100% attempts at the WODs is too great overall and potentially long term.

Setting Up the Experiment

As far as measurements went, I used BioSignature Modulation, a type of fat caliper testing designed by Charles Poliquin that measures and assesses twelve pinch sites on the body. I am a BioSignature Level 2 Practitioner and have been using this method to develop nutritional and supplementation protocols for all of my clients with great success. It is the same system we used when my coach Brad Davidson and I assisted in the nutrition and supplementation needs for the three female Games winners of 2013. I also used some basic heart rate testing and questionnaires.

The purpose of my experiment was to assess the toll that training for the Open can have on the average athlete.

Before the Open began, I took measurements and made basic assessments:

• Athlete 1 (control/male): weight 182.8lbs, 11.7% body fat
• Athlete 2 (male): weight 177lbs, 12.7% body fat
• Athlete 3 (female): weight 125lbs, 13.3% body fat

Heart rate was also normal and anxiety was on the lower side. As the workout days got closer, both heart rate and anxiety started to increase. Before the workouts, they both were elevated and after the workouts, heart rate would stay high even as anxiety decreased.

Study Results

Athlete 1 (control/male)

Started with a body weight of 182.8lbs and finished with a weight of 185.8lbs. His body fat stayed relatively the same, starting at 11.7% and decreasing to 9.9%. His muscle mass increased from 161.3lbs to 163.6lbs.

This athlete played the Open relatively cool and attempted each workout once. He had two days off from training per week and trained the other five, varying them between recovery days, heavy lower-volume days, and light higher-volume days.

“Going into anything with a plan is going to be the smartest approach.”

As far as his diet, he went higher on the carbs than is typical for most athletes. I kept him under a strict diet that manipulated carbs specifically, moving him in and out of depletion and refilling glycogen storages. This was his first CrossFit Open and he was able to compete in the RX division, ranking at the low end of the thousands in his region.

Athlete 2 (male)

Started with a body weight of 177lbs and ended with a weight of 173lbs. His body fat percentage stayed almost the same, starting at 12.7% and ending at 12.3%. He did lose muscle mass, starting at 154.5lbs and dropping to 151.7lbs.

Rest, recovery, proper training, and nutrition are key when it comes to enduring the grueling workouts of the Open.

This particular athlete put himself through a lot. Multiple attempts at Open workouts, swing shifts at work, and in the final week of the Open, he also ran a leg of Baker to Vegas, doing a 5.5-mile run in 100-degree heat at an increasing incline. Immediately after the run, he drove back to Southern California, napped a couple hours, then woke up and attempted the final Open workout.

Throughout the Open, this athlete ate approximately 80% paleo and drank alcohol (moderately) once a week. During and after the Open, he experienced extreme loss of appetite, poor sleep, and poor recovery. He also suffered a slight shin fracture. This is not uncommon in over-trained and under-recovered athletes as they end up with chronic cortisol elevation that can lead to bone, tendon, and ligament problems. Despite all this, he finished a little higher than 350th place in the Southern California region.

Athlete 3 (female)

Started at a body weight of 125lbs and finished at 121.4lbs. Body fat dropped from 13.3% to 12.5%. Lean muscle mass also dropped, starting at 108.3lbs and ended at 106.2lbs.

She, too, suffered (albeit to a lesser extent than Athlete 2) from loss of appetite, poor sleep, and inability to fully recover. She only attempted the workouts once each week, though. Her training was also less frequent throughout the week (totaling three or four days of actual training) unlike the other two athletes. Unfortunately, she was unable to complete the Open due to work schedule conflicts.

What Does This Mean For the Average Athlete?

Going into anything with a plan is going to be the smartest approach. And performing multiple high-intensity WODs each week with almost no recovery will no doubt lead to negative results and system-wide damage in the body. That said, despite all of the non-planning of Athlete 2, he was still able to do well because of his natural athletic abilities. But his ranking did not secure a Regionals spot, and the competition left him broken and battered. It took him longer to get back into regular training, and that recovery was painful.

Never underestimate the time and intensity of recovery you might need after competing in the Open.

Athletes 1 did well with a game plan, and Athlete 3 also did well without any help. Though Athlete 3 grazed through her nutrition like it was just another week, she was still able to make some positive progress (muscle gain, loss of body fat, no injuries). Her nutrition remained the same for game time, which was generally good, but her workouts changed slightly, allowing for more rest and recovery between Open workouts.

Both male athletes suffered a slight drop in male hormones, which was demonstrated in the BioSignature testing. This is typical, as testosterone will drop as cortisol (and stress) rises and estrogen will also rise due to the drop in testosterone.

Is the Juice Really Worth the Squeeze?

This was a small experiment to see what multiple attempts of Open WODs would do to average people and what would happen if, instead, someone followed a specific game plan. My conclusion is based on loss or gain of body fat and lean muscle tissue, weight changes, cognitive changes, and recovery. Performance was not a factor in consideration due to many uncontrollable and unequal variables, such as training years, movement experience, age, height, weight, lean mass, and more.

The take away from my “study” is that preparation for competition in the Open should include smart nutrition, training and recovery practices. And that one attempt at the workout at full intensity seems to be the best idea.

In the world of CrossFit, a little preparation goes a long way, and recovery makes everything better. Athletes 1 and 3 were able to continue on with their training beyond the Open because of a smarter approach that allowed them to stay injury free, make positive physiological changes, and not end up crushed from the weekly workouts.

When it comes to higher-end competitors like those going on to Regionals, these training and recovery factors are even more important due to regional-level competition coming up so quickly after the Open. The turn-around to recover and begin training again for that weekend is crucial and thus far I have seen not taken seriously. 

Check out these related articles:

• 10 Opinions On the CrossFit Games Open
• The CrossFit Games Open Is Broken
• How to Succeed In Your First CrossFit Games Open
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of RX’d Photography.

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Actually, this isn’t such a crazy paradox as we see it in a lot of populations faced with fight-or-flight situations. The body can push through in order to survive, but typically these scenarios are not sustained like they are with CrossFit Games-bound athletes.

But while these athletes can turn the engine on and get the job done, they are setting the stage for a system-wide breakdown. In the case of many high-level CrossFitters, there is poor focus on absolute recovery and this leads to serious health complications as their training career progresses.

The Breakdown of the System

In 2013 my coach, Brad Davidson, and I had the opportunity to work with the top three female winners of the CrossFit Games regarding their nutrition and supplementation. Since then, we have worked with several more top athletes, typically referred to us once they have become broken.

After a long period of under-recovery, an athlete will hear about how we correct major physiological damage, call us, work with us, recover, and then typically place high in their choice of competition. Brad is even considered a secret-weapon for a lot of CrossFitters.

“Pushing high intensity exercise with poor recovery isn’t really doable – or even recommended.”

Pushing high intensity exercise with poor recovery isn’t really doable – or even recommended. Instead, we first stress the importance of recovery with our athletes. Training is only as good as the recovery. If you are under-recovered, your training doesn’t cause beneficial progression. It causes the body to enter survival mode.

We have noticed this inability to recover not only in high-level CrossFit competitors but also in the average athlete. So much energy is spent on the WOD that the time in the remainder of the day just isn’t there for recovery. Or worse yet, an athlete may just not know how to recover. Nutrition is weak, supplements are whatever the gym sells, and mobility means watching a five-minute video with a sweet-talking guy in San Fran but the athlete doesn’t actually do what he says.

Case Study on Poor Recovery

When Brad got the initial phone call from Kim (name changed), she shared a whole list of negative symptomology. Zero energy, no sex drive, no desire to train, hair loss, inability to breathe properly, always feeling cold, loss of hearing, inability to get out of bed for hours after the alarm went off, and even memory loss. Despite Kim being on a super clean diet, she felt worse energetically and was gaining body fat somewhat consistently.

“Quality sleep, nutrition tailored to your training and goals, and supplementation are of utmost importance.”

Keep in mind, Kim is a long-time and awesome CrossFit competitor. If things were this out of order for one of the best, imagine the crushing circumstances of under-recovery for those below this athlete’s level. All of the above reported symptoms were in full effect one month prior to the CrossFit Open when Kim came to us, so our time was limited.

Kim had incorrectly assumed her negative symptoms were a normal part of training because they had happened before, but never to this degree. But when the symptoms became worse she knew something had to change. As Brad put it to me:

“As the Open and Regionals and Games get closer, most of the fittest are so under-recovered that their knowledge becomes limited on how to fix the situation. So they do the wrong things and don’t seek help. Most in fact just try to train harder and it doesn’t work.”

As Brad further explained, “The system isn’t broken, the athlete is broken. It really isn’t the CrossFit programming. It’s the inability to recover from the demands of the programming.”

The Four Phases of Recovery

To get started on our four-phase recovery plan, we asked Kim to order blood work, as well as complete other testing (adrenal, immune system, digestive, and cognitive function). All results showed signs of severe wear and tear. Athletes are often mentally in fight mode, but physically in flight mode. Their cortisol is out of whack, and this becomes a major problem.

Brad explained to Kim it wasn’t her fault. There was a lack of strategy regarding the most important aspect of training – recovery. This recovery should involve nutrition and supplementation going into a workout and coming out of it. If an athlete turns on the “fight,” then they need to shut it down and bring on the recovery methods to heal from the battle.

“If things were this out of order for one of the best, imagine the crushing circumstances of under-recovery for those below this athlete’s level.”

This ability to control and enhance recovery can improve the capability of the individual to fight. Without this, the athlete’s brain may feel fully invested in killing the workout, but the body only wants to flee. Why? Because the body thinks it is constantly fighting and it wants to survive.

Essentially Kim was expressing major signs of adrenal and thyroid down regulation, sluggish liver, and high levels of inflammation. What does this do or mean physically?

• Sluggish Liver: This affects work capacity and brain function, and can cause extreme lethargy. If someone is a “slow morning starter,” it is usually because the liver is burdened.
• Adrenal Issues: This affects strength, energy, and work-load capacity. It causes catabolism, sex hormones to drop, and the immune system to not function well at all (Kim was getting sick almost every month), as well as unneeded joint pain. Another symptom is very harsh mood swings.

Instead of making progress through training, training was making Kim worse. This makes recovery very hard, if not impossible, and does not allow any athlete to benefit from the training stimulus.

The Protocol for Kim

The plan Brad created was simple. In the time before the workout, Kim needed to prepare her body for the workout itself. Afterward, the remainder of the day would be focused on healing and recovering. Relax and conquer, then relax a lot.

Note: This is an example of what was given to Kim, and is not intended for actual use.

Upon Waking:

• Half of a lemon squeezed in warm water to aid liver support and wake the body
• Glass of essential and non-essentials amino acids
• Sea salt for aiding adrenals and waking the body

In regard to nutrition, everything was kept simple and revolved around the proper use of protein and fats, especially leading into training to help improve brain function and create a good, natural form of energy.

Pre-Workout Supplementation:

• Olympic lifting session: coffee, green tea, L-tyrosine, GPC (all to drive overall brain function).
• Metcon: Green tea (not as much caffeine as coffee, and it supports the liver), plus fish oil or a product we used called InxAglity EKG (to enhance blood flow), plus beta alanine (to buffer lactic acid). This combination wakes the body up and aids the liver, all without accelerating heart rate too high.

Don’t Forget the Carbs

One thing Brad and I have seen a lot is that CrossFit athletes go into competition carb depleted. Most CrossFitters under-eat carbs. This causes under-recovery and depleted glycogen levels. We have found if we add carbs into athletes’ diets whose metabolisms are sluggish (from too much training volume) they are able to increase their recovery.

“Most CrossFitters under-eat carbs. This causes under-recovery and depleted glycogen levels.”

In some cases, we have even programmed athletes to increase carb intake by to as much as 600-700g a day. For these athletes, even as the carbs went up, their body fat percentage went down and their performance kept peaking. We have yet to see a high-performing CrossFit athlete gain body fat by adding carbs to their diet. So, for Kim, every meal after a workout included complex carbs.

Dirty Sleep

Brad also developed a sleep hygiene focus for Kim. Sleep hygiene entails the ability to fall asleep within twenty minutes of lying down, stay asleep, and wake up naturally without hitting snooze. If you aren’t able to do those three things, to one degree or another, you have bad sleep hygiene – or “dirty sleep.” During sleep the body repairs itself. Without it, it doesn’t. It is that simple.

Using liver support and new sleep strategies designed by Brad to enhance deeper and more recovery-inducing sleep, Kim’s negative symptomology decreased, and her energy and performance increased.

The End Result for Kim

Due to not just being an awesome athlete, but also dedicating herself to a recovery protocol, Kim was able to finish high enough in the SoCal Regionals to secure a spot for the CrossFit Games.

Brad and I encounter countless CrossFitters who are under-recovered due to missing out on these key aspects. But you don’t have to be a high-level CrossFitter for this to apply to you. Anyone who is training hard needs to recover harder. If you are following a training program, there should be an associated recovery program. If you don’t have one, then find one.

“The above recovery methodologies are just the basics. There are a lot more specifics, but if you are not doing the basics, the specifics won’t matter.”

The above recovery methodologies are just the basics. There are a lot more specifics, but if you are not doing the basics, the specifics won’t matter. Quality sleep, nutrition tailored to your training and goals, and supplementation are of utmost importance. Training, especially training hard, should come after that.

Your training won’t push you to the next level or a healthy state of being without these elements in line. Recovery is an art, and like any art, it should involve dedication, presence, and mastery.

Read more on recovery:

• How Your Recovery Relates Directly to Your Performance
• Eating To Recover: How and What to Eat Post Workout
• 7 Essential Elements of Rest and Recovery
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photo 1 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

Photo 2 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

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