If you’re a CrossFitter, congrats on making it through The Open! Whether you redid each workout or just joined in for fun, chances are you pushed harder than usual these last five weeks.

Today we’re talking 3 steps you can take next in order to optimize recovery and set yourself up for long-term success.

These steps can also apply to any extra stressful or performance-focused phase whether you just ran a marathon or wrapped a big project at work. (Yep, stress is stress on the body!)

Going hard all the time can actually work against our performance and aesthetic goals, so this is a great time to pump the brakes.

You may want to take more rest or active recovery days, and don’t forget to prioritize sleep. In fact, if you need to skip a workout to get 7-8 hours of quality Z’s, consider this your permission slip.

In other words, eat to optimize your health rather than appearance or performance. This requires…

• Keeping calories at maintenance level.
• Adjusting macros. (probably increasing fats and lowering carbs)
• Prioritizing food quality while also enjoying some flexibility.

For example, you were hopefully eating lots of carbs during the Open. Now as you lower volume and intensity in the gym, you may want to lower your carbs and increase healthy fats. This is because you need fewer carbs for fuel, and fats are a precursor for building important hormones in your body.

Rather than working on everything at once, pick your next focus. Is it fat loss? Building muscle? Skill work? Conditioning?

Work with your coach and/or nutrition coach to adjust accordingly when you’re ready.

Keep in mind that how hard you’ve been training (or how stressed you’ve been) will determine how long you may need to continue steps #1 and #2 above.

Having the patience to go through these steps — especially before rushing into a diet phase or back to hard training — is vital for restoring health (hormones, adrenals, metabolism, etc.). 

And that’s the key to getting better results over the long term.

Remember, the healthiest version of you will also perform / lose fat / build muscle / live as the best version of you.