Author: Brandon Schoenwether

With Open Season in full swing so brings the time of many firsts. However, some brave (you could say crazy) souls yearn for the time of seconds, thirds, and yes, sometimes even fourths. These few individuals are of course the ‘Re-Do’ Crew, those that would not let Dave Castro have just one heartbreaking victory over them, but several.

Now you may have thought about what it would take to join this special group, quite simply, you just weren’t satisfied the first time. Whether it was a brand new movement, a movement you know you can do better in, or you slept for 3 hours the night before, part of you knows that there’s more in the tank and you want to find out just how much. 

On the other side, we have the ‘One-and-Done’ Crew. These individuals are happy to go after it one time as hard as they can and that’s the end of that story where they may never do that workout again. This mindset is one we can all strive to develop. To be capable of pushing so hard from the very start that you know there is no way on Earth you will be able to improve your score. No amount of motivation, pre-workout, or pump-up music will make a difference on the leaderboard.

There are pros and cons to both sides. The pros of re-doing a workout offer you a chance to try multiple strategies and see how good you are at planning, sticking to that plan, and you can reflect on if that was even the right plan. You also gain familiarity in an unfamiliar environment, on each Friday we workout under unfamiliar circumstances with a significant increase in the number of eyes on us and energy put into the hour. For some, this may aid in their performance, for others, not so much, either way, you are given a chance to learn whether this will aid or hinder you.

The cons to re-doing a workout are that you can easily ruin your first attempt if you approach the workout with the mindset in place that you will already be attempting that workout again. Are you really pushing as hard as you can if you plan to try again in two days? You also miss out on some of next week’s training by racking up extra fatigue in the same parts of your body by repeating the workout. When trying to perform on a certain day a few times each year we really don’t want extra fatigue on our bodies, we want to feel rested and fresh the day of the event.

This is the time of the year to learn about your last year of training. What did you do a lot of and what did you not do a whole lot of? Your weaknesses can hit with a spotlight while your strengths put you on a pedestal. Each year of The Open brings some of the same and some very different, however, you can always count on the ‘Re-Do’ Crew to make sure they leave no stone unturned and the ‘One-and-Done’ Crew to show us how to give it all you’ve got.

You better be taking notes, this year doesn’t come with an answer key, and it never will.