Today Monday, January 28th makes 37 days until the start of the 2013 Functional Fitness Open which begins on March 6th.  If you’re unfamiliar with the Functional Fitness Open, it is the most inclusive competition in the world.  It is the first stage of three leading up to the conclusion which is the Functional Fitness Games.  The Functional Fitness Open is a great time for any athlete to test themselves and their fitness.  Athletes of a ability levels are able to compete along side of some of the fittest people in the world.  During the first two Functional Fitness Open competitions we have witness first hand athletes performing tasks they had never done before.  As coaches we feel that every athlete should sign up for the Open.  I’m sure each and every athlete who has ever competed in any kind of Functional Fitness competition can validate that competition brings something out of us that we never thought was possible, or it can show you an area in which you may need to spend a little more work and dedication working on.  On that note the goal with Functional Fitness isn’t to be the best at one particular area of fitness, but to be good at every aspect of fitness.  The Open is a fun and great way to test your current fitness level.  Registration for the Open begins January 30th, if you’re interested you can click here and it will bring you to the Functional Fitness Games website.  If you have any further question please feel free to ask one of your coaches.

With that being said it is always important to remind and reflect as to why or how you found Functional Fitness.  The Functional Fitness Games or Functional Fitness as a Sport is an extremely small part of Functional Fitness.  Even though the Games have brought a ton of media and attention to Functional Fitness it still isn’t why Functional Fitness began.  Functional Fitness was and will always be a strength and conditioning program that’s main goal is to improve every athletes overall HEALTH and WELLNESS.  We can analyze this concept in greater detail but for the purpose of this post we will leave that for another time.  There are some athletes who may have seen or were first introduced to Functional Fitness by seeing the Games on TV, however I’m’ sure almost every athlete who participates in Functional Fitness didn’t begin or continue with Functional Fitness because they wanted to compete in the Games.  The point I’m trying to make is, we have had the great honor of working with some of the greatest individuals and athletes we’ve every been able to coach.  However competition much like money in this world has a way of changing how people approach and view there workouts.  Workouts that were once upon a time your hour for yourself, or a way to strive after those ever so frustrating goals that you’ve been chasing for years, or simple a possible means to just getting better not only physically but mentally as well.  These workouts that had nothing to do with the measurement of how great of an athlete you are but instead had everything to do accomplishing your goals.  It’s very easy to get caught up in competition and let other athletes results or performances affect our own self worth.  That is why it’s extremely important to reflect and remind yourself as to why you began this great journey call Functional Fitness.  So if you do decide to participate in the Open make sure this process doesn’t change who you are as both a person and an athlete.  You can all accomplish anything you want to, just make sure to remind yourself whats important and what you want.