Ryann Roberts, Fury Bomb Squad Athlete, DPT and owner of AZOPT, is competing in the 45-49 Master’s Division at The Southwest Championship Series in Utah this weekend. We checked in with him before he left to find out how he prepared for this competition and other events.
Good luck Ryann, your Fury Family will be cheering you on from Goodyear – bring home a medal!
Do you have a motto going into the weekend?
“Show some Grit!”
It’s not going to be easy and I may not feel the best at times but that is not a reason not to dig in and give it all for the duration of the event. Breathe Later!
What’s the workout you’re most looking forward to?
I think the first 6 rounds of 12 chest to bar and 6 bar facing burpees with 7 min cap. It went well in trials and I’m excited to see if I can get it done!
Why is competing important to you?
Competing gives me a goal. I need to focus on something and I get addicted to things easily so it is important to have positive vices. Competing gives me a reason to push hard; it is not necessarily about trying to be #1, though that is the goal each time, it is about doing the best I can in each event.
What is your secret/best advice to being a competitive athlete?
Build on your strengths and work on your weaknesses. As a Masters athlete I am not going to improve drastically in movements that are really challenging but I can improve some. It is most important to stay very efficient with the movements I am already fairly good at. Diet and rest are also very important as well as positive coaching. I talk to Teri and Becky a lot about how I should approach work outs, training and recovery. I also go hard in the gym most of the time. It can be easy to scale back or just go through the motions during a random Wednesday WOD but that is not going to make you better.
My advice for day of events, including the OPEN, is do not do tons of reps of the movements prior to the start of the WOD. Find ways to warm up that are not taxing on the muscles needed during the WOD.