Redoing Open workouts has gotten a bad rap. Why? 

I think redoing is part of the fun. Over the years, I have often heard, "If I am redoing because of ego, then I am not going to do it." Ehh… I say it depends.

As defined by Merriam-Webster, “ego” is the idea of self, especially as contrasted with another self or the world.

If you are a recreational Open athlete, meaning you might make it to the Quarterfinals, or are only competing with the people in your gym, then ego is a capital “G” GREAT reason to do a workout again.

CrossFitters do the Open for all types of reasons, but mostly for two main ones:

1. The Open is what you do as a CrossFitter – golfers play rounds, runners run 5k’s, and CrossFitters do the Open. It’s fun, and stressful, and surprising, and hard, …etc.
2. The Open is a place to test ourselves—this can mean getting your first muscle-up or advancing to the Quarterfinals. The idea behind the Open is to figure out what you are capable of.

In the Open, if your result doesn't align with what you believe you are capable of, you are allowed another chance. This is a rare opportunity—one where, after facing disappointment, you can almost immediately retest your theories about yourself.

If ego is about our idea of ourselves, then the more tallies on the "This Is True About Me" board you can have, the better. We all know people with inflated egos, which really means they believe things about themselves that others don’t or that aren't true. That person is not fun. And they give the word ego a bad rap. After all, in its definition, ego has a neutral connotation.

Why wouldn't you do the workout again?

1. You crushed it – you executed as well as you could. No need.
2. You are brand new to the sport/training and can’t handle the volume of doing the same workout twice in a small window of time.
3. You intend on being the best competitor you can be at the highest level(s) of this sport, a Semifinals or Games-level athlete.

The idea of being "one-and-done" became popular because the very top athletes in our sport would say it. For them, they should be. Originally, it was because going “one-and-done” meant you were VERY good and could make it to regionals on a sub-optimal attempt. It was a reward for being good. You were good enough for the Open to cause minimal interruption in your training leading to regionals. It gave you an advantage over those who were stuck redoing their workouts, unable to move on to valuable time spent training.

Then came the Sanctional season. You made it to the Games if you got top-20 worldwide in the Open. It would be silly not to redo the shit out of those workouts.

Then came the quarterfinals. Only the top 10% make it into the Quarterfinals. Top athletes are back to one-and-done. It makes more sense to do the workout once so you can do your normal training for your weaknesses on Monday. That is the obvious reason.

The other reason top athletes shouldn't redo the workout is twofold—both reasons are similar and related to being a better competitor on the in-person stage.

1. Getting comfortable with seeing a workout, having limited time to process it, and then having to execute it is a skill. So, having to deal with that result, good or bad, can be a hit to the ..... EGO. If an athlete does worse than they wanted to in an event at the Games, there are no redos, and it’s often an emotional blow, but they still must go out and perform in the next event. This is a learned skill (for most).
2. Not feeding the "perfection pathology" (I made that up, so don't come at me) – Most people at the top of this sport (and most others) are detail-oriented, irrational about some things, and highly driven. Meaning they can find a reason for redoing the workout. It serves them to practice not always giving in to their natural tendencies or emotions. A quiet-minded, in-control competitor is a dangerous one.

There will always be exceptions to every rule. Sometimes, recreational athletes should NOT redo a workout for the sake of ego alone, and sometimes, a Games-hopeful has it in their best interest to redo a workout during the Open. Like all other things in life, there is nuance here. 

There's no shame in redoing a workout, but there is no inherent glory in it, either. If you are disappointed in the Open, move forward in a way that serves you. This "way" will probably vary over time, but in my opinion, that is part of the fun, too.