One Week at a Time: Tiffany Hendrickson

March 28, 2013

Kyle Wise

"This will be the first year I'm doing one and done (in the Open)."

Photo by: George Bryant

 

Photo by: George Bryant

 

 

 

The 2013 Reebok CrossFit Games Open has officially reached the halfway point.

At this crucial juncture of the season, Tiffany Hendrickson is sitting comfortably in second place in the South West Region for Individual Women. Hendrickson, who finished in third in the region on 13.3, is competing for her third year.  

Hendrickson completed 264 reps on Workout 13.3, just six muscle-ups short of completing one round.

“I feel good about it. I feel pretty happy there's marked improvement,” she says, describing her 13.3 performance. “I didn't get any no reps on my muscle-ups.”

Hendrickson finished 13.1 with 186 reps, and 13.2 with 376 reps.

The former gymnast and mother of three has been doing CrossFit since 2010 with Wasatch CrossFit in Layton, Utah. In 2011 — her first year competing — she finished seventh at the South West Regional. In 2012, she was fifth.

The Regional, however, has not always been smooth sailing for Hendrickson. At last year's Regional, she dislocated some ribs at the beginning the Dumbbell Snatch Event.

“I heard a loud pop and knew exactly what had happened because they had gone out before,” she says of her injury.

However, it did not slow her down for long.

“In that moment there was no question in my mind if I was going to finish the 40 snatches I still had before me. I stayed focused on the task at hand and pushed through until the work was done,” she recalls. “I have learned that as strong as our bodies are, our minds are even more powerful. Once we have set our mind to do something, our bodies will find a way to achieve it; where there is a will there is a way.”

For 2013, Hendrickson has altered her approach to the Open in two crucial ways: she only attempts each workout once and she pays little to no attention to the Leaderboard.

“This will be the first year I am doing one and done,” she says of the Open workouts. “This year, I decided to stay focused on the big goal, which is Regionals.”

Hendrikson says she was “way too emotionally involved” in 2011 and 2012 during the Open. Disregarding the Leaderboard and staying focused on her goal — reaching the South West Regional —keeps the stress at bay.

“It's easy to get caught up in that,” she says of the ever-changing Leaderboard.

Hendrickson is pleased by her current performance in the 2013 Open, and she is sticking to her new strategy.

“My game plan is very straightforward,” she says. “It has worked so far.”