News

Was The Peg Board Event Scored Fairly?

The 2015 CrossFit Games featured a new competitive element that stumped pretty much everyone: the peg board.  In the men's division only 20 competitors got a single successful ascent and descent and only 6 finished Pedal to the Medal 1, the event which featured the peg board. There was even more carnage in the women's division: no woman even got to the last portion of the event and only 12 competitors completed a single rep (ascent and descent in control).  This isn't a problem with the programming. While I would have liked to see the CrossFit Games show the athletes more respect and put them in a position to succeed, there's nothing wrong with including the peg board at the Games. The issue arises when the scoring doesn't reflect the difference in capability. Remember the task the CrossFit Games set out to complete: find the fittest in the world. From the Open to the Games we went from 275,000 competitors to 40. Those 40 are the best of the best and finding meaningful differences between their capabilities is not an easy task. The events at the CrossFit Games are designed to expose weaknesses and reveal who among the best is even better than the rest. Unfortunately while the events were well designed to do that, the scoring wasn't ready for it. The CrossFit Games scoring is points based and rewards the top finishers with more points compared to those who finish in the middle of the pack. The problem arises when we consider that the ranking on which the points are awarded is relative so when only 12 athletes score a single rep, every other athlete ties for 13th place. What this does is minimize the ability of the event to actually separate the athletes based on performance. Even more surprising is that CrossFit has actually found a very simple and effective way to resolve this issue: minimum standards. In the Open if you're unable to post a single rep in a workout or if you skip a workout, you're "listed on the Open Leaderboard in subsequent workouts below all Athletes who have posted a score in every workout".  It may seem harsh to essentially disqualify an athlete from the CrossFit Games for a single event, but the Games are clearly not messing around when it comes to creating a competition worthy of crowning the Fittest on Earth so why pull punches when it comes to the expectations on the athletes? Perhaps it is too harsh to remove athletes who aren't able to complete a single rep in an event. In that case, there's an equally simple alternative: completing 0 reps gets 0 points. If an athlete declines to participate in an event or fails to record a single rep, why would they be awarded any points at all? Yes they're technically in "last place" in that event because comparatively they've completed less reps than anyone else in the field, but shouldn't there be a difference between last place and not participating? CrossFit already actually does this in every heavy lifting event in Regionals and the Games. In 2015, if a competitor failed to post a score in the heavy snatch event at Regionals or the heavy clean & jerk event at the Games they not only were placed last but more importantly they were awarded 0 points. This didn't really matter much in the clean & jerk since the vast majority of the field recorded a score and getting last place in that event would have only resulted in 2 or 4 points anyway. On the other hand, when a third of the field ties for last place, like what happened in the women's division for Pedal to the Medal 1, this makes a huge difference. This scoring issue created a situation where the eventual women's champion Katrin Davidsdottir rightfully chose to stop trying on the peg board in Pedal to the Medal 1 because it was clear that almost no one else was able to do it either. You know who didn't stop trying? The leader going into the last events, Sara Sigmundsdottir. In Sigmundsdottir's case, actually attempting to do the workout was a strategical error which may have resulted in tiring her out and maybe even resulted in her losing the title during the last event. Katrin Davidsdottir, left, isn't even on the field of play while Sara Sigmundsdottir, right, continues to attempt the peg board Simply put, CrossFit needs to fix the scoring system by adding in a minimum work requirement in every workout. Failure to meet that minimum requirement should at least result in 0 points awarded in that event and possibly a complete removal from contention.

Aug 6, 2015

Maddy Myers Speaks Out On Withdrawing From 2015 CrossFit Games

Maddy Myers, a rookie qualifier and the youngest woman competing at the CrossFit Games, withdrew from the competition after the Murph event on Friday. There were rumblings about what could have happened to her at the time and now she's opened up about what she experienced: "So, as many of you know, I had to withdraw from the CrossFit Games and have since been hospitalized. In a very condensed version of what happened, after Murph, I collapsed from heat exhaustion and spent the next two hours in medical." She continues on to say she stayed out of the snatch ladder to see if she could recover in time for the following event, but that "we realized I was suffering renal failure from acute dehydration and later on, rhabdomyolysis. Their immediate and follow up care may have literally saved my life." Maddy is one of the fittest women on the planet and just three events into the 2015 CrossFit Games she had to be hospitalized for rhabdo. She's still waiting to be released from the hospital.  The Games were definitely tough on a lot of people, especially for the women during Murph due to the time of day and weather conditions. While many competitors seemed fine afterwards, there were definitely a lot of messed up athletes after that event. Hopefully Maddy recovers from this and doesn't suffer any long term consequences. Related Articles: What CrossFit HQ Should Learn From The Games

Jul 31, 2015

What CrossFit HQ Should Learn From The 2015 CrossFit Games

The 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games have come and gone. Now's the time for us to look back and see what we can learn from this past season. Current and future competitors learned some key lessons and spectators had some important takeaways as well, but what about the head honchos at CrossFit HQ? They've historically done a good job of learning from past mistakes (without actually admitting they made mistakes of course), so what should they learn from the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games? People Will Complain No Matter What... With social media these days, everyone has a voice and they love to use it. On top of that, everyone loves to get hurt feelings over just about anything. Everywhere you turn, you hear "The programming sucks!" or "Are you trying to kill these athletes?" or "I liked Dave's hair better with highlights" (okay, you probably won't hear that last one from anyone).  HQ does a good job of ignoring a lot of the noise out there because most of those complaints just aren't legitimate. Not a lot of people even understand what goes into making the Games happen and their complaints only highlight their ignorance to not only how the whole thing comes together but also how CrossFit HQ works. ...But Sometimes They're Right That said, HQ needs to be able to separate the wheat from the chafe (or whatever the gluten free version of that metaphor is). While complaints of absolutely poor programming don't really have legs to stand on, there are issues with how it all turned out. For example, every Games athlete was given a custom Assault Bike as a hint to what was to come...and the bike was used for a total of 2 minutes in the whole weekend by maybe half the field.  Instead of sending the athletes Assault Bikes, HQ should have sent every athlete a pair of pegs. This would have accomplished a few things including appropriately hinting at what was to come, giving the smarter Games athletes a small chance to practice something most of them had never touched before, and also limited an embarrassing moment for CrossFit when almost no women were able to finish even a single ascent of the pegboard. The pegboard is a great tool for upper body development and a cool test for CrossFitters, but it's not fun or interesting to watch 90% of the field fail to complete something. If they had sent the athletes a pair of pegs before the Games or hinted at the pegboard instead of playing up the "obstacle course" (which just ended up being a zig zag and few hurdles, hardly an obstacle at all), they would have accomplished a few things for HQ, but mainly Pedal to the Medal 1 would have been more exciting to watch. The Games are a sports entertainment event and they're broadcast both online and on ESPN. Making the event fun and interesting to watch should be a huge priority. HQ has learned a lot about this since the Games first started and improved greatly in this matter, but apparently still needs help. Running and yoke carries are boring and people standing around staring at something is boring too. (As an addendum to this, it would have been more interesting to see the Games athletes struggling with something that's actually novel and unique instead of something that is relatively common in a lot of training facilities. You just don't want to have "the fittest men and women on the planet" to fail at something that a huge number of people could call easy.) Respect The Athletes On top of making the event more entertaining to watch, HQ needs to be more respectful to the athletes and their time. The Games are an insanely difficult sporting event where almost every single competitor is an amateur. Most CrossFitters make CrossFit their career but don't really make a whole ton of money through the competitions involved. In many ways these athletes are the best advertisement for CrossFit. They live and breathe CrossFit, they own, run, or coach at CrossFit affiliates, they teach the Level 1 Seminars, and the thanks they get from HQ is being used as an example of failure on national television. The expectation shouldn't be to go easy on the athletes because the Games are about survival as much as they are about fitness, but HQ should be prepared to make the Games not only interesting to watch but also designed to make the competitors look good, within reason. 

Jul 30, 2015

5 Spectator Takeaways From The 2015 CrossFit Games

Yesterday I gave you some lessons in case you're delusional and think you can be a competitive CrossFitter. Today, it's time to be a little more realistic: what should you takeaway from the Games if you're a spectator? Wear Stupid Hats It's not very often that you can legitimately pull off a straw hat like this, so when the opportunity comes up you've gotta take it. Luckily, I wasn't the only one: There are a lot of stupid hats in that picture, but it's way better than burning and looking like a tomato during the weekend. Closely related to the usage of dumb hats is... Be Prepared To Stay Cool In case you didn't know, it's hot in Los Angeles at the end of July. You can tell because not only were Games athletes dropping like flies during the Murph event, but also everyone is wearing as little clothes as possible. The CrossFit Games are a great time to dres like you're about to work out or go to the beach or both. This year we even were lucky enough to have a bunch of vendors pull out the Big Ass Fans to attract overheated spectators. This is a genius tactic to pull people to your space in vendor village considering all anyone is looking for is a little breeze to make the burning stop. Once you get sucked in, it's up to the hired salespeeps to really turn on the charm and get you to buy a battery powered jumprope, 8 way stretch jeans, or chalk proof mascara.  Try New Things Vendors at the CrossFit Games are very specifically serving the CrossFit community. Long gone are the days of Panda Express sponsoring the Games and now we have a whole variety of wacky and crazy products aimed at CrossFitters. Your job as a spectator is to try every single one of them. Even cooler, you get to really hammer in how out of shape you are compared to the Games athletes by visiting the Rogue tent and failing to flip the Pig: Luckily for that guy, there's probably some electro stim/chiropractic yoga/anaesthetic spray company with a booth just a few feet from there to help him out once he breaks in half trying to flip that thing. Meet Your Heroes The CrossFit Games is probably your only chance to rub elbows with those crazy fitness maniacs you follow on Instagram or watch on YouTube, so take advantage of the opportunity. Remember that they're people too...people put on this Earth to entertain you with their insane fitness. Don't hesitate to walk up to them and politely demand a photo because they wouldn't have a protein powder sponsorship if it wasn't for your likes and comments on social media. Don't Waste Money On More Expensive Tickets Anyone who's been the Games multiple times will tell you the same thing: If you get stuck on the east side of the tennis stadium you're gonna have a shitty time. It's hot as balls, the sun is directly in your face, and you're surrounded by the farts of a bunch of people who've eaten nothing protein samples for three days. It sucks. Yes, the energy is great in the tennis stadium, but you know what's better than a lot of energy? Shade, beers, and comfy couches: It's hard to tell from that photo, but every single person in that room is having a better time than anyone out at the actual stadiums. You're walking distance from a full bar, sitting on a shady couch, and surrounded by Big Ass Fans. It's like being in a better version of your living room.  To drive the point even further, you get to watch the events from the live stream which is WAY better than actually watching the event itself. The live streams is vetted and controlled by professionals who are adept at finding and highlighting the most interesting and exciting things going on at that moment. On top of that, you get real actual play by play to tell you exactly what's going on. The commentating isn't always great, but that's mainly because there are so many Icelandic competitors that they can't pronounce the names correctly.

Jul 29, 2015

ICYMI: Ilya Ilyin's Training Steps Into High Gear

Yea, sure there was some small event over this past weekend with a bunch of professional exercisers but other stuff happened too! Check it out: Ilya is back on his major training cycle leading into the 2016 Olympics and here's his snatch from his first Big Friday. In case you don't know, Ilya maxes out every Friday and calls it Big Friday. He then uses those numbers to help decide what his training will look like the following week. Since this is the first Big Friday of his training season we can't expect too much out of him which is why he only snatched 171kg (376 pounds). Pssshhh, weak sauce. Big Friday also includes maxing out on the clean & jerk, so here's Ilya's 222kg (488lb) single from the first Big Friday of 2015. To put that in perspective, these numbers are just about 90% of what he hit at the 2014 World Championships in Almaty and would also give him the American Record for clean & jerk and total.  Jon Pera finished 18th at this years CrossFit Games after taking a couple seasons off of individual competition. He also discovered a secret 13th event that Dave Castro apparently announced and never followed through on. Check it out. And in case you've missed a whole lot of stuff, be sure to check out the rest of the series: In Case You Missed It

Jul 29, 2015

What Competitors Learned From The 2015 CrossFit Games

Well that was a hell of a season. We saw the overwhelming favorite, Mat Fraser, once again come up just short on the last couple events. We watched the fittest females in the world struggle to complete a deceptively simple exercise. We even witnessed an attempted mass murder as Dave Castro tried to Murph 80 of the fittest men and women on Earth to death. But what did we learn from the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games? Let's start with what the competitors should take away form the Games: Know Your Roots Ah, the peg board. To many athletes, this was a huge hole in their game. I've only ever seen a handful of CrossFit gyms with peg boards, and usually they're being used as jump rope storage instead of as a piece of workout equipment. Greg Glassman wrote about peg boards in 2002, in the Garage Gym article of the CrossFit Journal. Climbers have been using peg boards for years to develop grip, back, and arm strength and as we've learned over the past few years, everyone needs to have some sort of focused work to develop greater capacities. Competitive CrossFitters and their coaches should take note of what's come in the past as a way of prepping for the future. The Open and Regionals have traditionally been very vanilla CrossFit, nothing too surprising going on in either. The Games have always introduced more novel movements and challenges, many of which have shown up in the CrossFit Journal or CrossFit.com programming in the past 15 years. The Walk-Off Homer Is Key Yes, consistency is key to winning The CrossFit Games, but that's not news. If you wanna win, you better be ready to step up and perform when it counts the most. You have to be able to take the win. Rich Froning is unbeatable for this reason: when it counts, he reminds everyone why he's a legend. The last time Rich wasn't able to step up and take the win was 2010, when he lost the last event. This happened to Sara Sigmundsdottir this year. She was my pick to win this year and just couldn't put it away during those last two events. Ben Smith was able to do this during the Soccer Chipper event on Saturday after seeing Mat Fraser lose his massive lead a little. The guy who did this best in 2015 was Spencer Hendel, who placed 5th overall. Three separate times Spencer Hendel stepped forward and made a statement about his capabilities: the Soccoer Chipper and both Pedal To The Medal events. Each time he finished significantly ahead of the rest of the pack and each time he showed that when it came time, he was ready, willing, and able to crush some souls. Love To Suffer Speaking of crushing souls, if at this point you're interested in CrossFitting competitively but you haven't accepted suffering as a normal part of your everyday life, you should probably quit now. Many sports require participants to endure massive amounts of pain and CrossFit is no different. Your muscles will cramp, your joints will hurt, your hands will tear, you'll feel like you're dying, and if you can't smile and move past all those feelings then you're fucked. It's not enough to be insanely fit, you've gotta have the Prefontaine mindset. You've gotta be willing to bleed for it and you've gotta be willing to make everyone around you bleed for it too. Develop Amnesia The willingness to suffer isn't the only mental tool necessary to do well at the CrossFit Games. You've gotta be able to forget. The worst example of this is Camille Leblanc Bazinet. The 2014 Champion had a rough Wednesday night, placing nearly last in the Sandbag 2015 event and just could not put it together from that moment on. She posted several times on Instagram about how poorly the weekend was going for her and how she would try to put it back together again, but even her husband, Dave Lipson, was quoted as saying "All she needs to do is stay out of her own head." The best example of this was CrossFit Mayhem Freedom. They placed dead last in an event on Friday, then started Saturday with another finish only a few places from last, and yet they pulled it all together to win the Affiliate Cup. CrossFit Games athletes should seek to learn from golfers and soccer and hockey goalies. The only thing that matters is the task at hand. Beating yourself up over the previous event will only hurt. The same goes for celebrating too early or getting complacent after a good event. Each event needs to be treated as its own thing, separate from everything else. Do what you can, accept it, move on. Lingering on negative or positive events will only distract you from what you should be doing in that moment. So if you're a competitive CrossFitter, read and learn. Next up we'll cover what the spectators can takeaway from the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Games.

Jul 28, 2015

The Reign Continues: CrossFit Mayhem Freedom Crown Games' Champions

The Froning empire lives to dominate another year. The fact that Rich was able to claim the  men's title for four consecutive years, 'retire' from individual competition, and come back to win the affiliate cup is nothing short of incredible. As Tommy Marquez called it, he's the swiss army knife of athletes with a vartiety of strengths and versatility that gives him a leg up on all competition.  Heading into the final day, Mayhem Freedom was not the favorite to take it all. The gladiators of Ute CrossFit sat at the top of the leaderboard, showing the consistency and skill needed to win such a coveted title- it also helps that they are no strangers to winning at The Games, and have clenched the affiliate cup twice already.  Before the first event on Sunday, team Mayhem Freedom sat 36 points behind Ute, and needed to beat the Hack's Pack by 2-3 spots in each event in order to make a comeback for the win. And as you saw, they did what needed to be done.  Results provided by CrossFit Games In the solo events, Mayhem Freedom showcased its individual athletes, proving they are good enough to stand alone when neccessary, taking three first place finishes, including all team members placing within the top 10. The dreaded worm final was just the icing on the cake.  Congratulations to Rich Froning, James Hobart, Matt Hewett, Elly Kabboord, Kristin Reffett, and Lauren Neal on the win. Way to kick ass.  Related Articles: CLB Receives Questionable No-Reps On Snatch Ladder Oldroyd Out With ACL Tear

Jul 26, 2015

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet Receives Questionable No-Reps On Snatch Ladder

Tragedy struck this weekend for defending champ Camille Leblanc-Bazinet when she received questionable no-reps in the snatch ladder.   Coming into the event, Camille sat in 22nd place and needed a solid finish to push her up in the rankings. That didn't happen. After being no-repped on her first two snatches, the champ exhibited obvious frustration, and seemed to lose all cool as she moved from lift to lift. While some argue that Camille was indeed falling forward at the end of her snatch (not showing full control), I disagree. Her snatch went through a full squat, stood up quickly with stability, and looked as good, if not better, than any of her competitors.    Camille after her third no rep :( knocked her out of the snatch ladder #nuggetatthegames

Jul 26, 2015

Miranda Oldroyd Tears ACL, Team NorCal Still In Third

As of Saturday night, NorCal CrossFit is sitting in third place overall only 12 points out of first place, but their Games run may be at an end due to an unexpected injury to one of their star female competitors Miranda Oldroyd. Miranda had a scary moment during the max clean & jerk event, missing a clean and limping off, leaving the crowd worried about her ability to continue in following events. NorCal's worst fear was realized when she was diagnosed with a torn ACL.  NorCal participated in the two events following Miranda's injury, but placed dead last in the chipper event due to only fielding two women and in the middle of the pack in the Big Bob Drag Race due to only having 5 active members instead of 6. Looking to Sunday, it looks like one of the favorites to win the Affiliate Cup will either be forced to withdraw or take last place on nearly every remaining event.

Jul 25, 2015

FRONING: Movie Review

  If you love Rich Froning Jr. (or you’re a female), you'll love this movie.   His autobiography, First: What it takes to Win, did a superb job at broaching the man of steel, and now you have a visual medium to match. You’ll see home videos of a rambunctious young Froning Jr. laying the groundwork for the meaning behind his affiliate CrossFit Mayhem. You’ll revisit very personal moments in the Froning household including photos from the day he renewed his faith and was baptized in a murky looking river, and the day he and Hillary received their adopted daughter, Lakelyn, from the hospital. It was so awkwardly intimate at times I couldn’t help but feel for Rich, who usually goes out of his way to deflect attention to God, his teammates, and even the guy in second place. Not this time. He had to sit back and watch himself ‘be awesome’ for ninety-something minutes straight. Before the movie started, he even reminded us that this would be the first and last time he would watch the movie and I don’t blame him. Ego has never been his thing, but when you’re the fittest man in the world, good-looking, and genuinely a good dude, fans will follow, and the biggest one of all might be carrying a video camera.   The movie attempts to validate Rich as the “Fittest Man in History,” but unless you haven’t been paying attention for the last four years, you already knew that. The more human, less-barbell aspects of his life are what stood out to me. Original interviews with his wife, Hillary, talking about her struggle with infertility was both honest, and moving for everyone in attendance. Seeing Rich cry on camera talking about the gift of adoption, almost pleading to young mothers considering abortion as an option to think otherwise, was by far the most powerful moment in the entire movie. You can praise Rich for his athletic prowess until your face goes blue, but what Froning exemplifies outside of the gym, as a proud father and husband, is an even greater reason to be amazed.   After Saturday’s events at the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games, Rich reclaimed his first place standing and you saw a man seemingly invincible to the world and all was right again in the CrossFit universe. What you didn’t see afterwards was Rich and his “Frontourage” in their Animal house of a hotel room having a pizza party and attempting to change Lakelyn’s diaper with no Hillary, or female, in sight. It was like watching a group of teenage boys dissecting a baby pig for the first time in Biology class. These less scripted behind the scenes moments were flat out hilarious. When ESPN’s cameras turned off the doc camera kept rolling, where you see Froning perfectly vulnerable and excited to be at a crossroads between retirement and fatherhood.   More Josh Bridges! He was the funniest character in the movie by far and you only saw glimpses of him messing with Rich in between events. I would wire him up at next year’s Games (assuming he competes again) and follow him ALL day. He’s the alpha dog in the room that picks on everyone, and it’s awesome.   As far as a ‘sports movie’ goes I wasn’t very impressed. I think to create a biopic about the greatest athlete in any sport it needs to come from a unique perspective and it needs come later. When the director is employed by CrossFit HQ, CrossFit HQ funds the movie, and all relevant parties involved praise Rich as Jesus reincarnate, it’s pretty obvious what you’re going to get. It’d be like Michael Jordan’s #1 fan creating a movie about why Michael Jordan is the G.O.A.T. A movie was made about Michael Jordan recently, but it wasn’t about basketball. It was about Jordan retiring from the NBA at the peak of his career to realize his late father’s dream of him becoming a Major League Baseball player. Jordan Rides the Bus was more about Jordan dealing with death in his family while attempting to find meaning in his life following a three-peat, all before the age of 30. Remind you of someone?   Rich Froning’s story is incredible. We know he’s the best ever and he has unmatched work ethic and a loving family that supports him, but as a sports film addict, I want to dig a little deeper. It shouldn’t be that simple. I think the official Froning documentary would have meant more to the Sport of Fitness and to the ‘community’ had it came out a few years later, when he actually retires from the CrossFit Games altogether (remember, he’s competing right now on Team). Derek Jeter just retired and I’ll salute the captain all day, but I don’t need a Derek Jeter movie just yet. Let time grow his legacy. Let his influence spread through memories and conversations adding to his greatness tenfold ten years from now.    I didn’t have to watch a full movie to know that Rich is the fittest man in history – the Babe Ruth of baseball if you will – but what I learned is that the Champ has grown up. His life is less fitness (relatively speaking) and more family oriented than ever. It’s unlikely we’ll ever see this level of dominance again in the Sport of Fitness, but at least we got to enjoy the ride with him one last time.   Related Article:  Dave Castro Announces Two More Events For CrossFit Games

Jul 25, 2015

Dave Castro Announces Two More Events: Sandbag 2015 And Pier Paddle

Dave Castro announced two more events at last night's athlete dinner in Carson, California. We all knew he was going to get creative this year with movements, and so far, he has not let us down. Ladies and gentlemen, Castro has presented the Sandbag 2015 and Pier Paddle.  Video By: CrossFit  Sandbag 2015  Points Available: 100  Location: Tennis Stadium  For Time: Move sandbags across the stadium.  Time Cap: 15 minutes Athletes begin on the stadium floor and will run to the top of the North side stairs, move all the sandbags down the stairs, across the stadium floor, and to the top of the stairs on the South end. The event is complete when all bags have been moved to the opposite side of the stadium.  If you've been a CrossFit fan since the beginning, this event may seem familiar. We first saw the sandbag carry in 2010 at The Stub Hub Center, and it's made its way back in 2015. There is a difference, however... Lots. More. Weight.  Pier Paddle Points Available: 100 Location: Hermosa Beach  Athletes will swim 500 meters around the pier, run onto the beach to grab their paddle boards, paddle one mile South, turn around, paddle one mile back, and end the event with a second 500 meter swim around the pier.  Castro relayed confidence to the competitors in a statement he made about the event on the CrossFit site, "If there's big surf, you guys are fucked."  Related Article:  Snatch Speed Ladder & Sprint Course Announced 

Jul 21, 2015

Statistically Speaking, Who Kicked The Most Ass At Regionals?

Stats analysis is an important and fun part of any sport and CrossFit has had way too little for my taste. With that in mind, I've put together (as in found someone smarter than me to put together) a relatively simple statistical analysis of the 2015 Regionals. The question seems simple: what were the standout performances from the 2015 Regionals? Given that the Games and Regionals scoring now favors winners, this can be an important tool to trying to figure out which competitor can step up, hit a homerun when it counts, and get those extra points by winning an event at the Games. Further, this analysis will give us an idea of which athletes have absolutely mutant capabilities when compared to the field and it's always fun to know who the mutants are. We're calling this metric "Standout Factor". Standout Factor (SF from here on out) is a measurement against the average competitor. The higher the SF, the more that performance stood out compared to the rest of the field. An easy example of how this works is Matt Rattay's performance in Event 4. Matt finished the handstand walk in 1:11.9 and the average finishing time for that event was 2:19.73. This gives him a SF of 2.83, which is overall the single most dominant performance at Regionals in the Men's division.  How dominant is a 2.83 SF? Check out this graph: On the X axis we have the ranking of each individual who participated in this event. On the Y axis is the time. At the top right corner, waaaaay above everyone else, is Matt Rattay and his absolute destruction of the field in this event. Handstand walking is impressive, but certainly favors a specialist more than many of the other Regional events. So what's the second most dominant performance from the men's side of Regionals? Matt Fraser's dismantling of Event 3, which scored him a 2.82 SF: One of the beauties of SF is that we can use it to compare performances across different events as well. So just how insane was Mat Fraser's Event 3 finish? If we were to remove the two "specialist" events (events 4 and 5), the next highest SF among Games qualifed men is Jonne Koski's 2.18 SF in Event 1. Here's a visual comparison of how a 2.18 SF compares to the field: That's Jonne Koski and Dan Bailey bunched together at the top, way faster than everyone else on Event 1. Comparitively, Mat Fraser's Event 3 finish is miles ahead. He's not only way faster than the average Regionals athlete in that event, but he's also significantly ahead of the rest of the leaders in the event too. But what about the women's side? Again, a specialist has the single highest SF. Oxana Silvenko is an Olympic silver medalist in weightlifting and she proved it by snatching 210 in Event 5, for a SF of 3.41. You can see there are a lot of competitors crowded around the 180 mark, and this only makes Silvenko's 210 even more impressive since the majority of high level females snatchd 180+.  By the way, the dot in the bottom left corner is Julie Foucher's snatch post Achilles injury. The highest women's SF outside of the specialist events was Kristin Holte's finish on Event 3, with a 3.17. This looks a little different compared to Mat Fraser's finish though: Given the cap issues on Event 3, we had to massage some of the data to find ways to make this work out for our analysis. Because so many people capped out on this event, just finishing it (especially as a female) is a dominant performance. Kristin Holte finished it incredibly quickly, especially when compared to the average female's capped out score which is why she has such a huge SF in this event, but unlike Mat Fraser's performance, she had some close competition in terms of actual finishing time which is why she's not so far above everyone else here. So Oxana Silvenko can snatch way more than the average female Regional athlete and Matt Rannay can handstand way way faster than the average male Regional athlete, but CrossFit isn't about specialists at all. It's about having broad capacity, being able to excel at seemingly divergent events. To that end, we created a cross comparison of results in Events 3 and 5. Event 3 was the long, grinding chipper and Event 5 was a 1RM snatch. It doesn't get more disparate than that when it comes to physical capabilities. Here's the women's table: A couple things to notice here: first off, as the times in Event 3 (X axis) get faster, then average weight snatched (Y axis) increased. Simply put, the fitter you are, the fitter you are.  The best combination of these two capabilities is rookie Sara Sigmundsdottir. To give you an idea of how that compares, Camille Leblanc-Bazinet is the dot just under where it says "(180".  Here's the men's side comparison: Again, we have a general upward trend that shows the fitter you are, the fitter you are. And again, we have an insane performance by Mat Fraser. He definitely separated himself from the pack when it came to both of these events, and the result is his scores sitting pretty way far away from everyone else. Standout Factor is a cool metric that can be used to compare among and between divisions. We now know that the performance which stood out the most compared to the rest of the field was Oxana Silvenko's snatch. We also know that finishing Event 3 under the time cap makes you a superhuman.  The CrossFit Games will be testing a whole lot of mixed modal events and the competitors capabilities to adapt and learn on the fly. There isn't any statistic modelling that can help predict that sort of thing, but we can use Regionals to see who to look out for in terms of possible massive performances: Mat Fraser, Sara Sigmundsdottir, and Kritin Holte all stand out from the crowd on separate events and in a couple weeks, we'll have a whole lot more data from the CrossFit Games.

Jul 16, 2015

Guessing Games: Reading The Tea Leaves Of Dave Castro's Instagram

Dave Castro has already let us know the first announced event for individuals at the 2015 CrossFit Games, and he just told us about the first announced event for the teams, but what guesses can we make about the rest of the Games events? I dove into the depths of TDC's Instagram account to read the future and here's what I found. Testing Events He has some of the fittest athletes on Earth testing events for him. Kenny Leverich and Josh Bridges have both been to the Games multiple times and are Games level athletes. Jamie Hagiya barely missed out on qualifying in 2014 and did well after recovering from a busted Achilles in 2015. They're not slouches and when you're testing events meant to break the fittest athletes in the world, you've gotta put some fit people through a ringer. Also, did anyone else notice that Adrian Bozman seems to have peed himself in that photo? That stain is suspect. Teasing Obvious Things Oh look, he's swimming in the ocean...At this point the most "unknown and unknowable" move would be to not include an open water swim even if we already know the Games will start at the beach. Trying New Things Other than shooting guns a lot (seriously, like a lot) he's doing some interesting things in his own workouts. Things like 25m underwater repeats, which would be really simple to implement at the Games and would be a gnarly way to make swimming workouts even harder. New Implements He's also teasing some new implements. Some are obvious like this metal box thing with Rogue's name lasered out (more on this in a second): And this sweet hatchet (throwing axe?) with a gun behind it. But he also leaves us some more clever hints. Hints that may or may not be hints at all. Go back up to that photo with Josh Bridges and Kenny Leverich testing events in his backyard. Do you see the odd implements on the ground behind them? TDC is a meticulous man, and I wouldn't put it past him to have left these in the photo on purpose. Yes his backyard probably has a lot of things that we may see at the Games, but remember that the first time a stationary bike made it into the Games he had received one as a gift for his home gym in the months leading into the Games. So what are those things? They're both strongman implements. The first is a log, usually used in a clean & press events. It's an awkward piece of equipment and can really mess with people if they haven't played around with it and mastered its use. The second is a husafell stone, which is a big heavy rock shaped kind of like the Superman logo which is used as an implement in heavy carries in strongman shows. It's notoriously difficult to hold onto because of its size and weight, and is a killer on the lower back and core. I think we may see both these implements at the Games this year. Remember that weird metal thing with "Rogue" lasered out of it? That thing clearly has some depth to it and it's not impossible to think that thing might be an H-stone. So what do you think we'll see at the 2015 CrossFit Games?

Jul 8, 2015

Notable Rookies Of The 2015 CrossFit Games

1. Sara Sigmundsdottir Video By: Wodbud Once again, Iceland has produced one of the top female athletes in the world, giving the impression that there must be a little something extra in the water. At just 22 years old, Sara Sigmundsdottir has already put her name in the mix for the Games' title this year. Although realtively new to the sport, Sara has notable wins in National and international competition, including the 2014 French Throwdown and 2015 ECC Championships. This powerhouse has the strength to keep up with the fittest on earth, and the engine to match. Keep your eye on this one, she'll be giving Leblanc-Bazinet, Webb, Bridgers, and Thorisdottir a run for their money in Carson.    Regional Competition History 2015 Meridian Regional: 1st  2014 Europe Regional: 12th  2013 Europe Regional 39th   2. Brooke Wells Video By: Driven Nutrition  After placing 115th in her first Open in 2013, Brooke Wells wondered what her athletic ceiling was if she actually committed herself to the sport and everything it entailed (yes, she placed higher than the majority of the world on sheer talent alone). The 19 year old turned her focus to CrossFit, and it's more than paid off in 2015. Not only was the teenager drafted in the first round of the 2015 National Pro Grid League (to the Miami Surge), but she punched her first ticket to Carson with a stellar Regional performance. To say the least, Wells defeated a handful of notable women within the sport, including Stacie Tovar, Elisabeth Akinwale, Lindy Barber, and Nicole Holcomb.    Regional Competition History 2015 Central Regional: 1st  2014 North Central Regional (Beefy 540): 5th    3. Brooke Ence Video By: CrossFit  From CrossFit's Open workout standard model, to Regional champ, Brooke Ence seems to be on top of the world. Ence earned her ticket to the Games after she stole the show at the California Regional, arguably the toughest showdown in the country with competitors including Lindsey Valenzuela, Chyna Cho, Rebecca Voigt, Lauren Fisher, and so many more. The Kill Cliff superstar has trained under fellow Games' veteran Tommy Hackebruck (who also qualified to the 2015 Games), which means one simple thing: they're doing it right in Utah. When considering the pool of women who have the potential to steal the Fittest podium, make sure to drop 'Ence' in the pot.    Regional Competition History 2015 California Regional: 1st  2014 NorCal Regional: 6th  2013 NorCal Regional (CrossFit West) 2011 South West Regional (Team Ute CrossFit): 2nd   4. Aaron Hanna Video By: CrossFit  Aaron, who? Our first male rookie standout in 2015 goes to this man, and with good reason. While he has a respectable resume within CrossFit, Hanna absolutely took the sport by storm at the 2015 Atlantic Regionals. Throughout the weekend, Hanna crept his way up the leadearboard with consistent finishes in each event. With the field stacked with Games' verterans and fan-favorites, Hanna slid through the cracks until he jumped on the final 2nd place podium, losing out to only Noah Ohlsen (by less than 40 points, mind you).    Regional Competition History 2015 Atlantic Regional: 2nd 2014 South East Regional: 8th  2013 South East Regional: 25th    5. Maddy Myers  Video By: Hookgrip Maddy Myers is undoubtedly the frontrunner of the new wave of teenage CrossFitters who have begun to dominate the sport. As a senior in highschool, Myers is the youngest female to compete in the individual division at the Games since Colleen Maher in 2012 (17 years old). In the final event of the South Regional, Maddy was neck-and-neck with The Fittest Woman On Earth until the bitter end. A margin of 0:00:03 separated Camille Leblanc-Bazinet and Myers, each taking second and third in the event, respectively. That's reason enough to be convinced that this rookie has what it takes to keep up with the best.    Regional Competition History  2015 South Regional: 5th  Related Articles:  Chad Wesley Smith Is A SAVAG E BRIGGS: Episode 1

Jul 1, 2015