I was pointing out that the last 2 winners including the female winner could beat the standard that the guy I was responding to set.
You clearly have never lifted weights in your life. As a general rule the stronger you get the slower you will get. There's a reason Eddie Hall is built like a refrigerator. Eaton could not compete in ANY strength events if he was olympic shape for the decathlon.
It's laughable that you think Eaton can re-focus his training to be cross-fit specific but somehow crossfit athletes couldn't do the same for the decathlon.
Cross-fitters have to heavily focus on strength and olympic weightlifting because that's a major focus of the sport. The decathlon focuses on speed and niche events. If the elite cross-fit athletes focused on speed and niche events guess what would happen. By some miracle they would get weaker... while getting faster and more skilled at the niche events.
When Eaton stopped focusing on speed and niche events to work on strength he would get slower and worse at the niche events.
I clean and jerked 1.25BW while training for middle distance. For someone who ran a lot, I was in the "pretty strong" category and know my way around a barbell. A guy like Eaton is significantly stronger than me too.
You're correct that there's a tradeoff between speed and strength, to a point. Usain Bolt is reasonably beefy because he needs strength and power. Kipchoege is not because he doesn't need it. Duh. This isn't rocket science.
Wait, so is Olympic lifting not a niche event? If pole vaulting is a niche event, then so is the combined C&J and snatch. CFers are good at one niche event, or two, depending on you look at it. Decathletes are good at many. Simple stuff.
Your points about records are just nonsense. A guy from my HS squatted 600lbs in a power lifting meet. I'm pretty sure, but not certain, that zero CF athletes have done that. How embarrassing, they got beat by a high schooler who specialized! See how silly that sounds?
Apparently it is rocket science because you don't seem to understand that Usain Bolt's marathon time would be terrible for the same reason cross-fitters don't pole vault very well.
Find me an olympic weight lifter who isn't all around strong. The particular lifts involve skill and are niche but the strength involved translates across the spectrum in any event that requires strength.
Throwing a discus or a javelin doesn't translate to anything.
The entire point of the high school records IS the specialization. Anyone squatting 600 pounds in high school is a genetic freak that spent an inordinate amount of time practicing squatting. Decathletes specialize in 10 events. When you specialize in something you get better at that thing than other things. Why is this so confusing to you?
I clean and jerked 1.25BW while training for middle distance. For someone who ran a lot, I was in the "pretty strong" category and know my way around a barbell. A guy like Eaton is significantly stronger than me too.
You're correct that there's a tradeoff between speed and strength, to a point. Usain Bolt is reasonably beefy because he needs strength and power. Kipchoege is not because he doesn't need it. Duh. This isn't rocket science.
Wait, so is Olympic lifting not a niche event? If pole vaulting is a niche event, then so is the combined C&J and snatch. CFers are good at one niche event, or two, depending on you look at it. Decathletes are good at many. Simple stuff.
Your points about records are just nonsense. A guy from my HS squatted 600lbs in a power lifting meet. I'm pretty sure, but not certain, that zero CF athletes have done that. How embarrassing, they got beat by a high schooler who specialized! See how silly that sounds?
You're giving crossfitters too much credit for their OL abilities. They are above that of the average gym goer, because few people perform the lifts, but they are miles away from elite OL. You would never see an OL do high reps with sloppy form. Exact opposite of what is needed.
I clean and jerked 1.25BW while training for middle distance. For someone who ran a lot, I was in the "pretty strong" category and know my way around a barbell. A guy like Eaton is significantly stronger than me too.
You're correct that there's a tradeoff between speed and strength, to a point. Usain Bolt is reasonably beefy because he needs strength and power. Kipchoege is not because he doesn't need it. Duh. This isn't rocket science.
Wait, so is Olympic lifting not a niche event? If pole vaulting is a niche event, then so is the combined C&J and snatch. CFers are good at one niche event, or two, depending on you look at it. Decathletes are good at many. Simple stuff.
Your points about records are just nonsense. A guy from my HS squatted 600lbs in a power lifting meet. I'm pretty sure, but not certain, that zero CF athletes have done that. How embarrassing, they got beat by a high schooler who specialized! See how silly that sounds?
You're giving crossfitters too much credit for their OL abilities. They are above that of the average gym goer, because few people perform the lifts, but they are miles away from elite OL. You would never see an OL do high reps with sloppy form. Exact opposite of what is needed.
SOME crossfitters have come from professional olympic lifting backgrounds, or moved on from CF to olympic lifting at a national/world level. So, yes, some are very, very good.
But everything else he says is nonsense. CF are basically olympic lifters who do a bunch of extra, relatively unskilled movements with minimal PED testing.
Decathletes do multiple movements/events to a much higher standard than the average crossfitter lifts to. They totally take PEDs too, but at least they sometimes get tested.
SOME crossfitters have come from professional olympic lifting backgrounds, or moved on from CF to olympic lifting at a national/world level. So, yes, some are very, very good.
But everything else he says is nonsense. CF are basically olympic lifters who do a bunch of extra, relatively unskilled movements with minimal PED testing.
Decathletes do multiple movements/events to a much higher standard than the average crossfitter lifts to. They totally take PEDs too, but at least they sometimes get tested.
I'm not aware of any CrossFit dude that could compare to Ashton in even one of his top events. Any of them close to a 45 flat 400m?! 10 low 100m? How about 26 feet LJ? How about his 49 in 400h? Even his HJ.
Throwing a discus or a javelin doesn't translate to anything.
So a I could throw a baseball or football just as far as a javelin thrower if we were equals in strength, power, proportions, and size? Absolutely not. I can't throw to save my life.
Throwing a discus far means you're very powerful, very explosive, and very coordinated. If you can say that doing Olympic lifts means that person will have transferable skills to other movements, it's more than fair to me to say that throwing a disc far is transferable to other sports as well. Two best disc throwers at my HS were outside linebackers. Beefy guys with a little chub, but tanks. I watched one of them split 21.x on a 4x200. He was a freak, all around power athlete.
SOME crossfitters have come from professional olympic lifting backgrounds, or moved on from CF to olympic lifting at a national/world level. So, yes, some are very, very good.
But everything else he says is nonsense. CF are basically olympic lifters who do a bunch of extra, relatively unskilled movements with minimal PED testing.
Decathletes do multiple movements/events to a much higher standard than the average crossfitter lifts to. They totally take PEDs too, but at least they sometimes get tested.
I'm not aware of any CrossFit dude that could compare to Ashton in even one of his top events. Any of them close to a 45 flat 400m?! 10 low 100m? How about 26 feet LJ? How about his 49 in 400h? Even his HJ.
Full disclosure you're not aware of any CrossFit dudes period...
Ashton isn't as good at basketball as Lebron James therefore Ashton Eaton is a terrible athlete.
Throwing a discus or a javelin doesn't translate to anything.
So a I could throw a baseball or football just as far as a javelin thrower if we were equals in strength, power, proportions, and size? Absolutely not. I can't throw to save my life.
Throwing a discus far means you're very powerful, very explosive, and very coordinated. If you can say that doing Olympic lifts means that person will have transferable skills to other movements, it's more than fair to me to say that throwing a disc far is transferable to other sports as well. Two best disc throwers at my HS were outside linebackers. Beefy guys with a little chub, but tanks. I watched one of them split 21.x on a 4x200. He was a freak, all around power athlete.
I would bet my life I can throw a baseball or football farther than Ashton can because I've been throwing them since I was 3 years old and I've gotten quite good at it.
I can't throw a javelin very far because I've never even held one. You're confusing practice with athleticism.
Being power, explosive, and coordinated doesn't mean anything if you haven't practiced the mechanics and skill of a movement.
I have yet to see one "elite" crossfitter who is remotely speedy. I have immense respect for guys like throwers and heavyweight olympic lifters. I watched a 350lb thrower on my college team run a 29s 200m for fun. Watching crossfitters sprint is embarrassing, and I don't know how you can call yourself the greatest athlete if you can't run even kind of fast.
You’re so ignorant it’s actually kind of cute. These guys who “can’t run even kind of fast” would murk you in any sprint event:
Dan Bailey was arguably one of the fastest men in CrossFit in 2015. He also became the fourth-fittest man on Earth that year.Watch Bailey’s exciting sprint t...
For years I was/still am an 'average' hobby jogger, and the last two years I've taken my talents to the local 'box' and think I can now say I'm in the low end of 'average' cross-fitter.
Some observations of mine...
- Distance running is just as much of a cult as cross-fitting is. Both are made up of people with the same Type A personality. In fact a lot of the memes are the same...For instance I have seen the 'Pablo Escobar sitting sadly on a swing' meme used alongside "when you show up to a party and no one wants to talk about your upcoming marathon" and "when you show up to a party and no one wants to talk about your crossfit workout/benchmark workout PR, etc"
- The comparisons in this thread are pretty absurd. The reality is, an argument could be made that Ashton Eaton is the best to ever compete in the decathlon (for discussion in another thread), but because a crossfitter may not come close to his performance in one or more of those events they must be not as talented or athletic. The comparison of 'the best to ever compete' in their sport, however niche that may be, to someone else, doesn't seem to make much sense. With that argument, why are the other Olympic finalists even competing?
- In my limited sample size, from what I've seen in NYC, comparing the general population, I think there are a lot more crossfitters who would finish at a higher percentage in a distance race, than runners who signed up for the crossfit open. I'd say that holds true if they did the other event today, 6-months from now or 2-years from now.
- I can say with certainty that there are crossfitters who would finish in the top few percent of a NYRR race (5k-half marathon) with no training outside of what they're currently doing for crossfit. The same is true for indoor rowing (2k erg test). Are they olympians...no, certainly not. Had they specialized in a different sport from early on, maybe they could have been.
Whether it's running, crossfitting, both, or a different activity, hopefully more folks find something they enjoy to use it to improve both their mental and physical health. Afterall, that's why 99% of us do this stuff...we're not winning local races, let alone big ones to make a living doing it.
For years I was/still am an 'average' hobby jogger, and the last two years I've taken my talents to the local 'box' and think I can now say I'm in the low end of 'average' cross-fitter.
Some observations of mine...
- Distance running is just as much of a cult as cross-fitting is. Both are made up of people with the same Type A personality. In fact a lot of the memes are the same...For instance I have seen the 'Pablo Escobar sitting sadly on a swing' meme used alongside "when you show up to a party and no one wants to talk about your upcoming marathon" and "when you show up to a party and no one wants to talk about your crossfit workout/benchmark workout PR, etc"
- The comparisons in this thread are pretty absurd. The reality is, an argument could be made that Ashton Eaton is the best to ever compete in the decathlon (for discussion in another thread), but because a crossfitter may not come close to his performance in one or more of those events they must be not as talented or athletic. The comparison of 'the best to ever compete' in their sport, however niche that may be, to someone else, doesn't seem to make much sense. With that argument, why are the other Olympic finalists even competing?
- In my limited sample size, from what I've seen in NYC, comparing the general population, I think there are a lot more crossfitters who would finish at a higher percentage in a distance race, than runners who signed up for the crossfit open. I'd say that holds true if they did the other event today, 6-months from now or 2-years from now.
- I can say with certainty that there are crossfitters who would finish in the top few percent of a NYRR race (5k-half marathon) with no training outside of what they're currently doing for crossfit. The same is true for indoor rowing (2k erg test). Are they olympians...no, certainly not. Had they specialized in a different sport from early on, maybe they could have been.
Whether it's running, crossfitting, both, or a different activity, hopefully more folks find something they enjoy to use it to improve both their mental and physical health. Afterall, that's why 99% of us do this stuff...we're not winning local races, let alone big ones to make a living doing it.
I would bet my life I can throw a baseball or football farther than Ashton can because I've been throwing them since I was 3 years old and I've gotten quite good at it.
I can't throw a javelin very far because I've never even held one. You're confusing practice with athleticism.
Being power, explosive, and coordinated doesn't mean anything if you haven't practiced the mechanics and skill of a movement.
So what have you said so far?
- Thin blue line flags are inherently apolitical (Just an insane claim tbqh)
- Crossfit athletes are so generalized that you can't compare them to a specialized athlete like a decathlete
- Crossfit athletes are so specialized in olympic lifting/strength, that's why you can't compare them to decathletes
- Decathletes aren't that good at their events (Despite them putting up multiple All American/national class times)
- I must not know about weightlifting (I watch it semi-regularly)
- Crossfit athletes could do many sports if they wanted to, as evidenced by a sub 17 5k
- Javelin and discus have zero transferable skills such as power and coordination whereas Olympic lifting has tons of transferable skills. (Both are true!)
- And my favorite, wildest claim, you could throw further than Ashton Eaton
He’s actually the perfect answer to the OP’s question. It’s the same reason triathletes and ultra runners are ridiculed. Believing that being mediocre at lots of things, or doing things at a lower level but for longer, is more impressive.
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