I guess if you are searching for ridicule, you can find it in anything; CF receives no more hate than anything else. I use to train at a CF gym and sometimes with CF guys and my bone of contention is with the statement "fittest athletes on earth". (Not True!) There is an imbalance in their physiques. CFs spend a lot of time performing exercises that don't exist as a normal human function. Too much emphasis on strength, which you can clearly see in the women; they look more like bodybuilders than athletes.) The fittest athlete is probably someone who can do all of the things humans have to for survival and to thrive such as fight, swim, run sprints and distances, jumping, hand and eye coordination and throwing heavy implements or spears. I would say a boxer, MMA fighter, decathlete or even a triathlete is a better athlete.
If I had to pick a squad to go end-of-the-world-apocalyptic-survival mode with, it's 100% not the Crossfit guys. Go look at most special ops guys like SEALs. They're not tiny, but very few are "big." They look like a sprinter or maybe a middle distance runner. That's what practical, usable fitness looks like.
Many Crossfitters are special ops guys…
There’s literally a famous CrossFit challenge named after a Seal: the “Murph”
The point is that decathletes are not great at any of the events they are just good at all of them which is the spirit of cross-fit.
Decathletes are VERY good at multiple events, not just good. Their overall skills are extremely universal. A decathlete has lots of potential in many sports.
Crossfitters are VERY good at weightlifting movements, they're good to pretty bad at almost everything else. Their skills in weightlifting have good potential transfer to other power sports. But their lack of agility, coordination, and endurance would make them have a very hard time at other sports. It's also funny that crossfit is supposed to be universal fitness, but like 50% of it is clean & jerk and snatch. That's a niche, Olympic event my guy.
You're insane if you think the elite cross-fitters don't have potential in anything other than weight lifting.
If I had to pick a squad to go end-of-the-world-apocalyptic-survival mode with, it's 100% not the Crossfit guys. Go look at most special ops guys like SEALs. They're not tiny, but very few are "big." They look like a sprinter or maybe a middle distance runner. That's what practical, usable fitness looks like.
Many Crossfitters are special ops guys…
There’s literally a famous CrossFit challenge named after a Seal: the “Murph”
I'm aware. They werespecial ops. They aren't anymore. No top crossfit athlete is currently special ops. No one in the SEALs is walking around looking like Mat Fraser. That physique is not practical.
Crossfit can be great for general fitness and aethetics. The ridicule comes from the cult-like following and claims they are the "fittest athletes in the world", which they clearly are not. Crossfit seems to havel died off some in the last few years though; I don't hear much about it anymore.
I think some of you are completely missing the concept of being well rounded.
Being the fittest athlete in the world doesn't mean being better than every other athlete in every other sport it means being great at more things than everyone else.
Someone brought up the decathlon. Decathletes cannot compete in any single event. The gold medal winner in 2020 ran a 4:31 1500m. A decent high schooler can easily beat that time.
This is objectively false. Ashton Eaton's 100- 10.20, 400-45.00, 110H- 13.35, and LJ- 27'-O" were actual or borderline D1 All American/ US National Trial Marks.
In terms of the 1500, most, if not all, CrossFit Games finalists would struggle to break 5:00 for 1500.
Decathletes are VERY good at multiple events, not just good. Their overall skills are extremely universal. A decathlete has lots of potential in many sports.
Crossfitters are VERY good at weightlifting movements, they're good to pretty bad at almost everything else. Their skills in weightlifting have good potential transfer to other power sports. But their lack of agility, coordination, and endurance would make them have a very hard time at other sports. It's also funny that crossfit is supposed to be universal fitness, but like 50% of it is clean & jerk and snatch. That's a niche, Olympic event my guy.
You're insane if you think the elite cross-fitters don't have potential in anything other than weight lifting.
You clearly know very little about cross-fit.
Well, they can't cut it at short or long distance running, we've established that. Soccer? Too aerobic and also too fast. Gymnastics? Maybe, I could see some of them being decent. Swimming? Too aerobic. American football? Their not big enough to be on the line. Their not fast enough to be a real skill position. Maybe like a TE? Baseball? I don't know enough about baseball if I'm being honest, maybe they could be good. Basketball? Probably not, too aerobic, too fast, those guys can MOVE on a fast break. What sport could a crossfitter be good at besides Olympic lifting and maybe gymnastics? I'm really struggling here.
I've been in and out of gyms my entire life. I've done crossfit, I've done "cross training" before crossfit even existed.
You're insane if you think the elite cross-fitters don't have potential in anything other than weight lifting.
You clearly know very little about cross-fit.
Well, they can't cut it at short or long distance running, we've established that. Soccer? Too aerobic and also too fast. Gymnastics? Maybe, I could see some of them being decent. Swimming? Too aerobic. American football? Their not big enough to be on the line. Their not fast enough to be a real skill position. Maybe like a TE? Baseball? I don't know enough about baseball if I'm being honest, maybe they could be good. Basketball? Probably not, too aerobic, too fast, those guys can MOVE on a fast break. What sport could a crossfitter be good at besides Olympic lifting and maybe gymnastics? I'm really struggling here.
I've been in and out of gyms my entire life. I've done crossfit, I've done "cross training" before crossfit even existed.
Excuse my horrible misuses of "their". I apologize.
Ashton Eaton's PR in the discus is 47.36m. The boys high school record is over 72m.
Ashton Eaton's PR in the shot put is 15.4m. The boys high school record is over 24m.
The dude isn't very strong and high school boys almost double his PR.
Uhh... Highschoolers throw a 1.6 kg discus and a 12 lb shot. Collegiate and Olympic athletes, like Eaton throw a 2kg discus and a 16lb shot.
Give CrossFit Finalists 2 months to train and I'd be shocked if even a handful could equal Eaton's throwing marks. For running and jumping events, it wouldn't even be funny to watch the CrossFit guys long jump 16' , no height the LJ at 5'-0", get DQ'd in the hurdles, no height the PV, and slog the 1500 in 5:30.
Ashton Eaton's PR in the discus is 47.36m. The boys high school record is over 72m.
Ashton Eaton's PR in the shot put is 15.4m. The boys high school record is over 24m.
The dude isn't very strong and high school boys almost double his PR.
Uhh... Highschoolers throw a 1.6 kg discus and a 12 lb shot. Collegiate and Olympic athletes, like Eaton throw a 2kg discus and a 16lb shot.
Give CrossFit Finalists 2 months to train and I'd be shocked if even a handful could equal Eaton's throwing marks. For running and jumping events, it wouldn't even be funny to watch the CrossFit guys long jump 16' , no height the LJ at 5'-0", get DQ'd in the hurdles, no height the PV, and slog the 1500 in 5:30.
Crossfit can be great for general fitness and aethetics. The ridicule comes from the cult-like following and claims they are the "fittest athletes in the world", which they clearly are not. Crossfit seems to havel died off some in the last few years though; I don't hear much about it anymore.
I think some of you are completely missing the concept of being well rounded.
Being the fittest athlete in the world doesn't mean being better than every other athlete in every other sport it means being great at more things than everyone else.
Someone brought up the decathlon. Decathletes cannot compete in any single event. The gold medal winner in 2020 ran a 4:31 1500m. A decent high schooler can easily beat that time.
I think some of you are completely missing the concept of being well rounded.
Being the fittest athlete in the world doesn't mean being better than every other athlete in every other sport it means being great at more things than everyone else.
Someone brought up the decathlon. Decathletes cannot compete in any single event. The gold medal winner in 2020 ran a 4:31 1500m. A decent high schooler can easily beat that time.
This is objectively false. Ashton Eaton's 100- 10.20, 400-45.00, 110H- 13.35, and LJ- 27'-O" were actual or borderline D1 All American/ US National Trial Marks.
In terms of the 1500, most, if not all, CrossFit Games finalists would struggle to break 5:00 for 1500.
Again, you're just bashing cross-fitters without knowing anything about cross-fitters.
Laura Horvath won the cross-fit games last year. She ran the cross-country 5k in 19:02. On a track she could easily run a sub 5 1500.
She's also stronger than Eaton.
Jeffrey Adler won the cross-fit games last year. He ran the cross-country 5k in 16:46. On a track he could easily run a sub 4:30 1500.
The point is that decathletes are not great at any of the events they are just good at all of them which is the spirit of cross-fit.
Decathletes are VERY good at multiple events, not just good. Their overall skills are extremely universal. A decathlete has lots of potential in many sports.
Crossfitters are VERY good at weightlifting movements, they're good to pretty bad at almost everything else. Their skills in weightlifting have good potential transfer to other power sports. But their lack of agility, coordination, and endurance would make them have a very hard time at other sports. It's also funny that crossfit is supposed to be universal fitness, but like 50% of it is clean & jerk and snatch. That's a niche, Olympic event my guy.
Cope. This Ashton Eaton fellow barely ran 1:49 for his HM PB. There are hobby joggers that can run faster than this supposed “elite” Olympic decathlete who you claim is “VERY good” at running.
This is objectively false. Ashton Eaton's 100- 10.20, 400-45.00, 110H- 13.35, and LJ- 27'-O" were actual or borderline D1 All American/ US National Trial Marks.
In terms of the 1500, most, if not all, CrossFit Games finalists would struggle to break 5:00 for 1500.
Again, you're just bashing cross-fitters without knowing anything about cross-fitters.
Laura Horvath won the cross-fit games last year. She ran the cross-country 5k in 19:02. On a track she could easily run a sub 5 1500.
She's also stronger than Eaton.
Jeffrey Adler won the cross-fit games last year. He ran the cross-country 5k in 16:46. On a track he could easily run a sub 4:30 1500.
He's also much much stronger than Eaton.
So your two ace in the holes are that two athletes are at the "good for a high schooler" level in another sport? Meanwhile Ashton Eaton is national class in multiple events at once.
Hell, I think a guy like Ashton might lose an XC 5k to Adler. But a guy like Adler has no hope of being very good at cross country. Very few highschool athletes could touch any of Eaton's marks. A select few, with the heavier implement, can probably get him in the shot and disk.
So, where are we?
Strength: CF clearly wins Speed: Decathlete Agility: Decathlete Coordination: Decathlete Aerobic Endurance: Kind of a tossup. I doubt Ashton could run a sub 17 XC 5k. But he'd beat 99.9% of CFers at a 1500m Anaerobic Endurance: This one's tough. Pretty much all of CF that isn't strength/power, is anaerobic endurance, but a 45s 400m certainly means something. He also ran a 1:55 800 at some point, which is laughable off of 45 speed.
Considering most sports are some mashup of these abilities, I'm going with the decathlete being more universally fit. They have a clear advantage in speed and agility and are probably in some form of a tossup on the aerobic and anaerobic endurance side of things. Clearly weaker in terms of strength.
I think some of you are completely missing the concept of being well rounded.
Being the fittest athlete in the world doesn't mean being better than every other athlete in every other sport it means being great at more things than everyone else.
Someone brought up the decathlon. Decathletes cannot compete in any single event. The gold medal winner in 2020 ran a 4:31 1500m. A decent high schooler can easily beat that time.
This guy is why Crossfitters are ridiculed.
Yeah, I'd say the ability to comprehend and compare basic figures is probably up there.
There's a CrossFit cult at a rec center I used to go to. They have a 160m indoor track that I used sometimes in the winter. They would regularly swarm onto the track and run one lap like a herd of clumsy toddlers. So much noise and excess motion. I've never felt so smooth and efficient, made me feel like I was Noah Lyles.
Again, you're just bashing cross-fitters without knowing anything about cross-fitters.
Laura Horvath won the cross-fit games last year. She ran the cross-country 5k in 19:02. On a track she could easily run a sub 5 1500.
She's also stronger than Eaton.
Jeffrey Adler won the cross-fit games last year. He ran the cross-country 5k in 16:46. On a track he could easily run a sub 4:30 1500.
He's also much much stronger than Eaton.
So your two ace in the holes are that two athletes are at the "good for a high schooler" level in another sport? Meanwhile Ashton Eaton is national class in multiple events at once.
Hell, I think a guy like Ashton might lose an XC 5k to Adler. But a guy like Adler has no hope of being very good at cross country. Very few highschool athletes could touch any of Eaton's marks. A select few, with the heavier implement, can probably get him in the shot and disk.
So, where are we?
Strength: CF clearly wins Speed: Decathlete Agility: Decathlete Coordination: Decathlete Aerobic Endurance: Kind of a tossup. I doubt Ashton could run a sub 17 XC 5k. But he'd beat 99.9% of CFers at a 1500m Anaerobic Endurance: This one's tough. Pretty much all of CF that isn't strength/power, is anaerobic endurance, but a 45s 400m certainly means something. He also ran a 1:55 800 at some point, which is laughable off of 45 speed.
Considering most sports are some mashup of these abilities, I'm going with the decathlete being more universally fit. They have a clear advantage in speed and agility and are probably in some form of a tossup on the aerobic and anaerobic endurance side of things. Clearly weaker in terms of strength.
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 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?
At the end of the day, ALL sports and fitness activities break down as such:
98% - decent people trying to get fit, lose weight, hit a time standard, improve their wellbeing, or following a popular trend.
1% - truly elite level dedicated athletes that approach their craft with determination, drive, humility, and grace.
1% - loud, obnoxious, vain, and insecure individuals that use sport as a cudgel to bully others or as a mask to hide deep rooted feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing.