INTRODUCTION
In a previous post, “The Pros and Cons of CrossFit”, I briefly discussed the strength numbers of the top 10 male and female athletes in the 2013 CrossFit Games. Here, I will analyze in greater detail the strength numbers of the top athletes in the 2013 and 2014 games. In particular, I will focus on their one-rep max (1RM) deadlift, back squat, clean and jerk, and snatch.
Please see this spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is based on the data posted on the official CrossFit Games website in August 2013 and August 2014.
Please note that many athletes who placed in the top 10 both in the 2013 and 2014 games (e.g. Rich Froning Jr.) listed the same 1RMs in August 2013 and August 2014. So, either they did not increase their 1RMs over the course of a year, or they simply did not update their 1RMs on their profile on the CrossFit Games website. The latter is probably true. Nevertheless, I will use the posted data, as they are still informative.
In this article, I use the terms absolute strength and relative strength. Absolute strength means the absolute most weight you can lift for a given movement. It is simply your one-rep max (1RM) for a given movement. Relative strength means your absolute strength relative to your bodyweight (i.e. divided by your bodyweight). One can express relative strength as a proportion or percentage of your bodyweight. For example, if you weigh 200lb and your 1RM deadlift is 500lb, then you can deadlift 250% of your bodyweight (BW).
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THE 2013 CROSSFIT GAMES (INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION)
Individual Winners
• The top male athlete (Rich Froning Jr.) can deadlift 545lb (280% BW), back squat 445lb (230% BW), clean and jerk 370lb (190% BW), and snatch 300lb (150% BW).
• The top female athlete (Samantha Briggs) can deadlift 374lb (280% BW), back squat 275lb (210% BW), clean and jerk 198lb (150% BW), and snatch 158lb (120% BW).
Top 10 Athletes (1RM Relative Strength)
• On average, the top male athletes in the 2013 CrossFit Games can deadlift 266% BW, back squat 219% BW, clean and jerk 166% BW, and snatch 140% BW.
• On average, the top female athletes in the 2013 CrossFit Games (plus Annie Thorisdottir) can deadlift 241% BW, back squat 184% BW, clean and jerk 144% BW, and snatch 116% BW.
• Note: although Annie Thorisdottir did not compete in the 2013 games due to a back injury, she won the 2011 and 2012 games and placed second in the 2014 games. Thus, I think it’s fair to include her with the top 10 female athletes in the 2013 games.
Top 10 Athletes (1RM Absolute Strength)
• On average, the top male athletes can deadlift 526lb, back squat 433lb, clean and jerk 329lb, and snatch 277lb.
• On average, the top female athletes (plus Annie Thorisdottir) can deadlift 343lb, back squat 261lb, clean and jerk 205lb, and snatch 165lb.
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THE 2014 CROSSFIT GAMES (INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION)
Individual Winners
• The top male athlete (Rich Froning Jr.) can deadlift 545lb (280% BW), back squat 445lb (230% BW), clean and jerk 370lb (190% BW), and snatch 300lb (150% BW).
• The top female athlete (Camille Leblanc-Bazinet) can deadlift 300lb (230% BW), back squat 310lb (240% BW), clean and jerk 230lb (180% BW), and snatch 190lb (150%).
Top 10 Athletes (1RM Relative Strength)
• On average, the top male athletes in the 2014 CrossFit Games can deadlift 273% BW, back squat 240% BW, clean and jerk 178% BW, and snatch 147% BW.
• On average, the top female athletes in the 2014 CrossFit Games can deadlift 231% BW, back squat 198% BW, clean and jerk 153% BW, and snatch 122% BW.
Top 10 Athletes (1RM Absolute Strength)
• On average, the top male athletes can deadlift 522lb, back squat 459lb, clean and jerk 339lb, and snatch 280lb.
• On average, the top female athletes can deadlift 304lb, back squat 263lb, clean and jerk 203lb, and snatch 162lb.
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2013 VERSUS 2014
Now, let us examine the change in relative strength numbers from 2013 to 2014.
In terms of average relative strength, the top male athletes increased their deadlift from 266% BW to 273% BW, their back squat from 219% BW to 240% BW, their clean and jerk from 166% BW to 178% BW, and their snatch from 140% BW to 147% BW.
In terms of average relative strength, the top female athletes decreased their deadlift from 241% BW to 231% BW. However, they increased their back squat from 184% BW to 198% BW, their clean and jerk from 144% BW to 153% BW, and their snatch from 116% BW to 122% BW.
Except for the deadlift for the top female athletes, all other movements for the top male and female athletes increased from 2013 to 2014.
Thus, overall, the top male and female athletes are getting stronger. In particular, the top male athletes are getting stronger in terms of the deadlift, back squat, clean and jerk, and snatch. And the top female athletes are getting stronger in terms of the back squat, clean and jerk, and snatch.
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THE UPSHOT
Now, why are the top male and female athletes getting stronger? Why are they devoting so much time to strength training (powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting)?
They’re doing so because functional strength largely drives performance on metabolic conditioning (metcon) workouts. All else being equal, the stronger you are, the better you will perform on metcons.
The qualifier “all else being equal” is important. Suppose you have two athletes. Athlete A is an intermediate strength trainee who can back-squat 350lb and deadlift 400lb. He has done CrossFit for two years, has fully adapted to high-intensity metcons, and has learned the most advanced CrossFit movements: the snatch, the clean and jerk, handstand push-ups, handstand walks, muscle-ups, ring dips, etc.
Athlete B is an advanced strength trainee (e.g. a competitive powerlifter or Olympic weightlifter) who can back-squat 550lb and deadlift 600lb. He is not significantly overweight, he has never done CrossFit before, and he has never learned how to do handstand push-ups, handstand walks, muscle-ups, etc.
Obviously, in general, Athlete A will perform much better in metcons than Athlete B will, because Athlete A has fully adapted to the high-intensity metcons and has learned the advanced movements, whereas Athlete B has not. In this case, not all else is equal: Athletes A and B differ significantly in other respects than their strength development.
However, now consider the case in which all else is equal. If Athletes A and B were the exact same except for their strength development, then, in general, Athlete B (the advanced strength trainee) would perform much better in metcons than Athlete A (the intermediate strength trainee) would. This is because Athlete B is functionally stronger than Athlete A to a significant degree.
Finally, now consider the original case in which Athlete A has done CrossFit for two years and Athlete B has never done it. In this case, if Athlete B does CrossFit for six months, gets accustomed to the high-intensity conditioning, and learns the most advanced movements, then, in general, he will perform much better in metcons than Athlete A will. Note that, in this case, not all else is equal: Athlete A has done CrossFit longer than Athlete B has (by two years). Nevertheless, in general, Athlete B will perform better than Athlete A, because, again, Athlete B is functionally stronger than Athlete A to a significant degree.
Now, I am not saying that Athlete B would make it to the CrossFit Games (let alone win) after only six months of smart CrossFit training. However, I am saying that, in general, Athlete B will perform better than Athlete A and similar athletes.
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PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
Having discussed the role of strength in metcon performance, I shall now discuss some practical implications, which I have stated elsewhere.
Suppose you are a male who is a total strength novice and you want to achieve a 250% BW deadlift, 200% BW back squat, 150% BW clean and jerk, and 100% BW snatch. Further, you want to achieve these goals in the shortest amount of time possible. Your current priority is to achieve these strength goals (using whatever training regimen), but at some point in the future, you may want to compete in the CrossFit Open, Regionals, and Games.
In this case, you should do dedicated strength training and Olympic weightlifting. In particular, learn the proper movement patterns, train them constantly and systematically, and get progressively stronger and more explosive. Use a novice linear progression until it no longer works, and then do an intermediate program. In fact, this is the most effective way to achieve your strength goals in the shortest amount of time possible.
In contrast, if you do strength-biased CrossFit (e.g. CrossFit Football or CrossFit Strength Bias), it will take much longer to achieve your goals. This is not the most effective way to achieve your goals.
Finally, suppose you do CrossFit without a strength bias (e.g. mainsite programming): you do random metcons most of the time and occasional random strength workouts. In this case, you will never achieve your strength goals. And if you ever want to compete in the CrossFit Games, you will need a high level of strength development.
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