Is it True that the Crossfit Games Champion is the "Fittest Person in the World?"

[furo]

A friend of mine joined a xfit gym and now he's obsessing about the xfit games and saying that the xfit champ is clearly the "fittest person in the world" because that person would exemplify the very best of the 5 components of fitness:

•Cardiovascular Endurance
•Muscular Strength
•Muscular endurance
•Flexibility
•Body Composition

In my opinion, he's wrong. Before I give my reasoning, what are your thoughts?

 

[Lagrangian]

oh what the ****

 

[Thomas]

Can't really say that unless everyone in the world competes. Sounds like they're looking for the fittest Crossfit person. FWIW, depending on measurements and weighting, elite triathletes would probably give them a hard time, top ultra-runners would probably run them into the ground.

To pick a name, Dean Karnazes would probably give all of them a very hard time.

 

[furo]



Can't really say that unless everyone in the world competes. Sounds like they're looking for the fittest Crossfit person. FWIW, depending on measurements and weighting, elite triathletes would probably give them a hard time, top ultra-runners would probably run them into the ground.
To pick a name, Dean Karnazes would probably give all of them a very hard time.

^ Agree, and one of my contentions is exactly along the lines of your triathlete argument.

From what my friend says, many of the top contenders in the xfit games are actually triathletes.

However, I'd say VERY few of the top triathletes in the Iron Man competition are former xfit games competitors.

 

[Thomas]



^ Agree, and one of my contentions is exactly along the lines of your triathlete argument.
From what my friend says, many of the top contenders in the xfit games are actually triathletes.
However, I'd say VERY few of the top triathletes in the Iron Man competition are former xfit games competitors.

Well, I see the purpose and theory behind crossfit and think it's worthwhile for a lot of people, so I get it. But at the same time, when you set up a competition that's centered around the precepts that govern your training...then you've got a playing field that favors those who train in your system.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see triathletes overlapping with crossfit, triathletes in general are workout hounds and tend more towards experimentation in the service of performance. For instance, triathletes were among the first to adopt the POSE style of running en masse when Dr. Romanov started popularizing it around a decade ago. In general, they tend to be early-adopters of any and all training protocols.

I didn't think about this earlier, but if they want to measure up to olympic decathletes, that might be an interesting comparison. Even then, though, you have a tilted playing field that rewards specific training: pole vault, high jump, mile run, javelin. But, that's really the nature of ALL competition.

 

[thisisfun]

No
the winner of the crossfit games is the best crossfit "athlete"
they are the ultimate "jack of all trades, master of none"

 

[Douglas]

Absolutely not. The fittest person in the world is a Navy SEAL because they can do everything a Crossfit person can do but under duress and while killing Osama bin Laden.



Also, my Dad is cooler than your Dad.

 

[akatsuki]



No
the winner of the crossfit games is the best crossfit "athlete"
they are the ultimate "jack of all trades, master of none"

I'm a crossfitter, and I don't even agree with that. If that was true, it would be a randomly chosen event at the last minute that would not involve the traditional core of crossfit movements.

I'd love it if you would show up and suddenly be playing tennis one day, and forced to do the quad dipsea the next and the caber tossing the last. It would be a better test of raw athleticism along with a healthy dose of luck if you happened to be good at one of the sports.

 

[Pilot]

It's impossible to quantify something like this, but I agree with the triathlete argument. I would also say olympic sprinters, like Tyson Gay, Leonard Scott, etc.., tend to have incredible physiques, are very strong (work out like powerlifters), and have plenty of cardiovascular capability behind them.

 

[thisisfun]

I'm a crossfitter, and I don't even agree with that. If that was true, it would be a randomly chosen event at the last minute that would not involve the traditional core of crossfit movements.
I'd love it if you would show up and suddenly be playing tennis one day, and forced to do the quad dipsea the next and the caber tossing the last. It would be a better test of raw athleticism along with a healthy dose of luck if you happened to be good at one of the sports.

Of course you're not going to agree with that
The "traditional core" of crossfit movements are all taken or adapted from traditional weight lifting, now that normally wouldn't be a problem, but apparently the top crossfit boffins decided that the most important part of doing these exercises was to do them as fast as possible, resulting in terrible form that is both inefficient AND dangerous.
Have fun doing your seizure pull-ups

 

[akatsuki]



Of course you're not going to agree with that
The "traditional core" of crossfit movements are all taken or adapted from traditional weight lifting, now that normally wouldn't be a problem, but apparently the top crossfit boffins decided that the most important part of doing these exercises was to do them as fast as possible, resulting in terrible form that is both inefficient AND dangerous.
Have fun doing your seizure pull-ups

Umm... a kipping pull-up is a pretty legitimate gymnastic move. And I will agree with you on speed deadlifting and O-lifting - pretty stupid stuff.

 

[Kajak]

X-fit champion: baseball shotput.

Realistically, it depends entirely on how you define fittest. Some genetic variability aside, each sport will weigh each athletic ability differently - technique, strength, power, speed, Lactic endurance, threshold endurance, max aerobic power, aerobic endurance...

In my experience, people will rank those attributes in the same order they have them.

 

[jsqfunk]

Yes and no
Yes: The Crossfit games attempt to test athletes against a large range of skills (as listed above endurance, strength, flexibility.) Given the word "fittest" is not an exact measurement, I think any honest review of the Crossfit games is that it is a pretty good attempt at finding the "Fittest Person in the World"

No: In most countries, extra ordinary athletes are funneled into competitive sports where the cash payoffs are the greatest. The Crossfit games are simply too new and do not have enough money and prestige to compete for athletes with professional sports and the Olympics.

Thinking about this further, imagine a competition where there where two events; a 100 meter dash and 1 rep max squat. I doubt one person would win both events, how would you weigh the margin of victories. Squatting x percentage of your body weight vs. winning the race by 2 seconds which is the more "fit" accomplishment. Which deserves more points?

If you like Crossfit your answer is probably yes, if you don't you won't.
I like Crossfit, but don't "do" Crossfit and I say maybe.

 

[TheloniusDrunk]

I would bet that a world class decathlete could beat whoever emerges from the competition.

 

[tesseract]

higher level boxers, kickboxers and mixed martial artists have crossfit guys beat in every one of those bullet points.