With the 2018 Crossfit Regionals now completed as the top 40 men, women, and teams from around the world move onto the Games lets take a look at what it takes to get to regionals in the first place.
Related: Crossfit Games Complete list of Strength
THE #1 REASON WHY PEOPLE DON’T MAKE REGIONALS
They don’t work on strength enough.
They look at strength as nice to have, but not necessary. Strength is an afterthought and it’s all about conditioning so they say.
I would estimate that for around 95% of Crossfit athletes at every level the reason why they aren’t improving is because they aren’t increasing their overall strength.
The reason why many people skip strength training is because its not sexy and fun.
Metcons are fun because you get to workout with the class, compare your times to your friends and leave the gym feeling like you did something. For the regular person this is perfect, but for someone aspiring to be competitive you have to cut back on the metcons for a while.
Strength training isn’t all that fun to most people, but it happens to be the single most important factor in becoming a competitive Crossfit athlete.
And I have the data to back it up.
Ben Bergeron, the most successful Crossfit coach of all time stated specifically in his video “The Importance of Being Strong Enough” that if you don’t have the strength numbers similar to those at the top then you simply cant compete.
He also says that you need to follow a dedicated strength program while reducing the WOD’s and focus on hitting the mandatory strength numbers first. After you are at or near the strength numbers of the top athletes then you can stop focusing on building and rather just maintain your strength while getting better at everything else.
“If you’re not strong enough you can’t play”.
You can have the best skills and conditioning in the world but none of that matters if your strength is lacking.
You can finish #1 in the world for 4 out of 5 weeks during the Open, but if you place poorly during that one strength workout that always shows up, you’re not going to regionals.
The perfect example of this is Dakota Rager who finished 22nd at the Games in 2017, but didn’t even qualify for the 2018 Regionals due to his lack of strength in the heavy clean as part of workout 18.2.
Even though Rager had two #1 scores in his region he was unable to make it past the Open because his clean landed him in 295th place during that week, knocking him out of the top 2o in his region.
More strength = Easier workouts
When you finally develop your strength to the advanced level it needs to be at everything will become easier. Theres a great article by liftbigeatbig.com that sums this up perfectly:
“The acquisition of strength is vastly underrated, and greatly underestimated. When you front squat 440lb, Fran is a lot easier. When you snatch 285lb, Isabel becomes manageable. When you clean and jerk 350lb, Grace is fun. These numbers might sound preposterous, but I can assure you, they’re not.”
Another fantastic example by athleticlab.com states:
“If you are competing in a CrossFit competition that calls for a workout that includes a test of 1RM strength or even submaximal loading based on bodyweight on the back squat (i.e. the workout “Liza”), your strength will be the limiting factor.
If my 1RM in the back squat is 300lbs and I weigh 200lbs, that is not very strong in absolute terms or in relative terms. This individual would be hindered in their performance of this workout. On the other side of the spectrum, if my 1RM in the back squat is 500lbs and I weigh 200lbs, this is a more favorable scenario.
I have a much greater reserve and engine to draw from in training. For most CrossFit workouts, if not all, you are using submaximal loads for high repetitions (10 to 50). A certain level of conditioning is involved but absolute strength is the difference maker.
If the workout calls for 33% of my 1RM in a specific lift, this will be very light. If this load is 85% of my 1RM in a specific lift, this will be very heavy and I will more than likely not perform well in this workout, fail, or get hurt at the very worst.”
Related: Crossfit Games Complete list of Strength
If you look at the athletes who make it to regionals and the games they all have tremendous strength. Some are stronger than others, but they are all relatively close to each other.
In order to reach these higher levels of Crossfit you simply have to focus on increasing your strength over everything else. Strength takes a long time to build, conditioning takes no time at all.
Once you have the strength needed to compete then you can stop chasing those numbers and become very well rounded.
If being a professional Crossfit athlete is something you are serious about then you will take the time to get on a strength program and eliminate this vast weakness.
To see the strength numbers of the 2017 Crossfit Games athletes check out this link.
For more content like this follow Heatonminded on Facebook and check out some of the articles below.
2,560 responses to “The Importance of Being Strong Enough”