Workout Specialists

Hey Vic City,

There always seems to be comments on workouts how this type of person will have an advantage over someone else. If there is rowing and wallballs, the taller athletes have the advantage. If the movements are burpees and pull-ups the shorter athletes have the advantage. If deadlifts are a large component, it's the long armed, shorter leg athletes that are expected to do well. The list goes on and on, and can be stretched to be a bit ridiculous and not really that true.

No one is going to win all the Open workouts. For example the guy who won 19.1 worldwide, came 2379th in 19.2. To be successful you need to do very well across all skills and all tests.

Having said all that, it is interesting to see specialists take on "wheelhouse" workouts. I've recently watched a video of a Great Britain rowing athlete complete 19.1. He's 6'9" and a rower so you could assume he would do well on 15 minutes of rowing and wallballs. This isn't an official score (which is good because some wallballs look questionable) but you can see the capacity. I'll cut him some slack considering it looks like the first time he's done them and CrossFit in general.

Spoiler Alert!

If you haven't watched the video and want to see how it goes, don't keep reading and watch the video. If you watched the video, or just happy to keep reading, go ahead.

He got '349' reps. Which is very impressive, but still not near tops in the world. In fact, he actually got beat out by Samantha Briggs doing the same amount of calories per round. A specialists will likely take down many very good CrossFit athletes in very specific workouts.

What I take away is that specialists can shine on specific workouts, but likely can't hang at the top across multiple WODs. Mat Fraser, who is 5'7" out performed almost everyone in the world on 19.1, including the 6'9" rower. Height doesn't matter as much as fitness does. If you have weaknesses, work on them. Do well when a workout comes up with your strengths, but train hard enough that you don't fear any workouts because you know you've done your best to minimize your weaknesses.

Next time, instead of saying I won't do well because of whatever the movement you 'shouldn't be good at' comes up, maybe try "if I was more fit, I would do better at this workout."

Work on getting more fit, no excuses!

Adam

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Training Wednesday - Thursday

Warm-up: EMOM9

40 sec Assault Bike

40 sec heavy rope skips

40 sec KB goblet squat/ankle mobility

Skill: Pistol Practice

30-45 sec E2M x 4 rounds

WOD: Speeds

In Partners, relay style (switch after a full round)

Rx: 400m Row, 10 HR Push-ups, 15 Air Squats

300m Row, 10 HR Push-ups, 15 Air Squats

200m Row, 10 HR Push-ups, 15 Air Squats

100m Row, 10 HR Push-ups, 15 Air Squats

FG: Knee Push-ups