Normative Scores for CrossFit® Open Workouts: 2011–2022

Mangine, Gerald T.; Grundlingh, Nina; Feito, Yuri

doi:10.3390/sports11020024

Cited by 7 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Participation in the ‘CrossFit ® Open’, meanwhile, is open to anyone at any performance level. In a recent study of the authors Mangine et al, normative scores for all ‘CrossFit ® Open’ workouts were collected and analyzed [ 41 ]. Accordingly, ‘CrossFit ® Open’ workouts are similarly used to compare and evaluate performance of CrossFit ® athletes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CrossFit®: ‘Unknowable’ or Predictable?—A Systematic Review on Predictors of CrossFit® Performance

Meier

Schlie

Schmidt

2023

Sports

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The functional fitness training program CrossFit® is experiencing fast-growing and widespread popularity with day-to-day varying ‘Workouts of the Day’ (WOD). Even among tactical athletes, the training program is widely applied. Nevertheless, there is a lack of data on which parameters influence CrossFit® performance. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the existing literature to identify and summarize predictors of CrossFit® performance and performance enhancement. In accordance with the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of the following databases was conducted in April 2022: PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Web of Science. Using the keyword ‘CrossFit’, 1264 entries are found, and 21 articles are included based on the eligibility criteria. In summary, the studies show conflicting results, and no specific key parameter was found that predicts CrossFit® performance regardless of the type of WOD. In detail, the findings indicate that physiological parameters (in particular, body composition) and high-level competitive experience have a more consistent influence than specific performance variables. Nevertheless, in one-third of the studies, high total body strength (i.e., CrossFit® Total performance) and trunk strength (i.e., back squat performance) correlate with higher workout scores. For the first time, this review presents a summary of performance determinants in CrossFit®. From this, a guiding principle for training strategies may be derived, suggesting that a focus on body composition, body strength, and competition experience may be recommended for CrossFit® performance prediction and performance enhancement.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

CrossFit®: ‘Unknowable’ or Predictable?—A Systematic Review on Predictors of CrossFit® Performance

Meier

Schlie

Schmidt

2023

Sports

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“…Furthermore, the extremely small sample size limits the generalizability of these results to the overall CrossFit® population. More recently, normative scores were developed from very large random samples of CFO competitors ( n = 7,046 – 89,792) for all workouts programmed between 2011 and 2022 (26), and sex differences were observed in 56 out of 60 total workouts. Although this implies CFO scaling between sexes has been ineffective (i.e., if scaling was properly applied, no differences should have been observed), any definitive conclusions would be premature at this time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A secondary aim of this study was to determine how changes in performance translated to ranking in each workout in each workout and the overall competition. Based on pilot work (26, 27), we hypothesized that men would perform better on more workouts, regardless of scaling, but both sexes would improve equally over time. Nevertheless, improved performance would not translate to a higher official CFO competition rank due to increased overall participation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential Improvements Between Men and Women in Repeated Crossfit® Open Workouts

Mangine

Grundlingh

Feito

2023

Preprint

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The CrossFit® Open (CFO) acts a preliminary round that qualifies men and women for later stages of its annual Games competition. The CFO typically consists of 4-6 workouts that variably challenge an athlete’s weightlifting strength, gymnastic skill, and endurance capacity. Except for differences in prescribed intensity loads, workouts are designed the same for men and women to elicit a similar challenge. While all workouts within a single year are unique to each other, one has been repeated from a previous CFO each year between 2012 and 2021. Because previous CFO workouts are often integrated into training, improvements are expected when a workout is officially repeated. However, besides documented record performances, it is unclear whether most athletes are improving, if these improvements affect ranking, or if differences exist between men and women. PURPOSE: To examine sex differences and performance changes across repeated CFO workouts, as well as their effect on CFO and workout ranking. METHODS: Eleven separate samples of 500 men and 500 women, who were representative of the same overall percent rank within each year involving one of the nine repeated CFO workouts (2011-2021) were drawn for this study. Each athlete’s age (18-54 years), rank (overall and within each workout), and reported workout scores were collected from the competition’s publicly-available leaderboard. Each sample had excluded any athlete who had not met minimum performance criteria (e.g., at least one completed round) for all prescribed (Rx) workouts within a given year (including those not analyzed). Since some workouts could be scored as repetitions completed or time-to-completion (TTC), and because programming was often scaled between men and women, all scores were converted to a repetition completion rate (repetitions divided by TTC [in minutes]). RESULTS: Separate sex x time analyses of variance with repeated measures revealed significant (p<0.05) interactions in all but one (CFO 18.4 vs. 20.3) repeated workout comparison. Initially, men were faster in four workouts (~18.5%, range = 3.9 – 35.0%, p<0.001), women in two (~7.1%, range = 5.2 – 9.0%, p<0.001), and they tied in the remaining three workouts. When these workouts were repeated in subsequent years, men were no longer faster in two workouts (CFO 11.1 to 14.1 and CFO 12.4 to 13.3) but became faster in another (CFO 16.4 to 17.4). In contrast, women were slower in CFO 14.2 and became faster than men when the workout repeated (CFO 15.2), but then performed CFO 19.2 slower than men, a workout they initially completed faster (CFO 16.2). Though performance improved in seven of the nine workouts (~14.3%, p<0.001) and percentile rank was controlled, athletes earned a lower rank (overall and within workout) on each repeated workout (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Performance (measured as repetition completion rate) has improved in most repeated CFO workouts, particularly females. However, improvements seen among all athletes, along with increased participation, have made it more difficult for athletes to improve their overall rank. To rank higher, individual athlete must improve their pace to a greater degree than the average improvements seen across the competitive field.

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“…However, the small sample size affected the generalizability of those findings and experience (the only available proxy of athlete skill) was significantly different between sexes and could have affected how each approached the workouts. Conversely, normative scores were developed from very large random samples of CFO competitors ( n = 7,046–89,792) for all workouts programmed between 2011 and 2022 [ 17 ], and performance differences between men and women were noted in 56 out of 60 total workouts. Although this implies ineffectual CFO scaling, it would be premature to definitively make this conclusion due to unequaled sample sizes and participant skill.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential improvements between men and women in repeated CrossFit open workouts

Mangine,

Grundlingh,

Feito

2023

PLoS ONE

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Introduction The CrossFit® Open (CFO) acts a preliminary round that qualifies men and women for later stages of its annual Games competition. The CFO typically consists of 4–6 workouts that variably challenge an athlete’s weightlifting strength, gymnastic skill, and endurance capacity. Except for differences in prescribed intensity loads, workouts are designed the same for men and women to elicit a similar challenge. While all workouts within a single year are unique to each other, one has been repeated from a previous CFO each year between 2012 and 2021. Because previous CFO workouts are often integrated into training, improvements are expected when a workout is officially repeated. However, besides documented record performances, it is unclear whether most athletes are improving, if these improvements affect ranking, or if differences exist between men and women. Purpose To examine sex-division differences and performance changes across repeated CFO workouts, as well as their effect on CFO and workout ranking. Methods Eleven separate samples of 500 men and 500 women, who were representative of the same overall percent rank within each year involving one of the nine repeated CFO workouts (2011–2021) were drawn for this study. Each athlete’s age (18–54 years), rank (overall and within each workout), and reported workout scores were collected from the competition’s publicly-available leaderboard. Each sample had excluded any athlete who had not met minimum performance criteria (e.g., at least one completed round) for all prescribed (Rx) workouts within a given year (including those not analyzed). Since some workouts could be scored as repetitions completed or time-to-completion (TTC), and because programming was often scaled between men and women, all scores were converted to a repetition completion rate (repetitions divided by TTC [in minutes]). Results Separate sex-division x time analyses of variance with repeated measures revealed significant (p < 0.05) interactions in all but one repeated workout comparison. Initially, men were faster in four workouts (~18.5%, range = 3.9–35.0%, p < 0.001), women in two (~7.1%, range = 5.2–9.0%, p < 0.001), and they tied in the remaining three workouts. When workouts were repeated in subsequent years, men were faster in three workouts (~5.4%, range = 0.9–7.8%, p < 0.05), while women were faster in two (~3.8%, range = 3.5–4.1%, p < 0.01). Though performance improved in seven of the nine workouts (~14.3%, p < 0.001) and percentile rank was controlled, athletes earned a lower rank (overall and within workout) on each repeated workout (p < 0.001). Conclusions Performance (measured as repetition completion rate) has improved in most repeated CFO workouts, particularly for women. However, improvements seen among all athletes, along with increased participation, have made it more difficult for athletes to improve their overall rank. To rank higher, individual athletes must improve their pace to a greater degree than the average improvements seen across the competitive field.

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Normative Scores for CrossFit® Open Workouts: 2011–2022

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

CrossFit®: ‘Unknowable’ or Predictable?—A Systematic Review on Predictors of CrossFit® Performance

CrossFit®: ‘Unknowable’ or Predictable?—A Systematic Review on Predictors of CrossFit® Performance

Differential Improvements Between Men and Women in Repeated Crossfit® Open Workouts

Differential improvements between men and women in repeated CrossFit open workouts

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