Think about that for a second. The fittest man on earth is a six-time winner of the IronMan Triathlon. But the decathlete who can do the same stuff as the triathlete, and more, does not fit the bill of the fittest. Why is that? It’s because back then there was never any data or evidence to support or refute who is “fit” and who is “unfit”. There were no standards. Glassman changed that when he introduced CrossFit to the world.

Through his teachings he created many standards to determine fitness. These standards all include measurable ways to establish fitness. Here I will talk about the three major standards. The first standard includes the 10 General Physical Skills. They are as follows:

His second standard is the “view that fitness is about performing well at any and every task imaginable.” This is incredibly important and guides any true CrossFit program you will ever see.

And his third standard is that the individual requires competency to perform and train within each of the three energy pathways known as: 1) the Phosphagen (also known as Phosphocreatine) pathway; 2) the Glycolytic (or Lactate) pathway; and 3) the Oxidative (or Aerobic) pathway. Where the first pathway governs high-power activity which is anything that lasts less than about 10 seconds (think max effort lift), the second pathway engulfs moderate-power activity which is anything lasting up to several minutes (400m-800m sprints or 1-mile sprints for the crazy fast) and the third pathway excels in the low-power, long duration, activities that last well above several minutes of activity (like running a 5k or half-marathon +). Looking at the graph below, notice how there is a period where they all overlap. It is important to understand that if one of the pathways is deficient, that will have an overall negative effect on an athletes output.

A big piece of what CrossFit is and why it works is largely thanks to his second standard where an individual must perform well at any and every task imaginable. If we change up the wording we can say it is the ability to be prepared for the unknown and unknowable. If you have been around CrossFit for as long as I have then you have heard that phrase. If you’ve taken your L1, L2 or spent a lot of time learning about CrossFit the odds are you have also heard it. This train of thought is what separates CrossFit from all other training methodologies out there (and, if you haven’t noticed, there have been a lot of CrossFit copycats that don’t have the same success as CrossFit and that’s because real CrossFit ACTUALLY WORKS).

With those standards in mind he was able to create ways to accurately measure data through tests such as Fran, Grace, Annie, etc. and repeat those tests over a period of time (notice how this is eerily similar to the scientific method - Greg had a background and family deep in the sciences). Through these tests and with the definitions he created he was able to easily point to how an individual is truly fit and not specialized within a sport. Specialization is necessary to be at the top of the game, but to be fit you cannot be specialized.

Fast forward some years and the CrossFit Games was born. Through that we got things such as the Open, Regionals, Semifinals, Quarterfinals, etc. and we can point to those as worldwide methods of testing, retesting and establishing our own fitness levels. And who would have guessed, the Open is just around the corner! If you didn’t get a chance to read What is the CrossFit Open, What Does It Mean To Me and Why You Need to Sign-up I highly recommend you to do so. It gives more reason and meaning to the Open and I strongly urge you to sign up and do it! If you believe in CrossFit and trust that Glassman created the most effective way of creating the fittest individuals then the Open is the best way to show you believe! I know I do!!!!