If you saw the CrossFit Games a couple of weeks ago and have been thinking about trying it out, or you sent a video to a friend saying you need to give this a go then take 5 minutes to read this. Understand that what you see at the Games isn’t what you will see in a day-to-day CrossFit class. Although, after this year’s games going back to basics it was probably as close as it ever was to the methodology applied to classes that you take part in every day.
To understand the difference, you must understand exactly what the CrossFit Games is.
Starting with The CrossFit Open which is a global, mass participation competition that takes place over three weeks, with a total of 293,805 athletes taking part in the 2022 Open. After the Open we have the semi-finals and things conclude with The CrossFit Games, where the top 40 male and female athletes compete over 4-5 Days in Madison to be crowned the Fittest on Earth.
The tests or workouts these athletes are put through are not what you would find in CrossFit at your local box. For example, performing multiple workouts that are incredibly demanding, both physically and mentally, each day across five days of competition is not normal CrossFit. 
Of those 293,805 people that participated in The Open, 92 were our members, placing us 218th in the world and 18th in the UK for participation – which is awesome! But that’s less than half of our members at UNIT 22. However, that’s not a bad thing, as it shows that people do CrossFit and are members of UNIT 22, and other CrossFit gyms, for many different reasons.
The athletes that make it to the games, or even semi-finals, are incredible role models in so many ways to so many people. However, they are exactly that, athletes. They dedicate hours of training every day to becoming that 1% better. Ensuring that their nutrition and recovery is the best it can be to maximise their results.
We are seeing more and more athletes receive sponsorship deals so that they can remove time constraints of working and financial stress and dedicate their time solely to their performance throughout the year in preparation for the games.
They are not the same as 99% of our members who have jobs that require 40+ hours a week of attention. Plus, any other commitments outside of that including children, pets, caring for other family members, second jobs – this list could go on.
We physically cannot dedicate the same time to our training and to be honest, we shouldn’t be aiming to. Attending a class for an hour a day where your goal is to move better, get stronger, get fitter and train with your friends is enough.
You may have heard the term “The needs of the athlete differ by degree, not by kind”.
This still absolutely applies, so you can still perform a scaled version of a CrossFit Games test to maintain the intended stimulus. But these are a test, they are designed to test your fitness and your ability to perform skills under fatigue and the pressure of competition.
The purpose of you turning up to classes is to “increase your work capacity across broad time and modal domains” – the essence of CrossFit. This can be as much as being able to carry your shopping in from the car in one trip, being able to garden for longer, or run around the park after your kids without getting out of breath.
The CrossFit Games is designed to test your fitness. CrossFit is designed to improve your quality of life, your fitness, your health, your state of mind, and so much more.
CrossFit is for anybody.
Happy Training.
Jamie