The three-headed monster

From the mind of Ben Bergeron, CrossFit New England

Coaching background -  Chris Spealer (six-time Games Athlete, 3rd place 2011), Becca Voigt (5-time Games Athlete, 3rd place 2011) Heather Bergeron (2-time Games Athlete, 8th place, 2010), Brian Curley (Master's Champion, 2010), Lisa Mikkelson (Master's Champion, 2012) and Team CrossFit New England (World Champions, 2011)

The Three-Headed Monster
Your goal is to become a three headed monster.   Top athletes in this sport have Strength, Skills and Conditioning.  Your goal is to be feeding (improving) all three heads at the same time - every month, every week, every day.  If you have a serious weakness in one (one head is smaller than the other two), feed it more till its as big as the others.

Conditioning - This is the "Sport of Fitness", and we define fitness as work capacity.  Do you have the conditioning and stamina to move quickly regardless how light or heavy the task is, and regardless of how long the effort may take.  Lots of dudes can do 10-20 Front Squats at 100#, but what happens when they need to rep out 100 front squats with their heart rate at 190?   

Strength - The sport of CrossFit rewards strong athletes.  The average 2013 Games Athletes have the following numbers (men/women):
Snatch:  117/70
Clean and Jerk:  145/85
Back Squat: 197/112
Dead Lift:  231/141
In fact at this year's games the CJ ladder was one of the most predictive events of final placing.  The top ten OVERALL male finishers averaged about 147# on the CJ ladder at the Games.  Places 11-20 in the overall standings averaged about 143.  Places 21-30 were about 142 and the bottom 15 or so places clean and jerked an average of 108.  In other words, assuming you have the conditioning and skills to make it to the games, the stronger you are the more likely you are to place well overall.  

Skills - Few aspects of the sport separate the good from the great more than their skills.  Work capacity and strength are certainly vital pieces to success, but it doesn't matter how strong you are (227# dead lift), how well conditioned you are (5:00 mile), or how many burpees and kettlebell swings you can do - if you can't do big sets of Muscle ups, HSPU, Pistols, Double unders, Butterfly pull ups, Handstand walking, etc...  If you can't do the high skill stuff you are going to be stopped in your tracks in a competition.  

From Three headed monster to 5-tool player...
Mobility - will help you move efficiently.  This is the name of the Game and will allow you to train with greater volume.

Mental Game - Are you a "Game-Day Athlete"?  Thriving under the bright lights.  Using the nerves and adrenaline to improve performance.  Focusing on what you can control and ignoring the noise.  Lots of athletes put up big numbers in their gym, but can't perform on the big stage.  This is a mental issue and it's something that needs to be worked on everyday - not just when you get to the big stage.  

Use the greatest champ our sport has ever seen (and may ever see), Rich Froning.  Rich is the best 5-tool players in the sport; strength, conditioning, skills, mobility and the mental strength to compete at anything, anywhere at any level.  This is what we are striving to build here.