If you saw OP’s powerlifting thread, you’d have to say strongman is not the way to go for him.
There’s straps… and suits… there’s even elbow sleeves and you can lift things any damn way you like! You can even hitch a deadlift and squat to depth? Pssshh!!
I’m a fan of being able to do many things well. The elite CrossFitters appeal more to me. I’d give up strength to be more capable at running, jumping, climbing, etc.
And when I say I’d give up strength, I’m talking about accepting a 600 lb deadlift instead of 1000 lbs; a 500 lb squat over 700-800 lbs. You get the point. The elite CrossFitters can put up impressive numbers while still being good at the other activities I mentioned.
That being said, I can’t do any of that stuff lol!
This stuff is all relative to each person and their desires.
Probably not. The sheer volume of CrossFitters probably means that the average participant has less than stellar strength levels.
But if you look at the abilities of the people who actually show up to compete then their numbers are pretty respectable by gym standards.
Edit to catch up: to strength sports, yes. But, that was my point in terms of each person having different opinions of what to pursue. Imagine the outcome of they threw in a 1 mile run to power lifting or strongman.
The best CrossFitters have or could compete in Olympic lifting. Claire Tia Toomey and Matt Fraser won 2017 and both fit that bill. Not too shabby. But I admit they were weight lifters first lol
True that. I know some competitive CF people and they really are strong while being really conditioned and light.
Like I said, its a sport like others, and I’m not interested in validating/de-valitating it. But if we take a regular (competitive) strongman and regular (competitive) Crossfitter in a strength based event the odds are for strongman (a mile run is not strength based, no matter how you stretch the definitions).
And yeah. There are good weightlifters, Fraser even has been one before going in to CF? Weightlifting is a sport I admire and it probably produces strongest people on earth compared to their bodyweight. But the problem in weightlifting and the original question is the specificity. Which does not fit in the OPs “definition”.
Depends on weightclasses. An elite crossfitter against a World’s Strongest Man competitor? No real comparison. Against the top 200lb strongman competitor in the nation? Now it gets interesting.
Crossfit has taken a lot of the talent pool away from lightweight strongman, mainly because you can either go win the games and bring home 6 figures or go win strongman nationals and bring home a trophy. I once won $100 and some supplements at a strongman comp and became one of the highest paid athletes in my sport.
Fraser was a junior US weight lifter and suffered a career ending back injury. He had a new and experimental surgery and it worked and he found CrossFit as a way to stay competitive.
He found it at the right time too. He won $250k for winning the '16 Games. I think it stayed the same for 2017.
Recreational crossfitters are just like any recreational gym-goer
Competitive crossfitters are just like any competitive athlete. They just have a broader skillset and thus don’t have as much attention and training time in powerlifting/oly movements like Powerlifters and Olympic Weightlifters do.
I have a friend who coaches a powerlifting program at a crossfit box, and some of these guys are impressively strong. They’re not as strong as the stronger guys at my powerlifting gym, but they’re as strong or stronger than the novice/intermediate guys. One of them, I believe, placed first at a local USPA meet in his division.
Agreed, as long as you mean a goose that weighs as much as a polar bear, not a goose that is the same height as a polar bear. So are we scaling the strength athletes by volume or weight? Do any groups have hollow bones? That really throws everything off and introduces new variables.