Breaking down the CrossFit Games: A 10-year analysis of the competition and top athletes. Are they the fittest on Earth?

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine exercise type and distribution patterns within the CrossFit Games, a seemingly random competition, by analysing the Workouts Of the Day (WODs or events) performed in the last 10 years and by depicting the best scores of the 10 most popular benchmark workouts for male and female. Equipment and methods For this analysis, exercises were classified into 3 different groups: Metcon (metabolic conditioning) , Gymnastics and Weightlifting . Additional 3 subcategories were included to the Weightlifting category to further classify into Snatch and C&J derivatives, Barbell Weightlifting and Object Weightlifting . Results From the 150 WODs analysed, 67 exercises and 68 variations were identified: 57% were classified as Weightlifting , 28% as Gymnastics and 16% as Metcon . Each year of competition averaged 13.6 ± 2.4 workouts. The top 5 most frequent exercises were running, muscle-up, rowing, snatch, and pull-up. The most frequent WODs were those lasting < 20 minutes. We found no differences between the exercise classification and day of competition among years ( P = 0.084 weak effect ES = 0.15), exercise classifications and days of competition ( P = 0.317 weak effect ES = 0.11), although there was a significant load reduction between day 2 and day 1 WODs ( P < 0.021; ES = 0.65) and day 3 ( P = 0.032; ES = 0.45) and a significant reduction of repetitions between day 2 and day 4 of competition ( P = 0.043, ES = 0.92). When analysing the repetitions completed throughout the years, we found no differences between years ( P = 0.599 moderate effect ES = 0.31) nor between repetitions and days of competition ( P = 0.546 small effect ES = 0.23). Regarding the benchmark workouts, male and female performed similarly at Mary and Murph , although female were 74% slower than male at Isabel. In absolute values, female lifted about 33% (9% adjusted for body weight) lighter loads than male on benchmark workouts such as 1RM Snatch, CrossFit Total, Clean and 1RM Front Squat. Conclusions Overall, this study highlights the huge range of exercises, repetitions and loads that athletes must complete at the CrossFit Games, the key features of this unprecedented competition and insights into the physical capabilities of the participants.