Crossfit Athlete Performance Level Standards

BASIC
A Basic level CrossFitter has learned consistent mechanics and form. To attain Basic status, each of the athletic standards below must be met and verified by a Coach. WORK Kettlebell swings: 10 Wall Ball: 25 800 meter run: 4:20 minutes 2000 meter row: W- 10:00, M- 8:30 HIPS Squats: 50 air squats Deadlift: 3/4 BW PUSH Pushups: 10 Military Press: 1/4 BW PULL Static hang: 30 seconds High pull: 1/2 BW

CORE Sit ups: 30 Knees to chest: 10 sitting L-sit: 10 seconds SPEED 400 meter run: 2:04 minutes 500 meter row: W- 2:30, M- 2:00 Medicine ball cleans: 10 WORK CHALLENGE Christine: 15 minutes 3 rounds for time-- 500m row, 12 deadlifts, 21 box jumps 1 mile run: 10:00 minutes

INTERMEDIATE
WORK Kettlebell Clean & Jerk: 25 each arm, W- 25 lb, M- 35 lb 800 meter run: 3:50 minutes Thrusters: 25 reps at 1/2 BW2k row: W - 9:20, M - 8:00 HIPS 75 air squats Squat: 3/4 x BW Deadlift: 1 1/4 x BW Vertical Jump: 15 inches PUSH Pushups: 20 Bench Press: 3/4 x BW Push Press: 1/2 x BW Handstand Hold: 45 seconds Dip: 10 Dips: 3 on rings PULL Rope Climb: 10 ft. climbClean: 1/2 x BW Static Hang: 1 minute Pullups: 5 CORE Overhead Squat: 1/2 x BW GHD situps: 20 L-sit: 20 seconds SPEED 400 meter run: 1:45 minutes 500 meter row: W- 2:10, M- 1:50 Snatch: 1/4 x BW WORK CHALLENGE Karen: 9 minutes 150 Wall Balls 1 mile run: 8:00 minutes

Advanced Phase
At the Advanced Level the athlete has achieved a level of fitness most could only dream for. Our Advanced Level athlete are strong, fast, and powerful. Able to move

their own bodyweight as great speed and external objects of high load, the Advanced Level member can be considered one of the fittest individuals in the Albany area (if you find this claim to be exaggerated I invited you to come down and physically compete with any Advanced member). Requirements for the Advanced Level can be achieved with consistently performing the WOD. Any Basic Level athlete who does the WOD at least four times a week will undoubtedly find that they will achieve the skills necessary to test into the Advanced Level. CrossFit training produces well-rounded athletes and the Advanced Level of fitness requires a balance of speed, power, strength, endurance, and coordination. Any other fitness training program will not yield the same results needed to achieve Advanced Level status. It is at the Advanced Level that we find the theoretical hierarchy of development for athletes come into play. Some athletes will make it to the Advanced Level. Attempting to test into the Elite Level requires more than consistently doing the WOD. Now is the time when the athlete will have to choose whether they want to remain at the Advanced Level or go on to the Elite Level. More on this topic and the theoretical hierarchy of development can be found in the Elite Level description. Advanced Level members need not but may scale the WOD. At this stage of development, the WOD's will be able to be completed without alterations. Some modifications may need to be made but most of the WOD's will remain as prescribed. At the Advanced Level the athlete will be able to perform all the movements needed for the majority of WOD's including the muscle-up, the handstand, and the handstand push-up. The Advanced Level is the top of the Junior Levels. Recruit, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced are all Junior Levels. The Junior Levels are the named this because the benchmark required for achieving them can be accomplished with regular training of the WOD and a commitment to improvement. In order to break into the Senior Levels (Elite, Animal, and Mutant) the athlete may require added dedication in the form of proper nutrition (zone, paleo, or IF), adequate recovery (sleep, hydration, rest, etc.), and more focused training (in contrast to simply doing the WOD). To attain Advanced status, each of the athletic standards below must be met and verified by a Coach.

ADVANCED

WORK Kettlebell snatch: 30 each arm, W- 16 kg, M- 24 kg Thrusters: 45 reps at 1/2 x bodyweight 800 meter run: 3:20 minutes 2000 meter row: W- 8:50, M- 7:45 HIPSSquats: 100 air squats Squat: 1 x bodyweight Deadlift: 1 1/2 x bodyweight Vertical Jump: 18 inches PUSH Pushups: 30 Bench Press: 1x bodyweight Military Press: 1/2x bodyweight Handstand Hold: 1 minute Dip: 1 with 1/3 x bodyweight Dips: 20 PULL Rope Climb: 20 ft. climb, 1 trip Power Clean: 3/4 x bodyweight Pullup: 1 with 1/3 x bodyweight Pullups: 20 Muscle Up: 1 CORE V-ups: 30 Hanging knees to Elbows: 15 L-sit: 30 seconds SPEED 400 meter run: 1:34 minutes 500 meter row: W- 2:00, M- 1:45 Power Snatch: 1/2 bodyweight WORK CHALLENGE Helen: 11:30 minutes 3 rounds for time-- 400m run, 21 kettlebell swings, 12 pullups 1 mile run: 7:00 minutes

Elite Phase
The Elite Level Is the first stage of the Senior Levels. In order for an athlete to get this far, he or she will have put in some serious effort into reaching the benchmarks.

These kind of numbers are not easy and it takes some added dedication to get your body to perform at this level. There may be a select few individuals in the world who could reach the level of Elite without proper feeding habit, adequate recovery, or intense training efforts, but it is unlikely. The human body requires maintenance in order to perform well and the quality and quantity by which the maintenance is performed has a direct and proportional effect on how well the body performs. In order to reach the Elite Level, the maintenance for the body must also be at elite status. Elite Level athletes are easily in the top 10% of the fittest people on earth. The benchmarks required to reach the Elite Level suggest not only a well-rounded athlete, but also a high performance athlete. If an individual can develop the capacity of a novice 800M track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter, then he or she will be fitter than any world-class runner, gymnast, or weightlifter. By extension, the Elite Level athlete has developed the capacity of a intermediate 800M track athlete, gymnast, and weightlifter - thus making him or her one of the fittest individuals on earth. Getting to the Elite Level takes time. Lots of time. Even the Advanced Level requires dedicated training and a commitment to elite athleticism. The Elite Level goes beyond even that. Dedication and commitment are not enough - patience is key. Anyone determined to reach the Elite Level can do it - although it may take nearly a lifetime. Serious training and focused goals are other important aspects to reaching the Elite Level. If an athlete is so driven that they make it to Elite level status it is usually only a matter of more time before he or she inevitably attempts to achieve Mutant Level status. The is the final step in the quest to develop elite athleticism. An Elite level CrossFitter has passed the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Phases. To attain Elite status, each of the athletic standards below must be met and verified by a Coach.

ELITE
WORK Kettlebell snatch: 6 minute test, 100 reps, W- 16 kg, M- 24 kg Fran: 7:00 -- 2115-9 Thrusters/Pullups800 meter run: 3:05 minutes 2k row: W - 8:30, M - 7:30 HIPS Squat: 1 1/4 x BWTabata Squats: Score = 18Deadlift: 1 3/4 x BW Vertical Jump: 22 inches PUSH Pushups: 25 on rings Bench Press: 5 reps with BW Push Press: 1 x BW Handstand Pushups: 5 Dip: 1 with 1/2 x BW Dips: 20 on rings

PULL Rope Climb: 10 ft. climbHigh Pull: 1 x BW Pullup: 1 with 1/2 x BW Pullups: 30 Muscle Up: 5 CORE Overhead Squat: 1 x 3/4 BW Knee to Elbows: 25 L-sit: 45 seconds SPEED 400 meter run: 1:28 minutes 500 meter row: W- 1:55, M- 1:40 Snatch: 3/4 x BW WORK CHALLENGE Cindy: 18 rounds20 minutes -- 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats 1 mile run: 6:30 minutes

ANIMAL
WORK Kettlebell snatch: 10 minute test, 200 reps, W- 16 kg, M- 24 kg Sandbag Carry: 1 mile with 1/2 BW 800 meter run: 2:50 minutes 5k row: women- 21:00 6k row: men21:45

HIPS Pistols: 10 each leg Squat: 1 1/2 x BW Deadlift: 2 x BW Vertical Jump: 25 inches PUSH Pushups: 40 on rings Bench Press: 1 1/4 x BW Military Press: 3/4 x BW Handstand Pushups: 10 Dip: 1 with 3/4 x BW Dips: 30 on rings PULL Rope Climb: 20 ft. climb, no feet Clean: 1 x BW Pullup: 1 with 3/4 x BW Pullups: 40 Muscle Up: 10 CORE Overhead Squat: 1 x BW Hanging straight leg raise: 20 L-sit: 1 minute SPEED 400 meter run: 1:19 minutes 500 meter row: W- 1:50, M- 1:32 Snatch: 1 x BW WORK CHALLENGE Chelsea: 30 minutes Every minute on the minute-- 5 pullups, 10 pushups, 15 squats 1 mile run: 6:00 minutes

Mutant Phase
The final stage of elite fitness training is the Mutant Level. At this point, the athlete is all but untouchable in his or her ability to create explosive hip power and work capacity. The benchmarks for this level don't look difficult on paper but in order for the body to perform the events takes a serious mind and training regimen. A 90 second Lsit alone can take years to developmentally master. That is why this level is appropriately named "Mutant".

This stage of athletic development needs no description. The Mutant Level athlete has successfully proven to him or herself and those around them that the body is capable of much more than the mind believes is possible. For anyone to start as a member candidate (Boot Camp) and progress through each stage to reach the Mutant Level of fitness is an incredible feat of mental fortitude and iron will. Of course the training put on the body has some to do with this achievement as well, but it is at this stage of elite athleticism that the mind learns exactly what the body can do ANYTHING! It is only through union and cohesion between the mind and body that an athlete will reach this level of performance. A little philosophy: the mind is the slave to the body because it is trapped inside of it. There is nowhere the mind can go without the body the body is the prison of the mind until the bodies eventual death. The body is also the slave of the mind because the bodies actions are controlled by the mind. The body is simply a machine and the mind the driver behind the controls of the machine - the actions and movements of the body depend on the thoughts that come from the mind. This constant struggle between the mind and body is the "human condition". We are at constant odds between the body who has no free will yet can move freely in time and space, and the mind who is the commander of choice yet is trapped by the flesh and blood of the body. The only way to end this struggle, this conflict, is to allow the body and the mind to work together for the common good. When the mind makes choices that are good for the body (regular exercise, proper feeding habits, adequate rest and recovery), the body will reward the mind with high performance and longevity (death, after all, is as big a fear to the mind as it is to the body because the mind depends on the living body for EXPERIENCE, the lifeblood of the mind). However, more often than not the choices the mind makes are detrimental to the body - that is the struggle for control. Fast food diets, less than 6 hour of nighttime rest, drinking less than 1/2 gallon of water, little to moderate exercise - these are all examples of bad choices the mind makes for the body and in return the body refuses to perform, gets sick or injured, and dies early.

Now, what does all this have to do with Mutant Level athleticism? It is our contention that only through a union between the mind and body can this level of fitness be achieved. It there exists a struggle between the mind and the body reaching these levels of performance is difficult by definition. The mind and body are using too much energy in the battle for control that any form of training effort is weakened. IT IS CRUCIAL, NECESSARY EVEN, THAT THE MIND AND BODY BE ONE IN ORDER TO REACH THE FINAL LEVEL OF ELITE ATHLETICISM.

To become a Mutant Crossfitter, each of the athletic standards below must be met and verified by a Coach. Good luck.

MUTANT
WORK2 KB/DB clean/jerk: 10 minute test, 100 reps, W- 16 kg, M- 24 kg Sandbag Carry: 1 mile with 3/4 BW 800 meter run: 2:20 minutes 5k row: women- 20:00 6k row: men- 20:00 HIPS Pistols: 25 each leg Squat: 2 x BW Deadlift: 2 1/2 x BW Vertical Jump: 30 inches PUSH Pushups: 60 on rings Bench Press: 1 1/2 x BW Military Press: 1 x BW Handstand Pushups: 10 full range Dip: 1 with 1 x BW Dips: 50 on ringsPULL Rope Climb: 20 ft. climb 2 trips touch and go, no feet Clean: 1 1/2 x BW Pullup: 1 with 1 x BW Pullups: 40 dead hang Muscle Up: 15 CORE Overhead Squat: 15 reps with 1 x BW Back lever: 15 seconds L-sit: 1:30 min. SPEED400 meter run: 1:04 minutes 500 meter row: W- 1:40, M- 1:25 Snatch: 1 1/4 x BW WORK CHALLENGEMary: 15 rounds in 20 minutes 5 handstand pushups, 10 pistols, 15 pullups 1 mile run: 5:00 minutes
***Adopted from Dave Werner at CrossFit Seattle and from CrossFit Human Evolution Labs***