Strength training has a significant role in improving sport performance in almost every competitive sport and CrossFit isn’t different here. Very often the classic strength training exercises, or their variations, are a part of a CrossFit competition. Therefore, high level of absolute strength and technical mastery of strength training exercises and Olympic lifts are necessities to competitive CrossFit athletes. Strength is also one of Greg Glassman’s ten foundational fitness domains, which makes strength training relevant to a non-competitive CrossFitter too.

WODconnect has terabytes of data from thousands of users recording their training and personal bests in WODconnect service. This vast userbase represents your average CrossFitter. How does the average CrossFitter compare to top Finnish CrossFit-athletes which competed in Winter War 2019 (WW)? What about Sanctional level athletes? How do you compare to all of them?

Absolute strength levels between average CrossFitters and WW-athletes

Strength numbers of WW-athletes (scaled division not included) are their self-reported best results taken from their athlete profiles (https://www.cfwinterwar.com/kilpailijat/). Corresponding best results were picked from WODconnect user profiles.

Absolute strength (kg)

Based on this data we can see that the strength gap between competitive athletes and average CrossFitters is a lot bigger in men than women. For example, a competitive male athlete back squats 50,1 % more than average male CrossFitter, but the difference is only 18,1 % in women. In snatch, male competitors lift almost double (86,8 %) the amount your average Joe does. Female competitors best the average female counterparts in snatch by more modest 41,7 %. Interestingly, an average competitive female athlete lifts more weight in Olympic lifts than average male CrossFitter, although males can lift heavier weights in back squat and deadlift. This might indicate that competitive athletes have greater technical prowess in Olympic lifts.

Olympic lifts relative to back squat between average CrossFitters and WW-athletes

It’s obvious that you have more potential to lift heavy weights in Olympic lifts, if you squat 150 kg compared to 100 kg. What is the potential then for a given squat number? We can start by looking at the ratios between the populations we have.

Ratio of two lifts (kg/kg)

Male and female competitive athletes have very similar ratios in both lifts. Average CrossFitters have lower numbers on both lifts so there is some unused potential there! Data gathered in the late 1970s from Soviet weightlifters showed that their jerk/back squat -ratio was about 0,76. Based on this old data we could say that competitive athletes have used their strength potential quite well in the jerk.

Absolute strength levels between Sanctional level athletes and WW-athletes

Olympic lifts are sometimes tested in competitions and this is a great opportunity to compare different athletes. Snatch was tested earlier this year in one of the Sanctional competitions, Strength in Depth (SID), and both Olympic lifts were tested in another Sanctional competition, Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Challenge (MACC). Luckily, clean and jerk was tested for Finnish athletes too in WW earlier this year. A somewhat valid comparison can be made in clean and jerk since it was tested during competition in WW and MACC. Snatch results for Finns are self-reported best values from training which should be factored in when drawing conclusions.

Absolute strength (kg)

In clean and jerk, Sanctional level athletes are 14,5 % and 13,8 % stronger in men and women, respectively. The difference is smaller in snatch, 7,3 % in men and 5,9 % in women. Smaller differences in snatch might be due to self-reported values that represent all-time best lifts rather than best lifts during competition.

Snatch/jerk -ratio between CrossFitters and weightlifters

Lastly, we’re going to compare the snatch/jerk -ratio between different CrossFit-populations and best weightlifters in Europe. It might be more usual to have difficulties in snatch since it’s more technical lift and requires more mobility than clean and jerk. Calculating the ratio between the two lifts might give you an idea which lift needs more work. The ratios for best European weightlifters were calculated by taking the winners from all weight classes from 2019 European Weightlifting Championships (EWC 2019) and averaging their ratio.

Snatch/jerk -ratio (kg/kg)

The ratios of 0,81 and 0,82 for best European weightlifters are numbers that would fit well within optimal ranges found by weightlifting coaches. Best Finnish CrossFit-athletes and Sanctional level athletes both have very similar ratios compared to elite weightlifters. Average female CrossFitters also reach the same ratio while males come short by having ratio of 0,72. One reason for lower snatch/jerk -ratio in average male CrossFitters could be poor overhead squat mobility. This could prevent doing snatches to deep overhead squat and reducing the amount of weight lifted.

If you want to learn more about your own lift ratios, head to http://www.olylifts.co/. It’s a calculator which gives you some ideal lifting numbers based on your back squat performance. All these ratios we touched on are averages and rarely one individual fall perfectly in the middle on all lifts. Some deviation from the mean should be expected and you shouldn’t get stuck chasing those average ratios.