Whenever someone asks me who’s the greatest CrossFit athlete of all time only one name comes to mind: Rich Froning.
Tia-Clair Toomey and Mat Fraser both make arguable cases for holding that top spot in history. Both are extremely dominant and have been so for the last 4 years. They’ve never placed lower than second and they don’t just win the CrossFit Games, they decimate the field.
So why not them? Here’s why:
Froning is the ultimate competitor
The impressive thing about Froning is that he didn’t only crush Individual competition, but he’s also doing it at a team level. Since 2015 he’s earned four gold medals and a silver medal. He literally copy-pasted his individual accolades into the team competition. Only the best CrossFit athlete can do such a thing.
Nobody has more medals than he does. And I don’t know if he has it in mind but wouldn’t it be awesome for him to compete as a Master when his time comes and become the only athlete with gold medals in the Individual, Team and Masters Division?
Rich if you’re reading this… just saying.
He makes competition better.
Source: CrossFit
He did it as an individual and he’s doing it again. He puts the target on his back and sets the standard for other competitors. Or why do you think so many superteams showed up all of a sudden? Top-notch individual athletes started turning their sights towards Team competition the year Froning got in the mix. Because competition got tougher – meaning the challenge is more motivating – and because everybody wants to beat Rich.
You wanna dethrone Mayhem? You better train like a jackass. You better have no holes in your fitness. You better bring your A-game to Madison. Just like Wasatch did in 2017.
Oh and that silver medal proves that Froning hasn’t gone soft because Mayhem Freedom is on a whole different level since they missed standing on top of that podium.
Excellent programmer
Here’s the kicker for me. Both Fraser and Toomey leave their programming in someone else’s hands. Obviously they execute their training sessions at a ridiculous level of excellency and their results can show for that.
My boy Froning designs his own programming. As an Exercise Science graduate he has the knowledge. But he also has some sense of intuition when it comes to programming. For years on end he’s known how to tackle all areas of fitness, all energy systems in order to produce outstanding results. Granted he neglected running and swimming for a few years, but those chinks on his armor didn’t take away any medals.
And he’s not only designed effective programming for himself but also athletes at his affiliate and team members. He’s had Games’ athletes, regional athletes and affiliate members on his team…and they’ve stood on that podium every year they’ve competed at the highest level.
He’s a killer strategist
He must be onto something because individual and teams are two whole different ball games and he’s still holding a consistent success rate. Picking the right athletes to go, how to break up the sets, … it changes in that kind of setting. And I might be going out on a limb here but it would seem to me that Froning is the one in charge of all the little details.
Mayhem Freedom has a very froningesque approach to workouts: they sneak up on you when you least expect it. If that isn’t the work of the Champ then I don’t know…
A die-hard fan of the sport
Source: CrossFit
My favorite thing about him is that it’s obvious he loves CrossFit to death. He’s being doing it since 2010, he runs a successful affiliate and I can honestly picture him doing CrossFit 20 years from now.
He’s relatable in the sense that if he weren’t good enough to be competing, he’d still do CrossFit and coach classes. I feel like he’s the major ambassador of the sport and will be for as long as it exists.
Because of all of the above, I truly believe he’s the best CrossFit athlete in history. Of course it’s only an opinion and it’s just as valid as any.
Ahora que ya hemos sentado algunos principios básicos de las emociones en el anterior post podemos indagar un poco más sobre las emociones en el CrossFit. El objetivo que perseguimos ahora es el de determinar el impacto que tiene una emoción específica sobre el rendimiento para poder usar ese conocimiento en nuestro favor.
Analizar la relación entre las emociones y el rendimiento deportivo es complejo. Generalmente, nos encontramos ante tres obstáculos (Robazza, Pellizzari y Hanin, 2004):
Identificación de estados emocionales relacionados con casos de éxito o fracaso deportivo. Poner nombre y apellido al estado afectivo de un atleta en plena competición presenta un gran desafío. Dada la naturaleza cambiante de las emociones, normalmente se experimentan como un todo entremezclado y borroso. Esto dificulta enormemente un análisis preciso.
Comprensión de las relaciones entre emociones y rendimiento. La dinámica de la emoción humana es muy activa e interactúa continuamente con nuestro comportamiento. A menudo es complicado determinar quién vino primero (si el éxito o la emoción).
Elección de las técnicas adecuadas para la auto-regulación. Cada caso exige una exhaustiva recopilación de información en sesiones de entrenamiento, eventos competitivos relevantes y competiciones menores. Todo ello permitirá poner a prueba distintas técnicas por ensayo-error hasta dar con la mejor para cada uno.
Pese a todo, hay autores que se aventuran a postular teorías de emoción aplicadas al rendimiento deportivo. En este artículo vamos a centrarnos en la teoría Cognitiva-Motivacional-Relacional de Lazarus y la teoría de las Zonas Individuales de Rendimiento Óptimo de Hanin.
Teoría Cognitiva-Motivacional-Relacional
No se puede hablar de emociones sin mencionar a Richard Lazarus así que volvemos a hablar de la teoría CMR. Más concretamente sus «temas relacionales nucleares» y cómo estos se manifiestan en el contexto del rendimiento deportivo. Los temas relacionales nucleares «resumen la relación que mantiene el individuo con su entorno según algún tipo particular de daño o beneficio» (Smith y Lazarus, 1991).
Cada emoción tiene su tema relacional nuclear y nunca debe considerarse fuera de un proceso de evaluación. Para comprender la función de una emoción para una persona en respuesta a una situación específica, debemos tomar en consideración el contenido de la evaluación. Lo que para unos puede considerarse un daño, otros pueden entenderlo como un beneficio.
Por ejemplo: un atleta A puede considerar quedar último en un WOD como dañino para su autoestima mientras que un atleta B puede entender este mismo hecho como una oportunidad para detectar un defecto en su estado físico que está truncando su mejora. En lo sucesivo, el A quizá rehuya WODs metabólicos para evitar el daño mientras que el B puede practicar con más frecuencia para eliminar este defecto (beneficio). Como vemos, las emociones en CrossFit no sólo determinan un WOD sino nuestro progreso a medio y largo plazo.
Pese a que Lazarus incluyó otras emociones como la culpa y la esperanza, las dos emociones que han recibido más validación científica son la ira y ansiedad.
Ira
En los 2014 CrossFit Games, Rich Froning fracasó terriblemente en el Triple 3 y en el evento con los trineos lo que le retiró del último heat (cosa que no le ocurría desde 2010). Según él mismo, estaba «un poco enfadado» y esta emoción lo arrastró hasta el siguiente evento. Ganó el complex 21-15-9 con un tiempo que nadie pudo mejorar, mostrando una estrategia más agresiva de lo que era habitual en él.
Este ejemplo apoya la aseveración de Lazarus de que el tema relacional nuclear de la ira conlleva un «poderoso impulso para contraatacar en aras de vengarse por una afrenta or reparar un autoestima herido». Aplicado al deporte, se sostiene que una habilidad física que exija una exhibición de más fuerza, intensidad y energía general se verá favorecida por la ira.
Es como los powerlifters que se dan golpes en la cara o gritan antes de levantar algo muy pesado; buscan un estado de activación mayor para incrementar temporalmente sus niveles de fuerza.
Ansiedad
La ansiedad competitiva la hemos visto en profundidad en otro post y naturalmente aparece también en la teoría CMR. Esta emoción no puede ser desdeñada cuando describimos el afecto negativo y su impacto en el rendimiento deportivo. La función adaptativa de esta emoción es la de evitar un potencial daño (Smith y Lazarus, 1991). De modo que un atleta que perciba un daño potencial o real responderá con ansiedad.
En el contexto competitivo, la amenaza es «real» en tanto que rendir por debajo de nuestra expectativa es algo que genera miedo en atletas a todos los niveles. Por tanto no podemos decir que la ansiedad sea desajustada en esta situación. Sin embargo, debe mantenerse dentro de un umbral de intensidad que sirva para potenciar el rendimiento.
Estar «en la zona»
Becca Voigt: conocida por estar «en la zona» antes de competir.
La teoría IZOF de las zonas óptimas de rendimiento individual establece que un individuo rendirá mejor cuando se encuentre dentro de su rango emocional de preferencia (Robazza et. al, 2004). Se consideran 5 dimensiones básicas (forma, contenido, intensidad, tiempo y contexto) las cuales se usan para describir individualmente la estructura óptima y disfuncional de experiencias emocionales relacionadas con el rendimiento.
Contenido: contenido emocional – tanto óptimo como disfuncional – descrito por marcadores idiosincráticos de cada individuo. Esto es fácil: pregúntale a la persona que tienes más a mano qué es la tristeza y ahora responde tú. ¿Habéis dicho lo mismo?
Intensidad: cada atleta tiene una intensidad emocional óptima (alta, moderada o baja). Si miramos a Fraser antes de salir a pista o a Cody Anderson, vemos que sus intensidades distan considerablemente.
Contexto: el contenido emocional y la intensidad varían en entrenos o competiciones e incluso antes, durante o después de situaciones de rendimiento. No es lo mismo calentar para hacer el WOD con los de tu box que hacerlo para el 19.1. Las emociones en CrossFit están a la orden del día y dependen de cada circunstancia.
Si tenemos bien detalladas cada una de estas dimensiones, el camino hacia la zona óptima está más que pavimentado. Ahora bien, poner pie en la zona óptima antes de un evento no nos garantiza que nos mantengamos ahí para todo el evento. Huelga recordar que existe una influencia bidireccional entre el rendimiento y la emoción que ocurre antes, durante y después de competir. Para mejorar el rendimiento es necesario aprender a:
Incrementar conciencia y aceptación del contenido e intensidades emocionales así como respuestas fisiológicas asociadas.
Mejorar las habilidades psicológicas para recuperar emociones y sintomatología asociada a un mejor rendimiento, para elevar o disminuir sus niveles (según cada caso).
Lo que me gusta de esta teoría en particular es que, en esencia, depende de la conciencia sobre uno mismo. Aprender a identificar nuestros estados emocionales es el primer paso hacia la excelencia en todo aspecto vital.
Como ya he dicho en otras ocasiones, las emociones dan sentido e intensidad a eventos vitales. Es lo más cerca que estaremos nunca de tener superpoderes. Incrementar nuestros niveles de energía para liberar más adrenalina nos llevará a un mejor rendimiento en CrossFit. Durarás más, levantarás más y aguantarás mejor el dolor.
¿Qué teoría está más próxima a la realidad? Quizá nunca lo sepamos. Pero ten por seguro que las emociones en CrossFit ayudan a sumar ese 1% extra que puede marcar la diferencia entre la victoria o la derrota.
Now that we’ve settled the basics of emotions in CrossFit in the previous post we can dig a little deeper. The goal now is to determine the impact exerted by specific emotions and how we can use certain moods in our favor.
Studying the relationship between emotions and sport performance is complex. Generally, we face face three issues (Robazza, Pellizzari & Hanin, 2004):
Identifying emotional states related to individually successful and poor performances. Analyzing emotional state of an athlete in the middle of competition presents a difficult challenge in itself. Given the nature of emotion, these are usually all mixed up and blurred so obtaining precise information is quite impossible.
Understanding emotion–performance relationships. The dynamics of human emotion are ever-changing and so is its influence on performance. It’s often hard to determine which came first: success or the emotion.
Selecting relevant techniques of self-regulation. Choosing the right techniques for each case require a solid amount of information across training sessions, major events, minor competitions and so on.
However, there are several theories that venture into the intricate world of emotion applied to sport performance. We’ll be covering two of them: the CMR theory and the IZOF theory.
CMR theory
We can’t talk about emotion without Lazarus so obviously one proposal has to do with his Cognitive-motivational-relational theory. More specifically, the core relational themes and how they manifest in the context of elite-level sport. Core relational themes «summarize the person’s relationship to the environment in terms of a particular type of harm or benefit» (Smith & Lazarus, 1991).
Each emotion has its core relational theme and it should never be detached from appraisal processes. In order to understand the function of an emotion for an individual in response to a particular situation, it is paramount that we consider the appraisal content. What one may consider harmful, others may consider beneficial.
For example: athlete A can consider coming in last in a running WOD as harmful for their self-esteem while athlete B can take this same situation as an opportunity to detect a flaw in their fitness that’s blunting their improvement. In the future, athlete A may neglect running to avoid damage to self while athlete B may practice running more often to turn his weakness into a strength. As you can see, emotions in CrossFit can also influence our long-term progress.
Although Lazarus considered other emotions such as guilt and hope, the two emotions that have received more scientific validation are anger and anxiety.
Anger
In the 2014 CrossFit Games Rich Froning did poorly on the Triple 3 and the sled pushes which lead to him being removed from the final heat (which hadn’t happened to him since 2010). He claimed he «was a little angry» and this emotion fired him up for the following event. He went on to win 21-15-9 complex in dominant fashion, entering full-attack mode which is something rarely seen in Froning.
It’s also seen in powerlifters who slap their faces or scream before lifting something real heavy; they’re looking to boost their activation in order to temporarily increase their strength.
These examples support Lazarus’ claim that core relational theme for anger calls for «a powerful impulse to counterattack in order to gain revenge for an affront or repair a wounded self-esteem». When applied to sports, it has been argued that a physical skill that demands «lashing out» will be heavily enhanced by anger.
Anxiety
Anxiety has been tackled in another post and also in CMR theory. This emotion cannot be neglected when describing negative affect and its influence on sport performance. Adaptive function for this emotion is to avoid potential harm (Smith & Lazarus, 1991). So the athlete will perceive a potential or real threat and respond with anxiety.
In the context of competition, the threat is «real» in the sense that failing to meet a certain standard is something feared by elite-level athletes or even amateur. So we can’t really say anxiety is uncalled for in this situation. However, it must be kept at a level where it doesn’t impair performance but rather impulses it.
Being «in the zone»
Becca Voigt: known for getting «in the zone» prior to competitive events.
The IZOF theory – Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning – states that individuals will perform better when they are in their preferred emotional range (Robazza et. al, 2004). Five basic dimensions (form, content, intensity, time, and context) are used to describe individually optimal and dysfunctional structure and dynamics of performance-related emotional experiences.
Content: individually optimal and dysfunctional emotion content described by athlete-generated idiosyncratic markers. This is easy to confirm: ask the person closest to you what sadness is and then answer the same question: did you say the same thing?
Intensity: each athlete has individually optimal emotion intensity (high, moderate or low). If we observe Fraser or Cody Anderson before stepping out onto the floor we can see their emotional intensities are completely opposite.
Context: idiosyncratic emotion content and intensity are different in practices and competitions and vary across pre-, mid-, and post-event performance situations. Warming up for a random WOD at your box is not the same as warming up for 19.1 Emotions in CrossFit are in constant change and depend on the circumstances.
Getting into the optimal zone pre-event does not guarantee that athletes will stay in the zone until the task is completed. Lest we forget there is a bi-directional influence between performance and emotion that occurs before, mid-event and after. To enhance performance it is necessary that an athlete is: aware of his or her optimal and dysfunctional zones; able to distinguish optimal from less than optimal states; and able to enter and stay in the optimal zone during performance. (Robazza et. al, 2004)
If we work on all dimensions, the road to the zone becomes a solid one. However, setting foot on the optimal zone prior to an event doesn’t guarantee you’ll stay there for the duration of the event. Keep in mind there is a bidirectional interaction betwen performance and emotion that happens at all stages of competition. Therefore, if you seek to enhance performance you must learn to:
Increase awareness and acceptance of content (facilitating-inhibiting, pleasant-unpleasant) and intensities of emotions and bodily symptoms
Improve psychological skills to recover emotions and symptoms associated with best performance, and to either increase or decrease their levels.
What I like about this particular theory is that essentially it relies on awareness. Learning to identify our emotional states is the first step towards excellence in any aspect of our lives.
As I’ve said before, emotions fire us up and give meaning and intensity to life events. It’s the closest thing we’ve got to having superpowers. Increasing our energy levels to where we increase liberate more adrenaline will necessarily lead to better performance in CrossFit. You’ll last longer, you’ll lift heavier and you’ll endure pain more easily.
Which theory is closest to the truth? We may never know. But rest assured that your emotions will help bring that extra 1% that can make a difference between victory and defeat.
Robazza, C., Pellizzari, M., & Hanin, Y. (2004). Emotion self-regulation and athletic performance: An application of the IZOF model. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 5(4), 379-404.
Uphill, M. A., & Jones, M. V. (2007). Antecedents of emotions in elite athletes: A cognitive motivational relational theory perspective. Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 78(2), 79-89.
Woodman, T., Davis, P. A., Hardy, L., Callow, N., Glasscock, I., & Yuill-Proctor, J. (2009). Emotions and sport performance: An exploration of happiness, hope, and anger. Journal of sport and exercise psychology, 31(2), 169-188.
