Mar 5 2019
The personality of a CrossFitter
personality

We’ve probably all read humorous articles regarding the different CrossFit personalities we may see in a box:

  • The alpha male that slams weights on the ground and grunts louder than anyone else.
  • The athlete who shaves off the reps just to put up a higher score than their fellow crossfitter.
  • That one athlete who acts like a coach and corrects your squat technique after caving their knees and unbracing their core performing a front squat with an unloaded barbell.

But personality is much more complex. Costa & McCrae (1995) conceptualized it as a construct that encompasses “relatively enduring styles of thinking, feeling and acting”. Personality is revealed by “traits” which have been categorized by many different authors in efforts to define them universally.

How personality affects sports in general

The categorization that is more generally accepted is the one provided by Costa & McCrae (1992), which includes five separate dimensions: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism. The influence of personality has necessarily been investigated in relation to many aspects of an individual’s life, including sports.

Some studies aimed to further explain the relationship between personality traits and performance or adherence to sport, its benefits in terms of health and so on. The body of literature in this regard, revealed that personality can have a strong impact on having a more active or sedentary lifestyle.

Extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness maintain a positive and direct relationship with physical activity, while higher scores in neuroticism were linked to decreased activity levels (Sutin et. al, 2016). Furthermore, conscientious individuals present concerns about being healthy which protects them against physical inactivity (Courneya & Hellsten, 1998).

What about CrossFit?

Sadly enough, personality has yet to be investigated in relation to CrossFit. However, the nature of the sport and studies regarding sport in general allow us to hypothesize. All this, in hopes to give more insight into the personality traits that define us crossfitters.

To do so, I’ll be talking about three particular dimensions I’ve observed in crossfitters: extraversion, agreeability and conscientiousness. Naturally, these affirmations are based on unformal observation from a psychologist who can’t help but analyze others’ behavior in any given setting.

Extraversion

As many may have anticipated, extraversion is more typically seen in individuals that thrive in social settings and seek constant and diverse stimulation. Given their nature, it would appear logical for them to enjoy CrossFit. A box filled with loud music, people running all over the place, screaming, grunting and high-fiving… paradise for an extrovert.

Not to say that introverts are not seen in CrossFit, but they probably need more time to adapt to the madness that ensues in boxes. Therefore, I don’t think introversion is a typical crossfitter trait.

Conscientiousness

As previously mentioned, higher scores in conscientiousness are related to higher activity levels. In contrast, lower scores in this factor can be a risk factor for sedentary behavior. Individuals with low conscientiousness find more barriers to exercising and negate their control over their ability to engage in physical activity.

In CrossFit, it’s common to see individuals from both ends of the continuum. We have athletes who have been active their entire lives and carry out a healthy lifestyle. But we also find success stories from individuals who had seen their sedentary behavior put their health at serious risk and decided to do something about it. Their levels of conscientiousness were not where they needed to be but they, somehow, found their way to CrossFit and changed their lifestyle.

Agreeability

Now, here’s a dimension that really spikes my interest. Agreeability is the ability to be generous, compassionate and sensitive towards others’ needs (Costa y McCrae, 1992). Lower scores in this factor are related to the more competitive and arrogant nature… which is awfully common in crossfitters.

Although CrossFit tries really hard to eliminate egotistic mannerisms in the box, the truth is it’s all over the place. Going Rx or outlifting the guy next to you is secretly motivating for many athletes. It goes without saying that these individuals have zero to no agreeability.

But wait… wasn’t personality “relatively enduring”?

Why yes, indeed. Our personality traits serve as guidelines for our behavior and will be consistent most of the time. However, they can be molded and adapted to certain situations.

  • Introverts may not enjoy mingling with all the athletes in the box but that doesn’t mean they won’t high-five you when you finish the WOD.
  • An overweight athlete with type-2 diabetes may have neglected their health during most of their life but that doesn’t mean they can’t experience the positive impact CrossFit has on their physical well-being and stick with it.
  • The alpha male that needs to outlift every athlete in the box may scale the weights in a team workout so their partner can move the barbell more efficiently.

What I mean is that CrossFit may appeal to certain personality traits but it can also help broaden our ways of thinking, feeling and acting.    



Costa, PT., Jr, McCrae, RR. (1992) Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.

Costa Jr, P. T., McCrae, R. R., & Kay, G. G. (1995). Persons, places, and personality: Career assessment using the Revised NEO Personality Inventory. Journal of Career Assessment, 3(2), 123-139.

Courneya KS, Hellsten LAM (1998) Personality correlates of exercise behavior, motives, barriers and preferences: An application of the five-factor model. Personality and Individual Differences; 24:625–633.

Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., Artese, A., Oshio, A., & Terracciano, A. (2016). The five-factor model of personality and physical inactivity: A meta-analysis of 16 samples. Journal of Research in Personality, 63, 22-28.

Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments
Jan 30 2019
Locus of control in CrossFit: external or internal?
external locus of control
James Newbury at the Australian CrossFit Championship. Source: Instagram of Australian CrossFit Championship.

We all love ourselves a good black and white kind of dichotomy. Regardless of the content, as humans we need to find someone to blame for the events that surround us. For survival purposes, it has proven its worth time and time again. Finding the causes of certain situations provides useful information.

In this sense, there is a certain tendency when it comes to defining our perceived control. Some people may tend towards externalizing control while others may consider that events depend entirely on their actions. So, we will either be placing control in our environment or in ourselves.

Julian Rotter (1966) described this construct as “locus of control”. It could be internal or external. All of us, to some extent, either assume responsibility for situations or we give that role to the environment.

How can locus of control influence sport?

In one particular study, Jambor and Rudisill (1992) came across an interesting finding. Athletes with external locus of control usually preferred group sports. On the other hand, athletes who had shown internal locus of control, went for individual sports.

For athletes with external locus of control, success in any sport will be considered a result of luck, coincidence, high performance of their teammates or poor performance of their rivals. In contrast, athletes who perceive more control of the situation, will explain their success as a direct consequence of their training methodology, nutrition or personal effort.

You may be thinking that internal locus of control is best at predicting high performance in sports but that all depends on the modality and particular situations. In teams, athletes who internalize control depends on their teammate completing their portion of the workout to advance. This may increase levels of impatience and frustration. Individual athletes with external locus of control may blame their judge for continuous no-reps resulting in hindered performance. Thing is: every situation will demand its own attribution and it’s important to learn the difference.

“If it’s something I don’t have control over, I have to just accept whatever happens”

– Mat Fraser in an interview with Craig Richey

In a recent interview, Mat Fraser talked about using to-do lists on a regular basis. He explains that he only writes down things that are under his control and what he’s going to do to control it. Anything that falls outside of that category, doesn’t make the list. He just accepts those consequences, whatever they may be.

If I succeed, it’s on me; if I don’t…it’s on everyone else

There’s nothing essentially wrong with this tendency in attributions. We’re just protecting our self-worth by deflecting responsibility in failure. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to catch ourselves negating our control over certain situations. Before pointing fingers, figure out if you’re giving yourself credit when it’s due.

Outside in

If a judge is no-repping the crap out of you, don’t wait til the end of the event to get all passive-aggressive and post your sad story on Instagram. Own your responsibility. Maybe you weren’t getting below parallel on the squat or you weren’t locking out those elbows on the muscle-up.

This is a very common situation with top-level CrossFit athletes. Jeff Evans, Brooke Ence, Mat Fraser, etc… have all had their issues with judges at certain points. Sometimes they were right. Sometimes they weren’t. Here’s somebody who’s never had that problem: Rich Froning. Deliberately completes range of motion for every rep to leave no doubt and decrease the chances of being no-repped. Hence, assuming control of his responsibility as an athlete.

external locus of control
Emily Bridgers (left), Lauren Fisher (center) and Chyna Cho (right). Source: Wodapalooza

Inside out

If you’re going team and you’re in the midst of a heated relay, you may get nervous when it comes down to your last athlete. Maybe they’re not going as fast as you’d like them to, but you can’t change that. Your score depends on their performance, it’s on them at this point. All you can do is cheer them on to fuel the fire.

Many of these “super teams” that are showing up at the Games prove that they’re no more than “sum of individuals” instead of cohesive group. Team communication and knowing your teammates, head-to-toe, is neglected in many cases. This leads to failed no-reps in synchro events and just flat-out frustration.

Sure, locus of control depends on our personality type but it’s still “relatively stable”, meaning it’s not set in stone. You can learn to change the focus. In my experience, I’ve slowly learned to stop blaming others (judges, coaches, teammates) of my own personal faults. People will do their job as best they can and all I can do is care to my own. That applies to just about everything. Give responsibility to whoever owns it and you’ll see the benefits in performance. Not only when you win, but also when you need to cope with failure. 

García, H. G., Muñoz, A.
P., & Crespo, J. L. C. (2017). Relación entre locus de control, ira y
rendimiento deportivo en jugadores de tenis de mesa. Cultura, ciencia y deporte: revista de
ciencias de la actividad física y del deporte de la Universidad Católica de San
Antonio, (35), 117-125.
Rotter, J. (1966).
Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.
Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1-28. 
Jambor, E. A., &
Rudisill, M. E. (1992). The relationship between children´s locus of control
and sport choices. Journal of Human Movement
studies, 22, 35-48.
Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments
Jan 23 2019
How goal-setting can improve your performance
smart goals

When we decide to embark on any kind of journey, it’s important to start on a good note. This will set the tone for success or failure. However, it’s quite common to have obstacles appear on the way. These can make us doubt our ability to carry on, stopping us in our tracks. They can even make us abandon our route.

There’s an invaluable weapon that helps us to stay on our path: goal-setting. It’s not as much a personal belief but a concept that is pretty grounded in the literature. Setting smart goals benefits personal achievements and satisfaction along the way.

Note: We’ll be focusing on sports in this article, but goal-setting is applicable to any area.

Pros of goal-setting

1.  Keeps track of personal progress

Who hasn’t felt like throwing the jump rope out the window after failing for the hundredth time doing double unders? When we’re pursuing a goal, there are many moments where we feel helpless. We feel like we’re stuck in the hole and going nowhere fast.

A good way to diminish this feeling is through goal-setting. Well set, they allow us to take little steps forward when learning complex movements. Dissect the movement into its simpler parts. Perfect the basics and then slowly advance from there.

2. Gives me a sense of control

For the majority of us regular Joes, CrossFit is a sport that is quite the adventure. When you first hear about RM percentages, snatches, handstand pushups and other shenanigans, you feel pretty lost. Once you start growing in the sport, you start dominating the jargon and the movements.

That’s when a good coach will slowly start lifting your safety net so you can experiment on your own (during Open Box for example). Once we reach this point, we already know what we need to improve and how to do it: mini-goals. Setting goals based on needs you’ve detected yourself will give you an unmatched sense of realization.

3. Makes me fall in love with the process

When my mom started CrossFit she was unable to jump to a 5 kg plate. Any kind of jumping frightened her. Naturally, we decided to progressively work on jumping. First, it was lunges. Then, stepping on plates. Until one day, she personally decided to take a chance and just jump. That same day, not only did she clear the 5 kg plate, but also jumped on the plate with another 10 kg plate beneath it.

The most addictive part of goal-setting and achievements is learning that it is a never-ending journey. Once you walk through a door, you discover there are a million others just waiting. But you know you’re able to reach your goals, so you’re not scared of facing the challenge.

3 characteristics of proper goal-setting

So we’ve established that goals are the key to success and perseverance. But, as ever, there is a proper way to do it. I’m going to give you the characteristics of good goals.

  • Realistic. If you don’t have a strict pull-up, it makes no sense to set the goal of doing butterfly pull-ups. Start from the beginning!
  • Measurable. “Going all out” doesn’t do a great job as a goal. “Finishing top 3 in today’s WOD” or “Improving my time in Grace”, covers a lot more ground and allows you to know if you really did it or not.
  • Time-based. Goals must be set on short, mid and long term. Strict pull-ups may be a short-term goal; kipping pull-ups can be a mid-term goal; and butterfly pull-ups may be the long-term goal.

These two for good luck…

  • Put them somewhere you can see them. I have my personal goals on my wall to remember where I’m going, lest I forget and deviate from my path.
  • Scratch the ones you’ve reached but don’t erase them! This one has worked wonders for me. At first, I used to type them into a computer. I lost record of some of the goals I reached because I would erase them and substitute them with new ones. Since I couldn’t see them anymore, all I saw was things I hadn’t done yet and that became pretty frustrating.

Remember…it’s a tool that comes in handy for everybody

smart goals

Athletes like Mat Fraser or Ben Smith (current and former champions the CrossFit Games) are known to resort to goal-setting to plan their training. Fraser talks about goals that are “yes or not”, with no opinion in it. That way he can be sure if he achieved the goal or not. Ben Smith started CrossFit in his garage and had a paper on the wall where he would write his goals and track his progress… all the way up to becoming the athlete with more consecutive appearances at the CrossFit Games.

Although these are the most talented athletes on the face of the Earth, we all start on step one. Plan your journey and enjoy the ride!

Desiree Mejia-Naranjo 0 Comments