Was the 2024 CrossFit Quarterfinals Missing a Strength Test?
Since CrossFit launched Quarterfinals in 2021, there has always been at least one workout that could be considered a strength test.
In 2021, it was the four-rep max front squat. In 2022, it was The Other Total — a one-rep max clean, bench press, and overhead squat. Last season (2023), the strength test was the third workout, which included burpee box jump-overs and 15 clean-and-jerks at 275 pounds for men and 185 pounds for women.
Once again, when the workouts were announced this year, one of them looked like it was all about strength: Workout 4.
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Remind me: In Individual Quarterfinals Workout 4, athletes had a 10-minute running clock to do three rounds of 10 clean and jerks with increasing weight, followed by one minute of rest, and then an AMRAP at a fourth, heavier bar with the remaining time.
- The weights started light but increased each round. The final bar required max reps at 245 pounds for the men and 165 for the women.
On paper, at least, Workout 4 looked like a test of strength.
But as the Quarterfinals have wrapped up and we examine the leaderboard, it’s less clear whether Workout 4 was actually about strength.
How it played out: Last year’s CrossFit Games champion, Jeff Adler, was the top men’s scorer with 66 reps. Olivia Kerstetter, with 72 reps, was the best women’s scorer. Dani Speegle followed Kerstetter.
All three of those athletes typically excel at strength workouts, as does Amanda Barnhart, who put up the third-highest score worldwide on the women’s side. So yes, being strong certainly helped on Workout 4.
That said, many athletes who aren’t typically known as strength athletes also performed impressively.
Case in point: CrossFit Games athletes Haley Adams, Emily Rolfe, and Rebecca Fuselier all have historically struggled on strength events. Yet all three held their own on Quarterfinals Workout 4, placing 49th, 86th, 147th, and, respectively.
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While those finishes might not sound that impressive, they are when you consider these athletes’ scores on the strength test in Quarterfinals in the last three years.
- On The Other Total in 2022, Adams finished 273rd, while Fuselier finished 633rd and Rolfe 394th (All three of them competed at the Games that summer).
- Meanwhile, on the four-rep max front squat workout in 2021, Rolfe was 308th in North America alone, Adams 517th, and Fuselier was 555th (CrossFit’s Quarterfinals leaderboard in 2021 only shows regional scores, not worldwide).
- In 2023, Adams didn’t compete, but Rolfe was 337th worldwide on the strength event in Quarterfinals, while Fuselier placed 179th.
The men: It’s a similar tale on the men’s side.
As fit as Patrick Vellner is, he doesn’t typically finish well in strength workouts (although his deadlift is big). He managed 35th place in Workout 4.
- By comparison, Vellner was 158th on The Other Total in 2022 and 133rd in North America on the four-rep max front squat in 2021. In both those years, those workouts were by far his lowest on the leaderboard.
- Lazar Dukic is another example: He placed 72nd on Workout 4 this year. By comparison, he was 225th on The Other Total in 2022 and 184th in Europe in 2021 on the four-rep max front squat.
- The same is true for Cole Greashaber, who finished an impressive 15th on Quarterfinals Workout 4. However, he was 79th in the strength workout last season, 335th in The Other Total in 2022, and 520th in North America on the four-rep max front squat in 2021.
What the coaches are saying: While there’s certainly a component of base strength required for Workout 4, Adler’s coach, Caroline Lambray, suggests it was less about absolute strength and more about strength endurance and speed strength, both of which require a completely different skill set than just being strong.
[Related: Everything You Need to Know About Endurance Training for Strength Athletes]
Though Adler tends to be considered a strength athlete, Lambray said he excels more at strength endurance and speed strength.
- “Clearly, from the Rogue Invitational Deadlift event, Jeff isn’t the strongest. People remember the CrossFit Total from the 2020 CrossFit Games Final, but only five athletes were competing, and people know he can move heavy weights fast. But moving heavy weights fast doesn’t mean he is strong,” she said.
The big picture: There wasn’t an absolute strength test in Quarterfinals this year as we have come to expect.
Ultimately, though, the question becomes: Do we need one? Or might it be better not to have an absolute or pure test of strength in the Quarterfinals?
To succeed at CrossFit, it’s arguably more useful to possess speed strength and strength endurance, as these skills come up more frequently than absolute strength.
- Further, if the purpose of Quarterfinals is to find the best CrossFit athletes to move on, a pure strength test has the potential to hinder athletes who belong at Semifinals. This is especially true with only four scored workouts in a larger field and with only 40 spots available at each Semifinals
In light of all this, as Underdogs Athletics owner Justin Cotler put it, Workout 4 was a “very appropriate Quarterfinals test.”
Featured image: @shaunahartrickphotography / Instagram