Well said! We have found common ground.

You are absolutely right that an athlete who is using CrossFit just to be better at their sport should not focus primarily on CrossFit. However, at NO POINT in any of our points was the contention that CrossFit should be said athletes focus made. I never said it, and neither of you said it. What I am saying is that in the purely physical realm, there is no way that a faster “Fran” is going to make you worse at your sport. If you have to divert attention from that sport to get the sub 3 “Fran,” then sure, the effect may be negative. But it is entirely possible to get a sub 3 “Fran” without CrossFit being your focus, especially with a serious athlete who trains hard and eats right.

Dutch, about the idea of a WOD not carrying over to sport: This is definitely a possibility, and it’s why programs like CF Football exist. I wouldn’t have a lineman doing “Cindy,” (maybe a 1/2 “Cindy” on a lifting day. But like you said, “Fran” is a bit of a stretch, because that extremely short duration/high power capacity carries over directly to pretty much everything (it probably carries over to endurance sports indirectly, though I don’t know enough about them to say for sure.)

I think we need to take a step back and first establish the reason for doing crossfit. If you want to be competitive in Crossfit then that is your sport and you should focus on your development as a crossfitter. I am still unsure how i feel about crossfit as a sport but that is beside the point. If you have another specialty, Crossfit should be your conditioning program.

If crossfit is your conditioning program for a different sport then there is no need t specialize in CF. I actually think that may decrease your sport fitness and make you less prepared as Marshall was saying. It would be nice to have a sub 3 min fran but as marshall was saying it will take time and effort from your sport practice. Also what if fran doesn’t relate very well to your sport(this may be a stretch maybe something more like cindy)?

Bottom line, and this goes back to the original post, is you have to know what your performance is to improve it. If that sport is crossfit we need broad general fitness. If you sport is handball you need to be ready for up to 2 minutes of work with a brief rest then be ready to go again. You need to be explosive and fluid in your movements. Crossfit is a good fitness program but once it becomes your sport you rob yourself of some of that explosive power and may lose the ability to practice those more technical movements especially when you have the 2 day fran feeling. Ya know when it still hurts to walk and drive…

I am saying that the athlete that uses crossfit as their method to train for sport can have that 5 minute fran and be happy with it and know that he/she can perform at an elite level.

The sport I play is handball. I played four years in college. My best fran time was 3:51. The worst handball I played was when I was my best at crossfit. Worrying about crossfit interfered with my handball practice. In order to get that sub 3 fran I would have to make crossfit my sport. I picked handball. I, yes “intentionally decreased work capacity across broad time and modal domains” to make myself less sore and be able to recover quicker for my sport.

Yes, this is my opinion and if it hurts your feelings, I am sorry. I still think that a sub 3 fran can make some players worse at their sport!

“I will correlate this to basketball. There comes a point in the fourth quarter where the star player is drained. The score is tied and he must make that buzzer beater to win the game. I would want him to be calm and make every movement perfect and make the shot as opposed to rushing the shot and missing. Being in the mindset of the sub 3 fran, the star may miss the shot due to being frantic when the pressure is high.”

With this statement, you’re making the assumption that the athlete cannot operate in different mind sets based on the activity in which he is participating. I don’t have the same mind set when I do “Fran” that I do when I do “Cindy,” nor when I do Olympic lifts. I certainly don’t have the same mind set that I have during “Fran” when I’m grappling, kickboxing, or playing rugby. If you have athletes who cannot differentiate between those activities in their expressed intensity, I think that is an entirely different issue which will not be solved by intentionally decreasing said athletes work capacity across broad time and modal domains.

As a fellow affiliate owner I will explain.

Boosie Girl, good luck with your knitting.

I am talking about a specific example of athlete, no sport in particular. An athlete who relies on touch and placement is who I am talking about. Also, the difference between a 5 minute fran and a 3 minute fran will be explained. If you must have one example, here are three. Basketball, soccer, and handball are all sports where a sub 3 minute fran could hurt the finness player.

Getting yourself to do a sub 3 fran takes a different mind set. A mind set which requires the athlete to force through the workout, almost blackout, and lay shaking for at least thirty minutes. A 5 minute fran is different. The athlete focuses on every movement, making it perfect, still shakes a little after completion, but can recover faster.

I will correlate this to basketball. There comes a point in the fourth quarter where the star player is drained. The score is tied and he must make that buzzer beater to win the game. I would want him to be calm and make every movement perfect and make the shot as opposed to rushing the shot and missing. Being in the mindset of the sub 3 fran, the star may miss the shot due to being frantic when the pressure is high.

The 5 minute fran allows the athlete to be in good enough shape to outlast most and still be in a relaxed mindset to make that last second shot.

I will agree that some athletes with their style of play, and particular sport the sub 3 fran will help them. I want the sub 3 fran in a power forward, who needs to set picks, and fight down low, but not in my finness player who needs touch to make that last second shot.

I’m not as eloquent a writer as you, but this is my .02.