Dear CrossFit, Yes Every Rep Counts, But Some Reps Count More Than Others

So it’s Sunday morning and, like many others, I’ve had a look at the 13.1 leaderboard, both to see how my number stacks up, and to see how the superstars are doing.  A couple months ago I wrote about “firsts”, and about how some percents are different than other percents (e.g., the difference between 0 percent and 1 percent isn’t just 1 percent, it’s infinity).  (here’s the link http://jtkalnaynovels.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/dear-crossfit-the-superpowerdnf-spectrum/) 

The leaderboard is proof of corollary A of this theory.  In my demographic, people who completed 100 reps currently occupy positions 426-891.  That’s 465 people who got 40-30-30 but didn’t get 1 snatch at 135#.  Then, people who completed 101 reps occupy positions 425-385.  That’s 40 people who got 40-30-30-1 and then stopped or ran out of time.  Getting that one more rep at the breaking point made a difference of 465 positions (out of 930 reporting).  At the very top of my demographic, only  8 people are reporting 151+.  By comparison, people who had 115 reps (e.g., me) occupy positions 153-172, and people who had 116 reps occupy positions 142-152.  So, and this comes as no surprise to anyone, reps 101 and 151 count A LOT more than other reps.  On the overall individual women’s leaderboard, there are currently 24,532 reporting.  People with 100 reps occupy positions 23,828-18,439 while people with 101 reps occupy positions 18,438-17,814.  So that one particular rep counts 5,400 spots! 

Yes these numbers are going to change as more people report, but the facts are the facts.  For men, you either have the ability (both mental and physical) to do 40 burpees, 30×75# snatches, 30 more burpees, and THEN a 135# snatch or you don’t.  If you do, you’re in the top half of this demographic.  You either have the ability (both mental and physical) to do 40-30-30-30-20 and THEN a 165# snatch or you don’t.  If you do, you are in the top 10 of this demographic.

So here’s my take aways from all this:

1) The people at CrossFit are fiendishly clever at knowing where the 50% break point is and for knowing where the 1% break point is.  It’s like they’re looking in Wodify or something…

2) When you get the chance, lift heavy.

And,

3) Since muscle ups, double unders, pistols, and HSPU are all coming (things that separate a lot of people including me on the “don’t have yet”), when you get the chance, learn a new skill.

I wonder what tomorrow’s WOD will be…  (and yes I’m starting to wonder what 13.2 will be…)