I looked back at the last 15 CrossFit open workouts to assess whether or not, per CF’s own definitions and skills, fitness was being tested.

The first thing to note is that the average time cap was 14.53 minutes (range 9-20). This means endurance (oxygen mobilization and fat oxidation) as an isolated and explicitly tested variable is missing entirely.

The contrived definitions made it difficult to judge this fairly. There were only 2 shuttle runs, but defining “speed” as “movement cycles” means that virtually everything “for time” would technically be considered “speed.”

Likewise, “power” defined as “maximum force in minimal time” creates too much overlap with speed. Further, strength in the sense of “applied force” is never really tested — how much do you learn about “maximal force” under strict time limits or with a set of 25 deadlifts or 40 cleans?

My analysis is also quite generous in considering complex movements like burpees and thrusters as “coordination” (“combining several distinct movement patterns”), and burpee-overs or jump-over movements as “agility” (“minimizing transition time from one movement to another”) — though again, the latter is merging towards speed. Additionally, I gave credit to “balance” and “accuracy” for things like bar / ring muscle ups because technically there is “control of movement direction” and “control of placement of center of gravity.”

Virtually all 15 sessions are tests of stamina and power / strength endurance with sprinklings of accuracy, balance, agility, and coordination. There were minimal shuttle runs, one instance of handstand push ups, no handstand walks or balance beams, no jumping to targets, no throwing, no 1RMs, no carries.