A new YouTube video from WOD-Science confirms what many taller CrossFit athletes long suspected: they’re working harder, but often ranking lower despite their best efforts.
Filmed at adidas HQ, researcher Gommaar D’Hulst, PhD tested elite CrossFitters during the Open workout 25.1. Using a small chest sensor, the team captured real time pacing, reps, and most importantly, mechanical power output. Until now, that data was impossible to gather mid WOD.
The Fitness Test
Two male athletes, both elite but differing by around 15 centimetres in height were compared. In the early rounds, both moved at an almost similar pace of 2.0 to 2.1 seconds per rep. However, the taller athlete had to produce significantly more power: 630 watts compared to the shorter athlete’s 570, just to keep up.
As fatigue set in, the taller athlete’s pace slowed dramatically, eventually falling behind by 30 reps. The shorter athlete won the workout, not by sheer effort, but by mechanical efficiency. Shorter levers meant faster cycle times and less energy spent per rep. Longer levers meant longer cycle times due to a larger range of motion.
‘We’re not just guessing anymore,’ D’Hulst says. ‘We can see how height, rep efficiency, and range of motion affect performance in quantifiable terms.’
How Power Output Is Changing the Way We Measure Performance
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The data also showed that during the 15-minute AMRAP, elite male athletes averaged 450 to 500 watts, while females hit 320 to 360 watts. For context, those numbers rival top cyclists in the Giro d’Italia, even with the added complexity of burpees, clean and jerks, and walking lunges.
‘Those elite CrossFit athletes can produce, for the males, 450 to 500 watts during such a cyclical 15-minute AMRAP,’ says D’Hulst. ‘For the women we’re looking at 320 to 360 watts.’ He adds, ‘This would equate to 5.84 watts per kilogram, so almost exactly the same as what is shown in literature [for Giro d’Italia cyclists].’
Burpees over dumbbells generated more average watts than dumbbell movements. Despite being a bodyweight movement, burpees demanded full body explosiveness and sustained output, reaching over 650 watts in sprint rounds.
Even among recreational athletes, size played a key role. In one case, a shorter amateur produced 6 percent less power than his taller counterpart, yet completed nearly 13 percent more reps, simply because his range of motion let him move faster.
Taller athletes often work harder but lose out due to structural inefficiencies in certain workouts, explains the researcher. With the Open programming continuing to shape the sport’s results, these findings could call into question how fair or balanced that programming really is.
More than anything, the study could potentially point to a future where performance in CrossFit is no longer judged just by reps and time, but by data. Work capacity, once theoretical, is now measurable in watts with the new device.
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Kate is a fitness writer for Men’s Health UK where she contributes regular workouts, training tips and nutrition guides. She has a post graduate diploma in Sports Performance Nutrition and before joining Men’s Health she was a nutritionist, fitness writer and personal trainer with over 5k hours coaching on the gym floor. Kate has a keen interest in volunteering for animal shelters and when she isn’t lifting weights in her garden, she can be found walking her rescue dog.