"What Is Fitness?" Part 6: Definition

ByCrossFit October 11, 2021

CrossFit’s definition of fitness is work capacity across broad time and modal domains.

“What the heck does that mean?” asks Seminar Staff Head Trainer Jenn Hunter-Marshall during a lecture presented at a Level 1 Certificate Course at CrossFit South Philly in 2021.

“Can you run? Can you punch? Can you jump? How far; how fast?” she continues. “And we can graphically represent that.”

On the X axis, we have time; on the Y axis, power. Activities are plotted on the graph according to the power and time an athlete requires to complete them. Connect the averages of all those plot points and you get a curve.

The area under the curve? Work capacity — and the goal is to increase it.

“That’s why it’s important to work on your weaknesses, right? Because that’s gonna raise up our total area under the curve.”

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