The Top 5 Crossfit Athletes You Should Be Watching

You have probably heard of Crossfit, one of the most popular fitness programs in the world. What you may not know is that Crossfit has become a sport in its own right. The idea of a fitness competition is so obvious that it’s a wonder no one thought of it before now. With a workout like Crossfit, which is designed to push the limits of human performance, it’s only natural that competition would evolve.

In this article, we will be taking a look at five of the most prominent Crossfit athletes. All of these people are in top shape and have either won previous competitions or come close enough to warrant our attention. If you choose to watch this event, we recommend that you keep your eye on these five athletes.

The Athletes You Should Be Watching

Here are our top five athletes to watch in the coming year, in no particular order:

1. Mat Fraser

It is almost mandatory that we start with Ben Fraser, who has won more Crossfit competitions than anyone. No, we didn’t misspell his name; he’s just so serious about fitness that he prefers to be called “mat.” After grabbing second place in 2014 and again in 2015, Fraser took the top spot at the 2016 games. It goes without saying that he is the man everyone wants to beat.

Fraser won again in 2017 and 2018. You can probably guess that he is the favorite to win again next time. According to the champ, he changed his diet plan after getting second in his first two championships. He attributes his success with this dietary change, so that’s a good example of how much a difference diet can make.

2. Lukas Hogberg

Lukas Hogberg is an up-and-coming athlete from Sweden, who has not yet won an international championship. However, he is the kind of athlete who usually makes big improvements with every passing year. Such an improvement rate indicates that his training regimen is working quite well. His first open competition was in 2012, where he finished as number 421. The next year, he improved to 13th place.

By 2015, he won his first national championship and has remained Sweden’s top Crossfit athlete ever since. In 2018, he placed third in the international games. However, the next year saw his first overall drop in performance, finishing at number 17. You can bet that he will be hungry to avenge that loss and make that final climb to the top.

3. Scott Panchik

Scott Panchik has consistently been one of Crossfit’s top performers. He has won two regional championships, and two team championships as well. However, victory on the international level has always eluded him. This is no reason to count him out, however.

When you look at his finishes, you can see that he has finished in the top ten every year since 2012, with only one exception. In 2018, he finished 11th, but that still makes him one of the top Crossfit athletes in the world. This is a guy who has always finished near the top without winning, and it would only take a little bit of improvement for him to become very dominant indeed.

4. Brent Fikowski

Brent Fikowski is a Canadian powerhouse who has shown himself to be a serious contender in every way. His record in open competitions isn’t very impressive, but he has been very dominant in the west region. He placed first for that region in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

He has only participated in four international games and has not placed first in any of them. However, he placed second in 2017 and placed fourth in 2016 and 2018. He didn’t do as well in 2019 for some reason, but his history indicates that he will bounce back hard. This guy has muscle definition like few others on earth, and has the strength to match: He can do a 300-pound barbell snatch and is known for eating pig hearts.

5. Patrick Vellner

Patrick Vellner, as the 2nd-place winner of the 2018 games, is one of those contenders that can pose a threat to anybody. As one of Canada’s top competitors, having remained at or near the top of those rankings since 2016. His regional record looks like a ladder, from 2015 to 2018, it reads; 5th, 3rd, 2nd, then 1st.

His performance in international games has been a little mixed, sometimes finishing in the top ten and sometimes ending up in the 20s. In short, this guy is a wildcard, and wildcards are always interesting. He has stated that it is his goal to dethrone Matt Fraser and become the new king of Crossfit, so it will be interesting to see if that motivation translates to success.

What To Watch For:

Since most Crossfit fans are also practitioners, you can and should learn as much as possible by watching these top-level athletes. Here are three things to watch for:
Take note of the body postures that the athlete uses. You can put the video on slow motion to see the setup, the execution, the follow-through, and the ending of each motion.
Pay attention to the upper and lower limits of each athlete’s performance, so that you can get a better idea of where you stand.
Take note of those who show quick improvements, and try to determine how they achieved those improvements.

Conclusion

You may not agree with our list, as we simply don’t have time to cover all of the great Crossfit athletes out there. If we missed your favorite, we apologize. Regardless of that, we would urge you to pay attention to those athletes who consistently finish at or near the top. You never know when you might pick up an interesting little trick that can help you to improve your performance. We hope that you have enjoyed this article and that you will follow us on Facebook using the button below.