Have you even heard of a hopper? Picture the lottery. It’s the metal thing that the balls go in. Someone spins and jiggles the handle and pulls out a number. Boom. Random. Just like CrossFit. Now, imagine the hopper filled with Crossfit movements. Snatches. Clean and jerks. Handstand walks. You can’t escape anything. The only way to prepare for that? Train everything.
From a young age, athletes are training to be the best. The fastest. The strongest. Whatever your sport was, you trained to be the best. But the CrossFit methodology and Hopper Model has changed that way of thinking. CrossFit uses three different standards or models for evaluating and guiding fitness. Collectively, these three standards define the CrossFit view of fitness. The first is based on the 10 general physical skills widely recognized by exercise physiologists. The second standard, AKA – Hopper Model, is based on the performance of athletic tasks, while the third is based on the energy systems that drive all human action.
The essence of the Hopper Model - fitness is about performing well at any and every task imaginable. Someone who is really fit should be able to handle any physical challenge that might present itself because that’s what life is. We are training for life. A firefighter might have to lift something wicked heavy off a person or carry a person out of a burning building without a chance to “warm up” for it. A hockey player might have to push another player out of the way and then sprint the length of the ice to get back on defense.
So, if you see wallballs on the schedule. Show up. What about handstand holds? Just show up. How about muscle ups?! You guessed it. JUST SHOW UP! At CFCA, we want our athletes to be good at everything not just great at one thing.