It was clear to everyone—except for me—that I was avoiding the constantly varied component of CrossFit programming that is so critical to elite human performance.

You can watch Paul Szoldra’s video of the final WOD of the day where Greg gets his ass kicked by double-unders here.
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So then Greg practiced double-unders every single day – he would do 5 sets of 10 in a row, and he would start over if he failed to get to 10. After 4 weeks of this he had taken nearly three minutes off his time and only had 4 failed attempts in a set of 50. He said: “I was determined to improve further”. He gave himself two more goals: to make 100 in a row and to complete 150 in less than 2 minutes. He accomplished both goals on the same attempt (time of 1:45), 6 weeks following his failed Games qualifier. He then attacked the same WOD that had killed his shot at the Games here, with a total improvement of 4:21
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But that wasn’t the end of Greg Amundson’s story, detailed in the CF Journal. He noticed that in 6 weeks of time, while he was focusing on his double-under skill, other skills radically improved: his max box jumps in one minute 35 to 51; his 400-meter sprint dropped to 58 seconds (he hadn’t improved either of these skills in over a year). But, most critically to Greg Amundson as a federal law enforcement officer, he experienced markedly improved firearms accuracy and manipulation (fast draw, etc) ability. CrossFit calls this the Black Box Effect – when the athlete’s inputs (his daily workouts) produce a greater and more varied list of outputs – skills he/she is improving. What’s notable (and supported by measurable, observable, repeatable data from hundreds of thousands of CrossFit athletes): there is a laundry list of skill outputs for each functional movement skill input.
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Downrange, CrossFit-derived GPP helps the soldier meet strenuous demands of the mission while quickly adapting to a suboptimal standard of living. But soldiers, especially those living overseas, can’t allow their GPP to degrade just because they don’t happen to be in a unit with wartime rotation. Life might test you at a crowded international airport like Frankfurt during a terrorist attack.
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CrossFit trains functional movements: squats, mountain climbers, box jumps, jumping jacks, jumping rope, pushups, sit ups, handstands. We farmers-walk, we tire flip, we push & pull weighted sleds (hell, we plan to race them!) We vary it all up and we do it all as intense as we can. Functional movements elicit a high neuroendocrine response (I explain here). Exercise regimens that induce a high neuroendocrine response produce champions. You don’t have to be training for the Games – you’re training for Life.
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And perhaps the most significant Black Box Effect? Pushing yourself to uncomfortable levels like you will as a CrossFitter makes everything else you face in life seem easy. CrossFit will give you the strength and confidence you were meant to have – it will change the way you live. But you have to have integrity and you’ve got to have heart. Meaning, if you lack intensity, if you aren’t actively seeking full range of motion with each and every repetition – then what you’re doing isn’t CrossFit. Your workouts have got to get uncomfortable or you’re wasting your time.
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3-2-1-go