2.1 The Ten General Physical Skills

2.1 The Ten General Physical Skills

CrossFit defines fitness through four distinct models or standards. The first of these standards is the Ten General Physical Skills, which defines human capability across the broad spectrum of physical activities. This model was adapted from Jim Cawley's Dynamax company and posits that an individual is only as fit as their competence in each of these ten areas. If you are deficient in even one of these skills, your overall fitness is compromised. True fitness requires a balanced capacity across all ten skills.

The Ten Skills Defined

To understand this standard, candidates must learn the precise definitions of each of the ten skills as outlined in the CrossFit Level 1 Training Guide:

1. Cardiorespiratory Endurance: The ability of body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen. This systemic capacity relies on the efficient coordination of the lungs, heart, blood vessels, and red blood cells to transport oxygen from the atmosphere to working muscles.
2. Stamina: The ability of body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy. Unlike cardiorespiratory endurance, which is systemic, stamina is often referred to as local muscular endurance. It is the capacity of specific muscle groups to perform work repeatedly without fatigue, relying on the efficiency of local metabolic processes (such as glycogen storage and ATP synthesis).
3. Strength: The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply force. This is the productive capacity of the muscles to move external loads or overcome resistance.
4. Flexibility: The ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint. Developing flexibility prevents joint restrictions, reduces injury risk, and allows for mechanically efficient movement patterns, such as achieving full depth in a squat.
5. Power: The ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units, to apply maximum force in minimum time. Mathematically, power is work divided by time. It represents the rate of doing work and is the single most important metric of athletic performance.
6. Speed: The ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement. It is the capacity to execute a motion rapidly, whether running, cycling, or performing repetitions of a gymnastic movement.
7. Coordination: The ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement. This is a neurological skill requiring the brain to organize multiple muscle groups to fire in a synchronized sequence.
8. Agility: The ability to minimize transition time from one movement pattern to another. It involves changing direction, shifting weight, and transitioning between actions rapidly and efficiently.
9. Balance: The ability to control the placement of the body's center of gravity in relation to its support base. Balance can be static (holding a handstand) or dynamic (walking, running, or lifting).
10. Accuracy: The ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity. Examples include hitting the target in a wall-ball shot or hitting the exact receiving position in an Olympic lift.

Training vs. Practice (Organic vs. Neurological Adaptation)

A critical concept for the Level 1 exam is the distinction between how these skills are developed. The ten skills are divided into three categories based on whether their improvement is driven by physical training, neurological practice, or a combination of both:

Organic Skills (Developed through Training)

The first four skills—cardiorespiratory endurance, stamina, strength, and flexibility—are improved through training. Training refers to physical activity that improves performance through a measurable, organic change in the body. These organic changes occur at the cellular and tissue levels, such as:

• Increased capillary density in muscle tissue (improving oxygen delivery)
• Increased number and size of mitochondria (boosting energy production)
• Muscle fiber hypertrophy (increasing cross-sectional area and force capability)
• Enhanced joint elasticity and connective tissue compliance

Neurological Skills (Developed through Practice)

The last four skills—coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy—are improved through practice. Practice refers to activity that improves performance through neurological changes in the central nervous system. These neurological adaptations include:

• Improved motor unit recruitment and firing rates
• The development of efficient motor programs and neural pathways (myelination)
• Better proprioception and vestibular control No structural tissue changes are required to improve these skills; rather, the nervous system learns to operate more efficiently.

The Bridge Skills (Developed through Both)

The middle two skills—power and speed—are unique because they are developed through both training (organic changes) and practice (neurological adaptations). Maximum power requires both the physical musculature and energy systems to generate force (organic) and the neurological coordination and speed of motor unit recruitment to apply that force rapidly (neurological).

The CrossFit Objective: General Physical Preparedness

The fundamental objective of CrossFit is to build General Physical Preparedness (GPP). Rather than specializing in a few skills at the expense of others (like a marathon runner who has excellent endurance but lacks strength, or a powerlifter who has immense strength but lacks flexibility and stamina), CrossFit seeks to develop all ten general physical skills in equal measure.

Specialization always results in a compromise. An athlete who is highly specialized is highly vulnerable to tasks outside their narrow domain. A balanced athlete who has developed competence across all ten physical skills is prepared for any physical challenge that life or sport might present. CrossFit defines fitness not by peak performance in one area, but by a lack of deficiencies across all ten skills.