So the crossfit winner gets 275000 prize money, but the WSM winner gets 50000, bullshit we need a 100kg under class in WSM , im not saying events aren’t worthy very challenging but I’d rather see a 1000lb dead then who can kipper 50 chins.
I agree, but cross fit has two things going for it that WSM does not.
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Cross Fit has done an exceptional job of marketing and branding with Rogue/Reebok
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Cross Fit is more approacheable. Anyone can join and start ‘learning’ the movements. Sadly, WSM requires a significant level of prior strength and, to be competitive on a world wide stage, above average height.
Although. WSM has gotten more attention with athletes also acting and people like Oberst who do commercials/promotion
Just like the prize difference in men’s and women’s Tennis, it boils down to how popular the sport is. As sad as it is, CrossShit is more profitable than WSM.
Honestly, calling it “CrossShit” probably won’t help bridge any of the gaps here.
Best thing we can do for strongman if we want to increase prize money is to make it more approachable, which means dropping the elitism and being more welcoming. There are a lot of crossfitters that transition to strongman, and crossfit is using more strongman implements these days. The avenue is open, and there aren’t a whole lot of crossfitters talking crap about strongman.
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Like said - CF is more advertised and has better brand. People honestly think that strongmans are fat bear-like mens ie. heavyweights. I don’t have anything against with any weight class, but it is clear which one seems more “cool” to the big audience.
There is a downside too - this is why it is called crosshit. People with none or too little experience try to amrap cleans or do demanding bw circuits etc. So you should have a good base anyway. No matter are you going to do strongman or CF. One crossfitter once said to me that one should have 3-5 years of lifting (and O-lifting) experience before he/she would be permitted to enter the CF gym. Of course this wont never happen, since money is always money.
PS. I personally prefer watching strongman over CF, but find the latter interesting too.
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I like watching both actually. I think event-for-event, strongman is much more entertaining. I’d rather see a max reps stone load or truck pull than watch a guy do 30 clean & jerks w/ 135#. However, the entirety of the crossfit competitions I’ve seen are WAY more fast-paced than strongman comps. There is near constant, chaotic movement, which is pretty cool too.
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Not enough strongman butt selfies… that’s the problem. You can’t get the masses riled up without shots of the 'Donk.
Pretty much the most accurate way I’ve heard it described is that crossfit is strongman for longer with lighter weight, or strongman is crossfit with more weight for less time.
That’s a great description. That, and if we’re being honest here were I a single man I’d probably be more interested in competing in crossfit comps lol.
I honestly was looking into crossfit before I did strongman. It was the gymnastic stuff that held me back. That, and I didn’t realize the weight classes had changed in strongman, which I think shows the lack of approachability/info in strongman. Now, a lot more folks know that you can be a 175er. It’s pretty cool.
That is really cool. Even my girl was excited when she realized there was a weight class even for her should she want to compete. I hope they get around to offering pro in the lighter classes.
I’m actually sort of in the same boat. Before I became interested in strongman I was looking into competitive crossfit, until I realized how utterly awful I was at olympic lifting. Just because I was/am so terrible improving my olys is one of those back-burner sort of goals.
Maybe that will get more people into strongman, maybe a hybrid will come out of it. Especially if their were more classes. My first conest i was second lightest guy 240.
It’s growing. I think the multiple federations thing is going to get things stupid, but I think it WILL attract more people sadly. A lot of folks are interested in setting some sort of weird weight class record rather than winning shows, which I think it powerlifting’s influence bleeding over. And now we have some 100% ultra super mega raw fed.
But if it means more folks showing up to a show and actually having some competition, I’m for it.
Sad thing is, I actually like the basic idea behind Crossfit. I love the idea of combining strength training with endurance and anaerobic work. What I absolutely detest (and why I also refer to the sport as CrossShit) is the way it’s brought to the masses. Stuff like kipping everything, high-rep Olympic lifts and advertising insanely idiotic shit like bosu ball pistol squats while balancing a kettlebell as “functional training” is absolutely ridiculous.
If you just taught people the basics of strength training and helped them understand what should and what should not be done as a WOD movement, then it would be different.
I compete in a sport with the Conan’s walk and where people drop 300lb concrete balls on their feet and lose toes for fun, so I don’t really judge others for unsafe practices, haha.
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My step sister competes in crossfit, loves it but you do not go to a technical lift like a clean and jerk, after cardio is exhausted.
Even if you want to win $250,000?
I would. Hell, I’ve done far dumber stuff for far less money.
EDIT: I guess my point is, are we really going to pretend that strongman is safe? Most likely the only thing really going for it from a safety perspective is that so few people do it. If it had the following of crossfit, we’d see things really get nasty.
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I consider strongman competitions to be in an entirely different situation than Crossfit. There are no “everybody can join and do this” -type strongman gyms all over the country and you don’t see pregnant women yoking the everliving shit out of themselves.
Maybe I’m getting confused here. I assumed we were talking about crossfit games competitors. Are people talking about folks just working out at crossfit gyms?
Edit: And I’ve actually seen pregnant strongwoman competitors still training. It’s there if you want to look for it, but the social media presence isn’t as pervasive, mainly because the sport simply isn’t as big. And the sport not being as big is also why the prize money is so little.
If people want to see the prize money of strongman parallel crossfit, they’re gonna have to see the other things happen too.
That would motivate me, every time I’ve seen car flip on tv and in person some one gets injured. Im just jealous that one of my favorite sports, their is so much put into training with little popularity. Metrx tried making money of endorsement with jesse marrunde rip.