# The Role of Physical Fitness on FRAN CrossFit(r) Workout Performance
## 4 Discussion  
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether faster and slower athletes in the FRAN time-trial have significant differences in physical fitness as well as examine the correlations between physical fitness and the FRAN time-trial. The main finding of this study was that the FG had lower percentage body fat, lower percentage decrement in CJ\({}_{30}\) height, greater power per body mass in CMJ, and higher 1-RM strength compared to the SG. Faster athletes were able to complete the FRAN time-trial with higher physical fitness and lower body fat, while they had a greater tolerance to fatigue, as found from the CJ\({}_{30}\) test. In addition, percentage height decrement during CJ\({}_{30}\) was significantly correlated with the FRAN time-trial, which shows the link between resistance to fatigue and the FRAN time-trial. Similarly, percentage body fat was positively correlated with the FRAN  
Figure 1: Results from the CJ\({}_{30}\) test. (**A**) Percentage loss of vertical jump height, (**B**) percentage loss of power relative to body mass. * \(p\) = significant difference between fast group (FG) and slow group (SG). Figure 2: Correlation scatterplots between (**A**) performance in the FRAN time-trial and percentage body fat and (**B**) performance in the FRAN time-trial and percentage loss of jump height during the CJ\({}_{30}\). time-trial, which shows that body fat may be a restrictive factor for high performance in FRAN. In addition, variables from CMJ and 1-RM strength were significantly correlated with the FRAN time-trial. One main finding of the present study was that the FG had a significantly lower percentage decrement in jump height during the CJ\({}_{30}\) compared to the SG, while a moderate effect size (\(g=0.662\)) was found for power decrement. The CJ\({}_{30}\) is a reliable test and may provide useful information regarding the fatigue tolerance as well as the anaerobic profile of the athletes [14; 15]. However, according to the author's knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate CJ\({}_{30}\) in CrossFit\({}^{\circledR}\) athletes; thus, the interpretation of the results should be performed with caution. CrossFit\({}^{\circledR}\) training is designed with high-intensity workouts which may result in a significant increase in muscle buffer capacity [9]. Indeed, acute and long-term training studies have shown that systematic high-intensity exercise may lead to a significant increase in maximum oxygen consumption and lactate threshold, similar to continuous exercise, but may result in greater muscle buffer improvements [9; 10]. Although no significant difference was observed for the training experience between groups, it seems that the FG had a better buffering capacity [33], which may lead to a higher performance in FRAN. These results are further reinforced by the significant although moderate correlation between the FRAN time-trial and percentage decrement in CJ\({}_{30}\) height. Previous studies have shown significant correlations between muscle buffer capacity and repeated sprint ability [10]. It can be hypothesized that one possible mechanism that leads to a faster performance in FRAN is the higher muscle buffer capacity of the FG, which may result from the systematic higher intensity exercise that these athletes are following during training. A recent study confirmed that FRAN is a physically demanding workout which recruits energy from both aerobic and anaerobic mechanisms, leading to a significant reduction in muscle function [34]. However, no lactate samples or muscle biopsies were obtained in the current study. In addition, several studies have shown that the Wingate anaerobic test may significantly predict CrossFit\({}^{\circledR}\) performance [11; 12] but not the time-trial in FRAN [4].