Why Chasing Benchmarks is the Secret to High Level Skill
When you look at a benchmark workout, what do you see?
A test? A number to chase for bragging rights? You’re not wrong. But you’re only seeing half the picture.
The benchmarks we use in our system aren't numbers I just pulled out of thin air. They're are from over a decade of data, gathered from thousands of the most elite functional athletes on the planet. Those numbers on the leaderboard? Those are your virtual opponents. They are the ghosts in the gym you are chasing every single day.
But here's the part everyone misses. The benchmark is both a test and the process itself. You chase the number to get an honest assessment of your skill, and the act of chasing it is what builds a higher level of that very skill. The two are inseparable.
Practice vs. Competition: The Two Halves of Mastery
To master any physical skill, you need two things: practice and competition.
Practice is the slow, deliberate work. It's learning the mechanics of a Power Clean with an empty bar. It's doing Romanian Deadlifts with a light weight to feel your hamstrings engage. You are grooving the motor pattern and teaching your central nervous system the blueprint for a perfect rep.
Competition is where you test that blueprint under fire. It's where you load the barbell for a 1-Rep Max, or race the clock in a brutal Metcon. The pressure is on, and you find out very quickly if your skill holds up.
You cannot have one without the other. The athlete who only ever practices with a PVC pipe has beautiful form with no load, but he crumbles the second things get heavy. On the other side, the guy who only ever lifts heavy without refining his technique is just a brawler. He's strong, but sloppy and inefficient, leaving a massive amount of power on the table.
Elite skill is developed when these two worlds collide. And this is exactly why we chase benchmarks.
The Barbell Doesn't Lie: Your Benchmark is the Live Go
So where do you find that "live go" in the weight room?
That's where the benchmark comes in. It's your competition.
The weight on the bar and the time on the clock—that's your scoreboard. And that scoreboard is brutally honest. It doesn't care if you're tired, if you had a bad day, or if you "felt" strong. It only reports the data. It gives you the hard, undeniable feedback that is essential for getting to the next level.
When you test a benchmark, you're competing on two leaderboards at the same time.
First, there's the virtual leaderboard—the one stacked with data from elite athletes across the world. This is what gives you context. It tells you what's possible and shows you the standard that the best in the world are hitting.
But the more important leaderboard is the one with only one name on it: yours. You're fighting the you from last month, or last year. That personal record is the number you are hunting down. That's the real fight. It's tangible, undeniable proof that your hard work is paying off.
The "Coincidence" of Strength and Skill
People see big strength numbers and they immediately think it's all about brute force.
To this day, my numbers on the big lifts are still in the 99th percentile on the global leaderboards. It's no coincidence that I'm still stronger than almost any wrestler I run into. But that strength isn't the result of just mindlessly throwing weight on a bar.
You don't accidentally deadlift 600 pounds. Your body would literally fall apart if you tried to brute-force that kind of weight without near-perfect mechanics.
Every single heavy lift is a high-stakes skill test. It's a test of balance, of timing, of generating maximum torque, and of maintaining a rigid core under an impossible load. You get strong by becoming a master technician first. Elite strength is the physical outcome of an elite-level skill. You simply cannot have one without the other.
Your Metcon Score is a Skill Grade
This isn't just about a 1-rep max. The exact same rule applies to your conditioning. The score you get on a Metcon is a direct reflection of your skill level.
Take a classic benchmark like "Fran"—a brutal, all-out sprint of thrusters and pull-ups.
A guy who can do it in under three minutes with 135 pounds on the bar isn't just "stronger" than the guy who does it in 5 minutes with 95 pounds. He is worlds more skilled.
To move that fast with that load, his technique has to be flawless. His balance, his coordination, his agility, and his accuracy are all operating at an elite level. And he's maintaining all of it while his body is screaming and his lungs are on fire. He has pushed his skills to a point where they are automatic, even in the middle of a firestorm.
His sub-3:00 time isn't just a fitness score. It's a grade for his skill under the most intense pressure imaginable.
So what does any of this have to do with wrestling?
Everything.
The beauty of these benchmarks is that the skills they build are universal. Your nervous system doesn't know the difference between exploding your hips to launch a barbell and exploding your hips to finish a blast double. It only knows the pattern.
The guy who crushes "Fran" has forged a level of skill that transfers directly to the mat. That violent hip extension in the thruster? That's your mat return. That high-level pulling endurance from the pull-ups? That's your ability to dominate a hand-fight in the third period. That ability to stay balanced and coordinated during high-rep box jumps? That's your footwork in a chaotic scramble.
You are upgrading the entire Operating System.
When you relentlessly chase elite benchmark numbers, you are forced to become a more skilled mover. You build a machine that is more powerful, more efficient, and more resilient. That machine then shows up to wrestling practice, and every single wrestling-specific skill you have is amplified.
Stop seeing the benchmark as a final exam you have to take every few months.
Start seeing it as the forge itself. The process of hunting down those numbers, week after week, is the very thing that builds the universal athletic skills that win matches.
The scoreboard is waiting. Go earn your numbers.