"I think about lions. You know, the old one with the graying mane battling for his territory against the young lion with the full mane? That's me. I'm not done."
Since 2010, Neal Maddox has been fighting for a spot on the CrossFit Games podium.
While he consistently excels at the regional, he also consistently falls short at the Games. His best finish is ninth place at the 2013 Games, proceeding 20th place in 2012, 32nd place in 2011 and 25th place in 2010.
Maddox fully believes “past performances don’t predict future success,” and he’s focused on making 2014 his year.
“I think about lions,” he said. “You know, the old one with the graying mane battling for his territory against the young lion with the full mane? That’s me. I’m not done.”
The 36-year-old put a new Rogue rig set-up outside his gym, often works out with a judge, and has ramped up training volume to resemble the competition schedule of Games weekend.
“I like to train like it’s Carson,” he said.
At the NorCal Regional, he finished in second place—a place he’s held since 2012, always behind 2008 CrossFit Games champion Jason Khalipa. This year, he finished Event 1 in first place with a 295-lb. hang squat snatch—also winning the event worldwide.
He also earned first-place finishes in Events 3 and 7. But he still dealt with challenges over the regional weekend. He tied for 12th place on the handstand walk and a devastating 15th place on Event 6, the 50s chipper, where he got stuck on the ring dips.
“There’s no looking back,” he said. “Just work and more work in the days ahead. I just have to work harder and get better. Now I practice ring dips like no one’s business.”
Maddox won’t deny his frustration, but he said he’s been around long enough to know there’s no reason to dwell. He wants to just keep moving forward.
And he’ll be moving forward to his fifth CrossFit Games in just a short time. To prepare, Maddox is putting in staggering amounts of volume. A recent training day started with a swim, some squats and push-ups, then some skill work. After food and a nap, he’s back at the gym for back squats, and back-to-back workouts. After some coaching, he finished with some 400-m repeats.
Rest days? “Not until after the Games,” he said. “But remember, it’s taken me five years to build up to this. Five years to build to this level of intensity. I wasn’t doing this three years ago, not even last year. I’ve built it up.”
He started to ramp up the volume and back off on heavy strength work about two weeks after regionals.
“After regionals, I was mentally stressed,” he admitted. “It takes time to get back, my body doesn’t want to go to the dark places until I recover. If I have to do that, I can, but I take the time these days, not like when I was younger.”
At almost 37 years old, Maddox is one of the oldest Games competitors.
“I’m like a ’61 VW bug,” he said with a laugh. “I have to run for a while before I really get going. The younger guys can jump in and move faster. I need to take some time. Now I judge my fitness by my recovery. How fast can I recover after a workout? I need to be able to do three to four workouts and quickly recover.”
Always careful to find a productive training environment, Maddox trained heavily with NorCal CrossFit crew Jason Khalipa, Pat Barber and Miranda Oldroyd. While he valued that time and training, he has taken this year to go out on his own.
“They’re all great guys, but it was getting tough to schedule my training around theirs,” he said. “It was also time to just represent my own brand. I’m CrossFit X-treme Athletics.”
Now with a growing gym and his own training environment, he works out often with his new training partner, 2014 Games qualifier, Chyna Cho. She credits training with Maddox as a key element in her athletic improvement this year, and said his belief in her has greatly improved her confidence.
While he is intent on success at the CrossFit Games this July, he’s always thinking beyond. He’s building his gym, looking toward training future Games athletes, and passing on his love and passion to others.
“I love CrossFit,” he said. “Being able to compete with myself, seeing how hard I can push myself, trying to out-do the last time. Sometimes I kick my butt! Because of CrossFit I’ve done things I said I’d never do like running long distances and swimming in the ocean.”
He added: “I’ll do more.”
