“At the end of the day, it’s all about application — can I apply myself to the task at hand? Yes or no?” — Adrian Bozman

CrossFit defines strength as “the productive application of force.” 

At the 2022 NOBULL CrossFit Games, athletes demonstrated their application of force with a 1-rep-max sandbag lift. 

“A lot of athletes have become extraordinarily well-prepared for barbell lifting, but the reason we use Olympic lifting and powerlifting in CrossFit is to build the general capacity that could also be applied in many, many, many different forms. The sandbag will test athletes’ strength, but also their ability to apply strength in a new way,” Justin Bergh says. 

“You train on a barbell to get strong so that you can do other things,” Competition Director Adrian Bozman adds. 

Watch the full Sandbag Ladder event here.