What is your definition of a "complete athlete"?

[Baby Hanma]

So obviously, a powerlifter or an Olympic-style weightlifter are not complete athletes. I train for endurance right now but I did both of those for 2.5 years. But I do wonder... This is my definition of a "complete athlete":

High numbers on the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

High numbers on the front squat, power clean, and push press.

Can do five strict pull ups (at least) no matter how heavy he is.

Flexible as hell.

Can run a mile in under seven minutes.

Is actually good at his sport-specific skills.

Agile.

Strong grip.

The athlete should have all of the above, otherwise he is not an athlete. Sometimes it doesn't matter how he trains for those, as long as he achieves them. I personally believe in high volume with your weight training sets...

Also, as long as the athlete can achieve those above, he doesn't need to have sub 15% bodyfat.

What do you think?

 

[Fahcough]

Thats a fun topic. Of course you'll get 50 different answers leaning towards a persons interest or relatable sports.

Athlete will have above average strength, doesn't need to be top of charts.
Quick on feet, able to stay on feet in momentum shifts, adaptive to spatial surroundings. Good balance with instant reactions.
Able to finish a mile in under 7minutes as a warm up.
Able to sprint, jump, lift, carry in any order with minimal rest needed.
Naturally good at most ball sports.
Can perform high output task for sustained time (20-45 minutes)

 

[Baby Hanma]

Thats a fun topic. Of course you'll get 50 different answers leaning towards a persons interest or relatable sports.

Athlete will have above average strength, doesn't need to be top of charts.
Quick on feet, able to stay on feet in momentum shifts, adaptive to spatial surroundings. Good balance with instant reactions.
Able to finish a mile in under 7minutes as a warm up.
Able to sprint, jump, lift, carry in any order with minimal rest needed.
Naturally good at most ball sports.
Can perform high output task for sustained time (20-45 minutes)

My issue with your jumping requirement is the fact that jumping ability is highly genetic.

Strength, endurance, and power though... All trainable. Absolute power as expressed in "hops" is highly genetic.

 

[Fahcough]

My issue with your jumping requirement is the fact that jumping ability is highly genetic.

Strength, endurance, and power though... All trainable. Absolute power as expressed in "hops" is highly genetic.

Doesn't have to be height, can be distance. Or clearing an approaching obstacle, landing on your feet in motion and continuing forward

 

[ROcknrollracing]

Likely a hybrid athlete of some sort. I wouldnt say ball sports have much to do with it as ball sports are mostly skill sports.

I think CrossFit has a lot of their thinking correct about this but decathletes probably even more so.

 

[Stoic1]

There are too many attributes to an athlete. Things like balance, kinesthetic awareness, hand-eye coordination, aerobic/anaerobic capacity, etc. And the ratio/balance of all those attributes seems impossible to create a perfect animal.

I may be misremembering what I read once but the story of Bruce Jenner's success. If I recall he was not a stand out in any particular decathlon event. Rather he was good (not great) everywhere. He was the ultimate well rounded athlete of his time and sport.

Ive seen some incredibly athletic fat guys who are just naturals at anything and everything physical. Pisses me off.

 

[tigersmoosh]

can do 20 pushups

 

[Stoic1]

Started reading bit after my post and found this. Might not be exactly correct but looks solid to me.

 

[ROcknrollracing]

There are too many attributes to an athlete. Things like balance, kinesthetic awareness, hand-eye coordination, aerobic/anaerobic capacity, etc. And the ratio/balance of all those attributes seems impossible to create a perfect animal.

I may be misremembering what I read once but the story of Bruce Jenner's success. If I recall he was not a stand out in any particular decathlon event. Rather he was good (not great) everywhere. He was the ultimate well rounded athlete of his time and sport.

Ive seen some incredibly athletic fat guys who are just naturals at anything and everything physical. Pisses me off.

Babe Zaharius was the better all around athlete of her time and perhaps of all time.

As an avid ball sport player I can with 100% confidence that ball sport players are not the most well rounded athletes as anybody of any type can develop sporting skills to a degree.

Hand eye coordination is relevant to the sport or contest being played as the hand eye coordination for one sport is not relevant to another one.

 

[Baby Hanma]

Started reading bit after my post and found this. Might not be exactly correct but looks solid to me.

Hey where did you find this? This is good stuff! I never thought of it that way. lol

 

[wufabufa]

Yuri Boyka, of course.

 

[Rallarsvingare]

I think its impossible to define a single definition of an athlete because theres tons of differents sports with different requirements. For example a sprinter like Usain Bolt doesnt need to be able to perform any strict pull ups. Olympic lifters dont have the need to run a mile in less than seven minutes.

As mentioned above I do think crossfit got a great idea to try to mix it all together and make it an overall athlete but at the same time I dont think many athletes will benefit in doing crossfit instead of sport specific training for their sport.

 

[vision1]

Plenty of people who are good at athletic events (like lifting) are terrible athletes.

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

30+ reps of 225 lbs
Runs a 4.3 40 yard dash
40 + inch vertical
$50 Million Signing Bonus
9" Hog for all the future Baby Mommas

This Guy

 

[rikwebb]

 

[ASUThermo]

This

 

[Oblivian]

Likely a hybrid athlete of some sort. I wouldnt say ball sports have much to do with it as ball sports are mostly skill sports.

I think CrossFit has a lot of their thinking correct about this but decathletes probably even more so.

Athletes are so much easier to coach and adapt to "ball sports" much quicker. Almost any girl that I've had coming from gymnastics was so much easier to coach in softball. Similarly, it's not a coincidence that most of the better high school players in ball sports are good across multiple sports. I'd argue skill matters at the highest level, but generally, good athletes that care to learn a sport are going to excel compared to peers.

 

[Flower2dPeople]

So obviously, a powerlifter or an Olympic-style weightlifter are not complete athletes. I train for endurance right now but I did both of those for 2.5 years. But I do wonder... This is my definition of a "complete athlete":

High numbers on the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

High numbers on the front squat, power clean, and push press.

Can do five strict pull ups (at least) no matter how heavy he is.

Flexible as hell.

Can run a mile in under seven minutes.

Is actually good at his sport-specific skills.

Agile.

Strong grip.

The athlete should have all of the above, otherwise he is not an athlete. Sometimes it doesn't matter how he trains for those, as long as he achieves them. I personally believe in high volume with your weight training sets...

Also, as long as the athlete can achieve those above, he doesn't need to have sub 15% bodyfat.

What do you think?

A wrestler.

 

[KeepingItReal]

So obviously, a powerlifter or an Olympic-style weightlifter are not complete athletes. I train for endurance right now but I did both of those for 2.5 years. But I do wonder... This is my definition of a "complete athlete":

High numbers on the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

High numbers on the front squat, power clean, and push press.

Can do five strict pull ups (at least) no matter how heavy he is.

Flexible as hell.

Can run a mile in under seven minutes.

Is actually good at his sport-specific skills.

Agile.

Strong grip.

The athlete should have all of the above, otherwise he is not an athlete. Sometimes it doesn't matter how he trains for those, as long as he achieves them. I personally believe in high volume with your weight training sets...

Also, as long as the athlete can achieve those above, he doesn't need to have sub 15% bodyfat.

What do you think?

To me there is no such thing as an incomplete athlete, there are just athletes in different stages of their development. Some get stuck at some stages, other progress until they can't progress any further(due to age or injury). Also being an athlete has always been synonymous with sport. A tennis player might not find any benefit from having high numbers in the bench, squat or deadlift. I am not saying necessarily so, I'm just saying they might not. It's up to coaches to find out how their athletes can progress further.

 

[Cole train]

Probably some decathlon guy