If you follow the CrossFit Games, then you’ve probably head of this top athlete, Ben Smith who won the event in 2015. Keep on reading to find out everything you need to know about him, including stats, results, diet tips and more.
Ben Smith and CrossFit
Ben Smith a prominent personality in the field of CrossFit in the U.S. At 26, this professional athlete has been competing in different CrossFit Games from which, in 2015, he won the first place. Then, just this year, he got the second place spot.
Not all CrossFit athletes can consecutively appear to the CrossFit Games’ Individual Division, but Smith is one of the few lucky ones to be part of it. In fact, he has appeared eight consecutive times in the said competition.
Truly serious about, and dedicated to his involvement with sport, Smith has ventured in businesses related to his expertise. At present, he is the founder, lead programmer, coach and co-owner of CrossFit Krypton based in Virginia.
Who would have thought Smith would do CrossFit when he was originally a passionate baseball player during his childhood. It was only when he was in senior high school when he got introduced to CrossFit. From then on, he joined different competitions and showed impressive records.
His father, who was in the military introduced him to CrossFit at 16. He was hooked and gain some early notoriety for his videos training in his garage or backyard. Oh yeah, he also has a brother who is an excellent CrossFit athlete in his own right: Alec Smith.
Ben Smith Stats
Country: USA
Born: 1990
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 195 pounds
Affiliation: CrossFit Krypton
Ben Smith Injury
You may have heard some rumours that he recently hurt himself. Here’s the deal. In 2019, he has knee surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus, remove a cyst and repair some damage underneath the knee cap.
Not to worry, this injury didn’t keep him out the 2019 CrossFit Games. He received a wildcard entry and competed for a record breaking number of times (11 in total). He also placed a very respectable 28th, considering the seriousness of his injury.
Kudos to Ben for making such a quick recovery!
Road to the Games: Smith vs Fraser
Mat Fraser is one of Smith’s biggest competitors. Here’s a video showing their lead-up to the CrossFit Games
Three Basic Things to Stay Fit
Even though Smith has won different awards through the years, there are just three simple things he does regularly. In his article, 3 Things the Fittest Man on Earth Does Every Day, Michael Easter described Smith as the fittest man on earth.
Along with this description are this champ’s three simple tips to stay fit and achieve success. This are to “work on form,” “have fun,” and “chill out.” In the same article, the writer compared Smith as a beast each time he works out.
For Smith, to work on form means, to do “clear reps as like achieving better gas mileage.” Additionally, according to this CrossFit champ, perfect form lets one become more efficient with the physical training as it takes a little out of his tank rep after rep.
As far as having fun is concerned, Smith says to have fun means to feel at home with CrossFit. In the same article, described the sport as his second home already. He added that when he’s training, he can just do everything he needs to do along with his brothers who are as competitive as him.
Lastly, chill out for Smith means reducing stress in life and practicing for about 20 minutes per day.
Ben Smith: Success Through the Years
Since he joined the CrossFit arena in 2008, Smith has earned various awards. They may not always be the first-prize awards but they are certainly remarkable. In 2009, he got the 1st Place in the Mid-Atlantic Qualifiers, regional division.
He was also 1st place in 2014 during the Mid-Atlantic competitions, and 1st, and 2nd place in 2015 and 2016, respectively, during the Atlantic competition. According to Smith, earning such awards is not that easy. In fact, he went through hard times, too, to get to the top.
Here are eight great tips from the athlete which he shares with his fellow CrossFit enthusiasts:
- Share training with athletes who are stronger.
- Never be satisfied with an average strength
- If you are doubtful, engage in a total body workout instead of just a single exercise like running on a treadmill for example
- Treat muscle pains with a training and not with an oral medicine
- Music is the key. You are likely to train more effectively along with the music you like to listen to.
- Be surrounded with a lot of motivation.
- Ensure that you’re living a balanced life.
- Be your own avid fan.
An Interview with Ben Smith
What Does Ben Smith Eat?
Food has a huge impact on athletic performance and CrossFit athletes are notorious for eating clean and having well-measured diets. Here’s a quick summary of how Ben Smith eats:
- He typically eats 3-5 meals in a day
- Smith focuses on eating clean, simple meals
- When traveling, it can be difficult to stick to a diet, but he tries to maintain it as best as possible
- A typical breakfast might be oatmeal, peanut butter and fruit all mixed together. Then he’ll also have eggs with avocado
- Lunch and dinner will be chicken, steak or fish, along with rice and vegetables
- He also is known to eat lots of sweet potatoes, milk, eggs, and bacon
- Smith sometimes supplements his diet with protein powders
- He has not gone with the Paleo diet or Zone diet, that are quite popular among other CrossFit athletes
Ben Smith Instagram
Like many other top CrossFit athletes, Smith has a popular Instagram account. To date, her has almost 500,000 follows. You can find him here:
Benchmark Stats
Benchmark workouts and exercises are an easy way to measure yourself against the top athletes in the world. Here are some of his workout stats:
Clean and Jerk: 335 pounds
Snatch: 300 pounds
Deadlift: 540 pounds
Fran: 2:25
Grace: 1:51
Helen: 7:19
5K run: 20:20
How do you measure up against this top CrossFit Games star?
Ben Smith (CrossFit)
Have your Say about CrossFitter Ben Smith
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