Improved Preparation, Not Programming, Helped Jeff Adler Snag Podium Finish at Rogue Invitational

November 7, 2021 by
Photo Credit: Athlete's Eye Photography

After being one of only five athletes to qualify for the 2020 CrossFit Games Final in Aromas, CA, Jeff Adler had high hopes to improve upon his fifth place finish in 2021. 

But things just didn’t go his way last summer in Madison, WI, and Adler dropped out of the top 10, finishing 13th overall.

His coach and romantic partner Caroline Lambray said the result was admittedly disappointing. That being said, she also said that Adler had improved considerably since 2020, and that his final placing didn’t reflect how much better he was in 2021 than 2020.

“There are things like on the floor I could see how much he has improved in certain areas, but it didn’t reflect (on the leaderboard),” Lambray said, listing handstand walking, muscle-ups and a better ability to pace a run event as three areas where Adler made big strides after the 2020 season.

Such was not the case at the Rogue Invitational last weekend in Austin, TX, where Adler placed third overall, behind only the two Fittest Men on Earth: Justin Medeiros and Pat Vellner, earning $47,699 in prize money in the process. 

Lambray credits much of this to his “laser focused” preparation in Florida over the last three months. 

And while it can be argued, as analyst Brian Friend did, that the programming at the Rogue Invitational favoured strength athletes like Adler, Lambray is insistent that Adler is also fitter, not just physically but also psychologically, than he was at the Games in the summer.

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