What is Functional fitness?

History & Growth

The roots of Functional Fitness can be traced in various forms of functional training that originate during the twentieth century. Functional Fitness began to gain popularity alongside the inception and growth of Greg Glassman’s training method called CrossFit® since 2000. The International Functional Fitness Federation (IF3) was established in 2016 as the independent global governing body of the sport of Functional Fitness. Over 60 countries now recognise a National Functional Fitness Federation operating under the iF3, and a subset of these countries also recognise and support Functional Fitness as an official sport in their country.

iF3 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation headquartered in the United States of America. It runs World Championship level events annually. It offers a training pathway for technical officials. It also runs an anti-doping program to ensure the sport remains clean. Its goal is to earn the sport of functional fitness a spot on the Olympic Program. 

• • • Whilst iF3 was incorporated in August 2016, it was publicly announced in June 2017. That year the iF3 held its first World Championships in Concord, California, with its first National Federation members in attendance. In its first year of existence the United States of America, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Sweden, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, and Latvia became the first founding members of the iF3.
  •  
    • In 2018, the iF3 expanded its number of National Federations significantly and awarded hosting rights to the 2018 World Championships to the United Kingdom. United Kingdom held the World Championship in London. In 2018, the iF3 also officially began its pathway to recognition by the International Olympic Committee when it applied for membership in the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). GAISF has since dissolved and the recognition process for entrance into the Olympic Movement will now become the responsibility of SportAccord. The iF3 awaits specifics on the new process before it can proceed with its goal of recognition.
  •  
    • The iF3 expanded its competitive offerings in 2019, adding a Masters World Championships to the competition calendar. The first Masters World Championships was held in Australia. Worlds was held in Malmo, Sweden in 2019.
  •  
    • 2020 saw the iF3 have to cancel all in person events and move to an online format. A World Championships slated for Canada and a Masters Worlds which was planned as part of TAFISA’s World Sport For All Games in Portugal were both cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  •  
    • 2021 saw the return of live functional fitness competition with Worlds heading to Norkopping, Sweden with the addition of Junior divisions for the first time. Masters Worlds was held in Cairo, Egypt.
  •  
    • iF3 Worlds 2022 was awarded to Russia. However, after the start of the war in Ukraine hosting rights were transferred to Mexico, with the event ultimately being held in Hermosillo, Sonora.
  •  
    • 2023 iF3 Masters and Junior Worlds was held in Vancouver, Canada. iF3 Worlds were held in Norway.
  •  
    • In the Olympic 2024 year iF3 have combined all of its divisions into one Super Worlds Championships held in Budapest, Hungary.

Participation

To this date, participation in functional fitness competitions continues to grow. More than 500,000 athletes compete in iF3 and CrossFit® events annually across 150+ countries. The largest commercial brand CrossFit® attracts two million people worldwide as part of its active community. In the UK there are a number of mature events servicing strong demand for well-run competitions at all levels. Based on participation data from these events there are over 25,000 active competitive functional fitness athletes in the UK.

Spectatorship

Spectatorship is an important element of our growing sport. Estimates total a global audience of more than 100 million people worldwide following functional fitness sporting competitions annually with 13 million functional fitness followers regularly getting their news via social media.

Sport Format

International & National Level

Competitive Programming in International Functional Fitness Medley Style Competitions follows the following methodology:

• • The tests are known in characteristics (i.e the categories or capacities being tested stay constant) but are unknown in demand (i.e. the actual movements, repetitions, loads, time domains, etc. being tested change at each competition).
  • The tests are created with the intention of allowing athletes to perform to their max potential
  • The tests for the iF3 World Championships are initially created by the Programming Committee
  • All tests themselves are then performed and tested for safety, reliability, and response elicited well in advance of the competition date.
  • The final testing protocol for the competition is sent to the Board of Directors for final approval.

Individual Medley

The Sport Format in Individual Medley competition used at iF3 sanctioned competitions takes place over 2 – 3 days and comprises six tests of fitness, each defined within a given time domain (typically lasting between 5 minutes up to 2 hours), one from each of the standard set of categories below:

1. 1. Endurance – This test contains movements designed to showcase aerobic capacity – the athlete’s ability to sustain effort over an extended period of time
   2. Strength – This is a test of absolute strength challenging an athlete’s strength, timing, coordination, and athleticism all while working under a heavy load
   3. Bodyweight – This test contains bodyweight movements paired with aerobically challenging tasks. A athlete is required to complete a high number of repetitions quickly
   4. Skill – This test contains advanced skill work to challenge the athlete’s ability to pace, range of motion, skill, and core control
   5. Mixed Modal  – This test contains a variety of tasks and challenges encompassing all the other categories. An athlete is challenged to perform movement variations, control pacing, transition between movements, and handle load variations
   6. Power – This is a test of speed and power where a fixed amount of work is completed as fast as possible with an appropriate strategy

Team Medley

The Team Medley is also a 2 – 3 day team functional fitness competitive format. At the International level this format contains six (6) tests of fitness across a standardised set of categories and teams are composed of two male and two female athletes. The capacities tested in the Team Medley are Endurance, Strength, Bodyweight, Mixed and Strategy:

1. 1. Endurance – This test contains movements designed to showcase aerobic capacity – the athlete’s ability to sustain effort over an extended period of time
   2. Strength – This is a test of absolute strength challenging an athlete’s strength, timing, coordination, and athleticism all while working under a heavy load
   3. Bodyweight – This test contains bodyweight movements paired with aerobically challenging tasks. A athlete is required to complete a high number of repetitions quickly
   4. Mixed 1 – This test contains a variety of tasks and challenges. It is often performed in an interval format requiring teammates to perform one after another or in pairs.
   5. Mixed 2 – Same as above
   6. Strategy – This test requires the team to formulate a unique plan in order to finish the movements fastest. This typically requires assigning each athlete on the team to a specific movement within the test.

LOCAL level

Local level competitions vary in format to allow for broader community and grassroots engagement. These types of competitions are more accessible and are aimed at increased participation and growth of the sport in various communities.

Types of events can include, but are not limited to:

• • Speed benchmark where athletes advance throughout the field completing required and varied work, until the winner crosses the finish line (i.e. fitness racing style like HYROX events)
  • Individual and team medley (as described above) but:
    • Could include mixed pairs (2s, or 3s same or mixed sex or 4s, 6s of mixed sex in open or age group categories)
    • Could have limited categories of the tests to be fitted into a single day (instead of the usual 2-3 days)

Sport Divisions

There are four sport divisions used at BF3 and iF3 ranked competitions: youth, open (individual), open (team), and masters. Competitive functional fitness is thus inclusive of all age groups from under 12 to 65+, with different age group categories ensuring fair competition. Our focus on youth and masters-level competition is unusual, but integral to the community-based character of the sport. 

Junior: there are four junior age groups: under 12, 13 – 14, 15 – 16, 17 – 18

Open (individual): the Open age group encompasses two age groups: 19 & 20 and any age over 18 (typically 21 – 29)

Open (team): the team format is four athletes, two male and two female (MMFF), any age

Masters: there are eight masters categories: 30 to 34, 35 to 39, 40 to 44, 45 to 49, 50 to 54, 55 to 59, 60 to 64, and 65+

Movements

All movements are listed in the general movement standards document which is available on the iF3 Website. BF3 uses the movement standards provided by the iF3. If a movement is not listed in the movement standards document it is not available for inclusion in competition events ranked by BF3.

The Movement Standards exist to allow athletes, coaches, and officials to understand:

• what movements are eligible for inclusion in competition
• how those movements will be judged
• how to train during the season to ensure athletes will meet the required standards on competition day.

When competition tests are announced the BF3 may issue special regulations to elaborate on test flow or special circumstances unique to that particular competition which are not covered by the movement standards.

The Movement Standards document is available for download all season long on the iF3 website. Athletes, coaches, and officials are expected to have read and have thorough knowledge of the movement standards before entering the BF3 or iF3 competition.