Engine Benchmarks Worth Retesting Every Quarter
Updated: 1 day ago
Four. That's how many times a year I want you to sit down, look at a handful of engine numbers, and ask whether the last twelve weeks of conditioning did what they were supposed to do.
Not every week, because conditioning changes slowly and weekly testing mostly measures how well you slept. Not once a year either, because by then you've spent months on a plan that may not have been working. A quarter is long enough for real aerobic adaptation to show up and short enough to change course while it still matters.
The question is what to test. Below is the menu I pull from for my own training and for the athletes I coach, with how to run each test so the numbers you collect are worth comparing.
IN THIS ARTICLE
Why Engine Benchmarks Need Their Own Menu
Most CrossFit athletes already retest a few named workouts. Those are useful, but a mixed-modal score blends everything: gymnastics efficiency, grip, barbell skill, pacing and conditioning. If your Fran time improves, you don't know whether your engine got better or your pull-ups did.
Engine benchmarks isolate the aerobic and anaerobic systems on a single, repeatable piece of equipment. When one of those numbers moves, you know what moved it. That clarity is what lets you adjust the next block with confidence instead of guessing.
The Menu
You don't need all of these. Pick three: one long aerobic test, one threshold test and one short power test. Keep the same three for at least a year so you build a real history.
Benchmark | What it tells you | Category |
|---|---|---|
30-minute row or bike for distance at a steady, conversational effort | Aerobic base and efficiency | Long aerobic |
5K row or 5K run | Sustainable aerobic power | Long aerobic |
2K row | Threshold capacity and pacing discipline | Threshold |
10-minute bike or ski for calories | Threshold capacity on a machine you race on | Threshold |
1-mile run | Upper threshold running and pacing | Threshold |
500m row or 1-minute bike for calories | Short anaerobic power | Short power |
Choose tests that match how you train and where you compete. If you rarely run, a 5K run will mostly test your calves and your tolerance for boredom. If you race on a bike and a rower, test on those.
How to Run Each Test Properly
The long aerobic test
This one's different from the others, because it isn't an all-out effort. Hold an effort you could sustain while speaking in short sentences for the full 30 minutes. If you use a heart rate monitor, record your average heart rate alongside the distance. Improvement shows up as more distance at the same heart rate, or the same distance at a lower one.
It's the most revealing test on the menu and the one athletes skip most, because it doesn't feel heroic. I'll admit I used to dread it. Thirty minutes of staring at a monitor, resisting the urge to speed up. What changed my mind was seeing my distance creep up quarter after quarter while my heart rate stayed put. That's the quiet proof your engine is growing.
The threshold test
For the 2K row, 10-minute bike or mile, aim for even splits. A useful approach is to settle into a pace you believe you can hold for the whole test through the first quarter, hold it through the middle half, and only push above it in the final quarter. Record your split for each quarter, not just the final time.
I've blown this test more times than I'd like to count. The classic version: I feel great off the start, sit a few seconds under my target split for the first 500, and spend the last 500 watching the monitor drift the wrong way while my legs turn to concrete. A result with even splits is a result you can build on. A result with a fast opening and a collapsing finish tells you more about your pacing than your fitness.
The short power test
Warm up thoroughly, including two or three short build-ups to near race pace. Then go. Short tests reward aggression, but still watch the first ten seconds: on a rower or bike, an explosive start is appropriate, while a panicked one wastes energy you need at the end.
Coach's cue: Test, train, retest. The number only matters if the conditions match.
Keeping Conditions Identical
A benchmark is only comparable if the conditions around it are comparable. Before each retest, repeat the same warm-up you used last time and test at a similar time of day. Keep the same damper or resistance setting on the rower, the same equipment model where possible, and similar footwear and surface for runs. Come in rested: schedule tests after an easier day, not the morning after a heavy leg session. Log how you slept and what you ate so a strange result has an explanation.
Spread the tests across the retest week rather than stacking them in one session. Two maximal efforts in a day will contaminate the second score. A simple pattern is the long aerobic test early in the week, the threshold test midweek and the short power test at the end, with normal easier training in between.
One safety note. Maximal tests are hard on the body, especially if you've been away from intense work. If you feel chest pain, dizziness, or pain that's sharp rather than the familiar burn of effort, stop immediately and speak with a doctor before testing again. Testing is supposed to measure fitness, not threaten it.
Reading the Results Between Quarters
Once you have two or three data points, look for patterns rather than single numbers. Here are a few common ones:
Long test improving, threshold flat: your base is growing. Add or sharpen threshold intervals in the next block.
Threshold improving, long test flat or worse: you may be training too hard, too often. Protect your easy days.
Short power improving, everything else flat: common in athletes who mostly do short, intense class workouts. Your engine needs more volume at lower intensity.
Everything flat for two quarters: time to look at the whole picture, including sleep, stress, nutrition and consistency.
Progress in conditioning is rarely linear. A quarter with a small gain is still a good quarter. Two quarters without change is information, not failure. Some of my favorite coaching conversations happen right here, when an athlete messages me a little deflated about a flat number and we look at the splits together. Almost every time, there's something in there worth celebrating, like a steadier middle or a stronger finish, and a clear idea of what to change next. The point of testing is to earn the right to adjust.
Making Retests a Habit
Put your retest weeks in your calendar now, one every twelve or thirteen weeks, and treat them like appointments. Log every result in one place along with the splits, heart rate and conditions. Over a year, that record becomes the most reliable coach you have, and I say that as a coach.
If you want the engine work between those retests laid out for you, explore Sphere Programming: structured weekly conditioning that sits alongside your classes, with lifts, PRs and benchmarks tracked in the app so every quarter's numbers are right there when you retest.
Your turn. Tried this? Tell me how it went in the comments below. I read every one, and your questions help shape what I write next. If it helped, tap the heart so it reaches more athletes.
Keep reading
Further reading: American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Coach Fritz Bautista · Head Coach, ATHLETESPHERE
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) ✓ · CrossFit Programming Certificate · MBA · Digital Marketing Certified · Coaching athletes from all walks of life online
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