Armorborn

The Problem: No Lane for the Power Athlete

I spent years training CrossFit alongside some of the best—regional competitors, Games athletes, the kind of people who made the sport look effortless.

I wasn't at their level. Not in most workouts.

But every time we programmed something short—something brutal and fast—I won. By a lot.

20-second bike sprints and agility? I'd gap the field.
Max reps couplet in 90 seconds? I'd set the standard.
A 2-minute metcon with weightlifting and high skill? I'd finish while others were still mid-round.

It wasn't that I was better. I just had a different engine.

I was fast, powerful, agile and explosive—but the moment a workout stretched past 2 minutes, I fell apart. My body couldn't handle the volume. The aerobic grind destroyed me. I'd overtrain. I'd break down. I'd watch my performances slip while trying to build a system that didn't fit my physiology.

And I knew I wasn't alone.

There were hundreds—maybe thousands—of athletes out there with the same gift:

• Former sprinters who could move massive loads at breakneck speed

• Combat athletes who thrived in short, violent bursts

• Powerlifters and Olympic lifters who could generate absurd force but had no interest in 20-minute AMRAPs

• Field sport athletes—football players, rugby athletes, wrestlers—who were built to dominate for seconds or minutes, not hours

We had no lane.

CrossFit celebrated the aerobic grinder. Endurance sports belonged to the long, slow athlete. Powerlifting stripped away the dynamic. Strongman lacked the skill variety.

Where was the sport for us?

The Decathlon Experiment: Close, But Not Quite

I tried the decathlon for a while. I loved the concept—10 events, 9 of them anaerobic, testing speed, power, and explosiveness across multiple disciplines.

But the sport had limits:

• Not enough skill variety (running, jumping, throwing—that's it)

• Not enough movement diversity (no pulling, no gymnastics, no mixed modalities)

• Too track-specific (didn't translate to functional, real-world athleticism)

The decathlon was built for track athletes. I needed something functional, explosive, and infinitely scalable.

I needed a sport where every event was a test of maximum output—not pacing, not survival, but pure power under pressure.

The Moment Everything Clicked

One day, frustrated with another long CrossFit workout that left me feeling slow and beaten up, I decided to make up my own test.

2 minutes. That's it.

20 wall balls for buy-in. Then max alternating devil's presses in the time remaining.

I set the clock. I attacked.

And something happened.

The intensity was insane. My heart rate spiked immediately. My lungs burned. My shoulders screamed. But I wasn't grinding—I was executing.

Every rep mattered. Every second counted. There was no pacing strategy, no "save something for the end." It was full violence, start to finish.

When the clock hit 2:00, I was destroyed—but in the best way.

I felt alive.

More importantly, I realized something:

This stimulus was different.

It wasn't just "cardio." It wasn't just "strength." It was:

• Power production under fatigue

• Skill execution at redline

• Mental composure when your body is begging you to quit

• The ability to recover and do it again

This was anaerobic capacity, explosive strength, and functional skill—all tested in a way that built better athletes without breaking them down.

This was the sport I'd been searching for.

The Realization: This Isn't Just for Me

I started programming more sub 2-minute tests. Different movements. Different rep schemes. Different stimuli.

Toes to rings, double unders, handstand push ups. Cleans and box jumps. biking, muscle-ups and carry’s.

Every time, the same thing happened:

The explosive athletes crushed it.

The people who struggled in 15-minute grinders? They dominated here.
The athletes who could never keep up with the Games-level aerobic machines? They set the standard in these short, brutal tests.

We finally had a lane.

But more than that—this training made us better athletes.

• Our power output increased (short bursts = CNS adaptation without overtraining)

• Our movement quality improved (you can't survive 2 minutes of bad mechanics)

• Our recovery got faster (high rest-to-work ratios = better adaptation)

• Our longevity improved (we weren't beating ourselves up with 60+ minute sessions every day)

CrossFit Gave Us the Foundation. Explosive Athlete Gave Us the Test.

I'll say this clearly: I believe every athlete needs a solid GPP program like CrossFit (mixes all energy systems, functional movement patters, physical skills and modalities).

The broad base of fitness, the skill development, the strength foundation—that's non-negotiable.

But not every athlete thrives in the same competition format.

CrossFit rewards the aerobic grinder who can pace through 20-minute chippers and still hit muscle-ups at the end.

Armorborn rewards the athlete who can unleash maximum output in 2 minutes—and do it again and again.

It's not better. It's not worse.

It's a different test for a different athlete.

And the beauty of this sport?

The event possibilities are infinite.

Every event is a new challenge. Every athlete has a chance to shine.

The Bigger Vision: A Sport for the Explosive

Armorborn was born from frustration.

Frustration with not having a lane in the fitness world.
Frustration with overtraining on long, slow work that didn't fit my body.
Frustration with not realizing power athletes are world class in athleticism not fitness

We're just built differently.

We're the sprinters. The fighters. The powerlifters. The jumpers. The throwers. The athletes who strike fast and strike hard.

We don't need 20 minutes to prove ourselves.

Give us 2 minutes. That's all we need.

This Sport Has Infinite Potential

Because here's the truth:

Armorborn isn't limited by geography, equipment, or accessibility.

You don't need snow (like cross-country skiing).
You don't need a track (like the decathlon).
You don't need specialized facilities.

You can preform this sport with basically nothing and a clock. You can add a massive amount of variety with a barbell, a pull up bar and some basic equipment.

That's it.

And because every event is 2 minutes or less, you can:

• Run competitions in a single day (6 events or less depending on your field size, full recovery between rounds)

• Test infinite movement combinations (strength, gymnastics, mono-structural, odd objects)

• Scale to any athlete level (masters, teens, beginners—everyone can compete)

• Create a spectator-friendly experience (short, intense, exciting—like watching a fight)

This is a sport that can grow anywhere.

Who This Sport Is For

Armorborn is for the athlete who:

• Loves short, intense efforts (not 30-minute grinders)

• Thrives under pressure (when the clock is ticking and every rep matters)

• Values power and skill over pacing (you can't fake explosiveness)

• Wants to train hard without overtraining (2-minute efforts = high stimulus, low volume)

• Enjoys variety (every event is different, infinite movement combinations)

This is for the combat athlete. The sprinter. The jumper. The lifter. The explosive CrossFitter who never quite fit the mold.

This is for you.

The Final Word

Armorborn started as a personal experiment—a way to test myself in a format that actually fit my body.

But it became something bigger.

It became a sport for the athletes who were tired of being told they weren't "fit enough" just because they couldn't pace through 20-minute workouts.

It became a training system that builds better athletes without destroying them.

It became a competition format that rewards power, precision, and poise—not just survival.

Armorborn isn't about pacing.

It's about who can strike hardest—and recover to do it again.

It's about finding your lane and owning it.