He’s trying to become CrossFit’s ‘Fittest Man on Earth’

What does it take to be one of the top CrossFit athletes in the world?

For Miami native Noah Ohlsen, it’s a combination of the three workouts he does for four to five hours a day, the support of his girlfriend, Joann and his #instafamous dog, Maximus, as well as the CrossFit community.

“I know it sounds cliche — but the more that I’ve been able to grow my platform, share my experiences and inspire others, the more this career in CrossFit has meant to me,” he says.

Ohlsen, 29, is the only person from the Miami area to qualify for the Reebok CrossFit Games, which run from Thursday through Sunday in Madison, Wisconsin. The Games are a grueling test of fitness that can include aerobic, weightlifting, and gymnastics competitions, as well as surprise workouts like obstacle courses, ocean swimming and bike races.

Ohlsen, a CrossFit coach, has competed for the last five years. After two unsuccessful attempts at Regionals in 2012 and 2013, he won the South East Regional in 2014. In 2015, he won the Worldwide Open, beating hundreds of thousands of people. He just missed the podium in 2017, placing fourth.

Ohlsen says he finally feels like a veteran going into his sixth games.

“I don’t know why it took ‘til year six to feel that way, but I finally feel like I have a grasp of what it’s like to compete in the games,” he says. “With so many new athletes from around the world, I think the fact that I’ll be one of the few that have that multi-year experience makes me feel more comfortable out there.”

Ohlsen wasn’t always the 190-pound, 72 pull-ups-without-stopping machine. Ohlsen has always been into fitness, playing lacrosse, water polo and wrestling at Flanagan High in Pembroke Pines before going to the University of Miami, where he earned his bachelor and master’s degrees in strength and conditioning.

“When I first started CrossFit,” Noah says, “I didn’t have much weightlifting experience and I was relatively scrawny.

“I was 5’6”, 5’ 7” and 150 pounds, which for an average person is not too shabby, but in the CrossFit Games community, if you want to be a top-level athlete, I would say the average body weight is about 30 pounds heavier than that, 30 to 40 pounds even.”

After seeing a poster for a CrossFit gym with a guy who was ripped, Noah decided to give the “box” (a nickname for CrossFit gyms) a try. His coach, Guido Trinidad, a CrossFit Games veteran and owner of Peak 360 Athletic Performance in South Miami, was the man on the poster. Guido saw potential in Ohlsen and suggested he start drinking a gallon of milk a day to up his calorie intake.

That lasted about two weeks.

After that, he spread it out to a gallon a week until he reached his target goal of 180 pounds. According to his profile on the CrossFit Games website, Ohlsen’s weightlifting resume includes a 288-pound Snatch, 355-pound Clean and Jerk, 445-pound Back Squat and a 505-pound Deadlift.

The Games season started in January with hundreds of thousands of athletes at over 15,000 worldwide affiliates competing in the Open, five weeks of workouts that determine part of the field that will be invited to the Games. Ohlsen placed 60th worldwide, which he says was partly due to his least favorite exercise, Wall Balls.

“I’m a little shorter, so getting that 20- or 30-pound ball all the way up to that 10-foot target has always been tough.”

After the open, a series of Sanctional events and an online qualifier gave potential athletes another opportunity to earn a spot in the competition.

This year, about 115 national champions and the fittest 35 men, 35 women, 14 teams, 40 teenagers, and 120 masters will compete in 19 different divisions ranging from ages 15-60+.

The Wisconsin games will be the first year where there will be cuts throughout the weekend. After the first event, the field will be whittled from 150 to 75 and cuts will continue until 10 are left on Sunday, when only one can claim the coveted title of “Fittest on Earth” and a cash prize of $300,000.

“I haven’t felt the nerves of the cuts just yet,’’ Ohlsen said. “I actually almost feel the opposite. I’m excited to have small goals to celebrate at the end of each day. In the past, points accumulate throughout the weekend and nothing really matters until the final day. Now you have something that matters each day.”

Being part of the elite in such a demanding sport, Ohlsen demurs when asked about being the best. He says he has “yet to truly be the best” as he hasn’t reached his ultimate goal of winning the entire competition.

“You’ll have to check back in with me in a couple of weeks and hopefully I can give you that answer.”

This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 6:00 AM.