From the Army to CrossFit

Chandler Smith

This week's episode is an exciting one. If you've been following MOPs & MOEs on Instagram you'll know that, in addition to the regularly scheduled military human performance content, we occasionally transform into a fan page for the one and only Chandler Smith. This week, we finally have him on for a chat!

When we recorded this conversation Chandler was in the final weeks of preparation for his fourth CrossFit Games appearance, where he ultimately placed 7th. This year was a comeback season for him after a massive asthma attack during last year's semifinals derailed his season.

Chandler grew up around athletics, his father was an NFL fullback and now works as a strength and conditioning coach for the Dallas Cowboys. Chandler wrestled throughout high school and at West Point, discovering CrossFit as a conditioning tool along the way.

Graduating in 2015, Chandler was commissioned as an Armor Officer and started focusing more and more on training for competitive CrossFit with a goal of making it to the Games by 2022. Despite a couple of setbacks including losing part of his left ring finger in an Army training accident in 2017 and having to train in highly austere conditions while deployed in 2018, he ended up beating his goal and qualifying for the Games in 2019. He has since separated from the Army and is now a full-time professional CrossFit athlete.

Chandler is also very involved in the programming of his training, reflecting his interest in understanding the why behind various training approaches. This gives us a unique opportunity to talk to someone who is not only well versed on the Xs and Os of training but also applies those principles at an elite level.

If you want to learn more about what happened to Chandler last year, we highly recommend the In the Arena documentary following his 2022 season.

You can find Chandler on Instagram here.