Why the study?
The study was conducted to examine the impact of CrossFit workout sessions on physical fitness, comparing outcomes with American College of Sports Medicine recommendations, and to provide suggestions for training monitoring.
Does CrossFit practice improve physical fitness and overall quality of life in untrained and recreationally active individuals?
Does CrossFit practice improve physical fitness and overall quality of life in untrained and recreationally active individuals?
CrossFit improves physical fitness, cardiovascular conditioning, and mental health, but requires adequate recovery to prevent overtraining and muscle damage.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Advise recovery monitoring after CrossFit to prevent overtraining; leaves open long-term safety and QoL effects in RCTs.
We have examined the impact of CrossFit® workout sessions on physical fitness, comparing the obtained outcomes with the recommendations of the American College of Sports Medicine. In addition, we provide suggestions to improve training monitoring, as well as practical applications for researchers, coaches and practitioners. CrossFit® imposes high cardiorespiratory and metabolic demands, promoting improvements in circulatory capacity, oxidative metabolism and muscular endurance. Sustained elevations in heart rate contribute to cardiovascular conditioning, while a post-exercise hypotensive effect may help to reduce cardiovascular risks. Structured CrossFit® programs have led to improvements in maximal strength and muscular endurance, with substantial increases in squat performance observed in both untrained and recreationally active individuals. In addition, CrossFit® improves mental health through its motivating community. However, the high metabolic demands, increased creatine kinase levels and reduced performance in the countermovement jump reveal that muscle damage and neuromuscular fatigue can persist for up to 48 h. Balancing these intense sessions with adequate recovery is crucial, as improper management may lead to overtraining and compromise fitness gains. Future research should explore long-term cardiovascular adaptations, differences in gains and recovery between males and females and the application of real-time biomarker and artificial intelligence technologies to improve the training efficiency and safety. Machine learning algorithms could further personalize feedback, adapting to each individual's biomechanics and physiological responses over time.
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Rios et al. (2024) studied this question.
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