4 Remarkable CrossFit Benefits

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CrossFit has multiple benefits for your health. With the CrossFit functional movements at their core, CrossFit workouts improve your physical strength, your joint mobility, and flexibility. Also, CrossFit training can help you burn calories and manage your weight. Here are four benefits we believe you will get by attending a CrossFit class at your local gym. 

  1. Improving your physical strength. Maybe you are an athlete that is already fit but would like to advance your training. It could be that you are petite and would like to add on some muscle. Perhaps it’s time to get back some of the strength you lost after injury or an exercise hiatus. Whatever your goal is for strength, CrossFit class can help you get there. 

Healthline.com defines CrossFit as a high-intensity power fitness (HIPT). It includes activities that focus on muscle groups and multi-joint movements. Examples are plyometric jumping (which means jump training), Olympic weightlifting, using kettlebells, and also explosive bodyweight movements. Also, the workout of the day, or what we call WOD, can help you keep you fit and moving. The WOD is sets of different exercises posted each day that will expand your movements and give you a chance to improve your form and repetitions within a set time.

  1. Increasing joint mobility and flexibility. Now, when compared to gaining strength and burning calories, these benefits might seem a little less sexy. However, joint mobility is an essential part of physical fitness. 

Joint mobility is how your body moves when you are doing work. For example, joint mobility is what makes it possible for you to bend down and lift a heavy box off the floor. Moreover, as Health Fitness Revolution points out, CrossFit functional movements teach you the proper way to perform the task and reduce your risk of injury while you do it. 

  1. Burning calories. As a result of its HIPT style, CrossFit training burns calories. Experts agree that this benefit results from the fact that many of the exercises are compound exercises, meaning they work a lot of muscle groups at the same time. An example of a compound exercise is the (beloved) burpee. 

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How many calories will you burn? Shape.com refers to research out of the University of Wisconsin that said women who do CrossFit burned 12 or more calories per minute. Of course, that number will vary based on several factors, but without a doubt, CrossFit is a calorie-burning class. 

  1. Managing weight. Now, just because you burn calories at a high rate, that doesn’t mean you are going to lose weight doing a CrossFit workout automatically. However, it is a fantastic start. 

No matter how you spin it, losing weight is a simple concept: you must burn more calories than you take in. From there, of course, it gets more complicated. Nonetheless, to lose weight, fewer calories should be going in than out. So, in addition to regular CrossFit training, you need to eat a healthy diet of nutrient-dense, low glycemic index foods. (There will be more on the nutrition side of CrossFit later.) 

There you have it, many of the most significant CrossFit training benefits. However, this isn’t an exhaustive list. By mastering the CrossFit functional movements, you might discover a few new benefits of your own. One thing we know, it’s never too late to try a CrossFit workout and see how CrossFit classes can help you reach your fitness goals. 

Have more questions about the benefits of CrossFit or any of your other fitness goals? Call us at 562.623.7857. Or email us at K2CrossFit@Gmail.com.

K2 CrossFit is a fully-equipped CrossFit facility in Koreatown, Los Angeles offering CrossFit classes, mobility WODs, personal training, and nutrition counseling. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Sources:

“What Are the Benefits of CrossFit and Is It Safe?” healthline.com. Web. 29 October 2019. <https://www.healthline.com/health/exercise-fitness/crossfit-benefits#weight-management>. 

Kassel, Gabrielle. “15 Health and Fitness Benefits of CrossFit.” Shape.com. Web. October 2019. <https://www.shape.com/fitness/tips/health-fitness-benefits-crossfit>. 

“Top 10 Health Benefits of CrossFit” healthfitnessrevolution.com. 7 May 2015. Web. 29 October 2019. <https://www.healthfitnessrevolution.com/top-10-health-benefits-crossfit/