Pros and Cons of CrossFit

West Hollywood CrossFit has been around for almost 2 decades since its creation in 2000. And while a lot of people are still uncertain about its effectiveness, it still remains relevant in the fitness world. What do people get out of CrossFit?

Doing CrossFit exercises has a positive impact on an individual’s health. It improves a person’s lung and heart endurance, accuracy, agility, and power. It also helps improve speed, stamina, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance.

It’s essential that you set a goal when doing CrossFit exercises. If you want to gain weight, lose weight, or gain muscles, CrossFit will help you get there. Just remember that you wouldn’t see the benefits overnight.

Below are the reasons why many people are interested in CrossFit.

  • Better Conditioning. West Hollywood CrossFit programs are designed to help increase an individual’s physical performance. Doing CrossFit exercises helps train muscles, joints, and ligaments through functional movements. This means that CrossFit isn’t just about you looking good in a bathing suit. It’s about you improving your health, posture, strength, flexibility, and balance.
  • Lose Weight Fast. High-intensity training exercises burn more fat in a short period of time. This is what people fail to realize. In the Journal of Strength and Conditioning, a study that was published in 2013 proved this. The study says that CrossFit helps improve maximal aerobic capacity. It means that body composition, fitness level, gender, or their muscle and fat percentages do not affect the results.

According to this study, the respondents had to undergo a 10-week training. The results showed a significant improvement of maximal aerobic capacity. The results also showed a decreased body fat percentage.

  • More Results, Less Time. A lot of people avoid workout exercises because they take time. High intensity workouts like CrossFit is their solution. The more intense and shorter the workouts are, the more the adherence increases. Adherence increases especially if there’s control over the intensity. These short and intense workouts are called group-based high intensity functional training (HIFT).

Kansas State University conducted a study in 2013 to compare the effects of HIFT and Aerobic Resistance Training (ART). HIFT participants were faster in doing the exercises compared to ART participants.

  • Solid Support System and Group Motivation. What makes people love CrossFit is its sense of community. On a group-based setting, CrossFitters get to help encourage and motivate each other. They also get to instruct fellow CrossFitters inside the CrossFit Box.

Group exercises help CrossFitters perceive the classes more positively. Although the individual goals are different, everyone is motivated to stick with the program.

It is important to have a strong support system in order to overcome challenges that can keep you from eating right and exercising. Because of this setting, the dropout rate is low and everyone is accountable.

  • Avoid Plateauing. West Hollywood CrossFit is based on functional movements that are done with high intensity. This type of workout is the most effective in achieving the results in a very short period of time. This also helps CrossFitters break through boredom and avoid plateauing.

Plateauing happens if your body only recognizes the same type of workout. CrossFit exercises always change so you’re not limited to just one type of workout. Your body will be used to the intense exercises because your muscles always have to work differently everyday.

Each program can be adjusted in order to accommodate different types of people. This is by modifying the duration, weight load, and the intensity of the workout. These will depend on the individual’s level of physical fitness.

While CrossFit sounds too good to be true, it has its drawbacks, too. Below are the reasons why people prefer to execute regular workouts.

  • CrossFit is too costly. No matter how fantastic CrossFit seems to be, people still prefer regular workouts because of its price. CrossFit boxes usually charge up to five times what regular gyms do. It would cost $70 for regular gyms monthly but it would cost up to $260 for CrossFit boxes.

Usually, when people see that the price is too high for them, they’d immediately say no, without even considering the benefits.

  • There’s a high risk of injury. When people try to push themselves too much, too hard, too fast, then there’s a risk of rhabdomyolysis. Rhabdomyolysis is the breakdown of muscle fibers. When that happens, those muscle fibers are released into the bloodstream and poison the kidneys.

This is a serious injury but this only happens to a small percentage of CrossFitters. This also happens as a result of a very taxing workout.

  • Form is sacrificed. Most CrossFit movements are borrowed from sports that require practice, skill, and discipline. These sports include gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, etc. At the same time, the details of the movements are often ignored. That’s because of CrossFit’s competitive nature. It emphasizes speed so the proper form of the movements are ignored. This is the main reason why injuries happen.

Workouts should help improve an individual’s overall health. The first step to achieve that is to increase movement efficiency. And as the saying goes, “forewarned is forearmed.” Have a base of fitness and be careful to avoid the dangers of CrossFit.

To be successful in your fitness endeavor, there are a few things that you should do.

  • Pay attention to your body.
  • Workout within your limits. You know if your body can still handle the exercises or not.
  • Make sure that you properly warm up and you stay hydrated. Stretch after the CrossFit exercises. You’ll sweat a lot so don’t forget to drink water.
  • Give yourself enough time to recover. Rest when you feel exhausted.
  • Follow your coach. Pay close attention to your coach to make sure that you’re able to execute the movements correctly.

Don’t be afraid to enroll in West Hollywood CrossFit classes just because of the risks. Know the risks of CrossFit and use this knowledge to your advantage. If you can afford the classes and if you want to be physically fit, then enroll now.