When it comes to achieving total fitness, there are workouts and then there are WORKOUTS. The CrossFit workout falls into the latter category. Combining just the right amounts of weight training, aerobics, and gymnastics—and then constantly mixing it up—the CrossFit workout focuses on helping you become functionally fit. Which means that you’ll have the ability and energy to live life to the fullest and meet the challenges and demands of the real world. If you’ve been looking for a workout that will take you to a whole new level of lasting fitness, here’s a look at 7 solid benefits of the CrossFit workouts.
1. The Muscle Confusion Benefit
While hitting the gym and doing the same workout each time (boring!) may seem like a workouts for women good way to see results and track your progress, the truth is that this mode of training will actually cause your progress to plateau. That’s because muscle fibers are very adaptable and quickly become accustomed to repetitive training routines. To maximize results, you need to create muscle confusion by regularly changing up your workouts. The CrossFit workout incorporates a wide variety of exercises such as weight lifting, gymnastics, calisthenics, plyometrics, sprinting, and others to work all your muscle groups to the max and keep your mind and body actively engaged.
2. The Intensity Benefit
The CrossFit workouts can be summed up in one word—intensity. Sure, you could spend 45 minutes to an hour or more in the gym, but a high-intensity CrossFit workout will get you far better results in 15-20 minutes. CrossFit eliminates all those time-wasting rest periods between reps and exercises. The result being a compressed, non-stop shot of calorie-burning, muscle building exercise.
3. The Effort Maximizing Benefit
Face it. A typical gym workout gives you all kinds of opportunities to dial down the effort, either by doing a few less reps than you know you should or by taking longer breaks between sets. But when it’s all said and done, your results will only be as good as the kind of effort you put in. The 15-20 minute CrossFit workout is inherently designed to demand maximum effort—the kind of consistent effort that will get you to your fitness goals much quicker.
4. The Convenience Benefit
Our lives have become busier than ever. And the last thing we need is to be spending all our spare time working out at the gym. Where other workouts often require at least an hour of gym time, the CrossFit workouts is incredibly efficient—getting you out of the gym and on with your life in way less time and with way better results than conventional workouts.
While most gyms by design encourage their patrons to work out without having to interact with those around them, CrossFit gyms or “boxes”, as they are called, pride themselves in providing a community workout experience for their clients. Although all of the workouts are done in groups, there is no pressure to compete with anyone but you. In fact, since each member of the group shares the common goal and commitment to get in shape, the group serves to provide collective encouragement to help each member push it to the max in reaching their own individual goals. This sense of community can be a strong source of motivation to keep people coming back and sticking with the program.
6. The Coaching Benefit
Super intense workouts require proper coaching to make sure all the exercises are done as safely and efficiently as possible. That’s where the CrossFit certified instructors come in. The primary goal of a CrossFit instructor is to serve as a personal trainer— instructing, motivating, and tailoring each workout to best meet the needs and goals of the individual member.
7. The Balanced Nutrition Benefit
The CrossFit workouts burns a ton of calories, and the body requires balanced nutrition to properly refuel. As a part of the plan to help you achieve functional fitness, CrossFit offers nutritional education as to what foods are best to eat and avoid in order to keep both body and mind functioning at their absolute best. By incorporating balanced nutrition with the CrossFit workout, you’ll be on your way to achieving a level of fitness that will exceed your expectations.
