CrossFit and Your Health

Jennifer Thompson
May 5
5 min read

Any exercise brings health benefits. Our bodies are meant to move. With its combination of cardiovascular, strength, and mobility CrossFit offers great physical health benefits, including weight loss, muscle development, and cardio health for people of all ages. Women, in particular, benefit from CrossFit. (See the Why Women Need CrossFit video on our home page.)

Measureable

Measurable fitness and health is so core to our methodology, CrossFit, LLC has devoted an entire section of their website as a space for healthcare professionals. The 2024 CrossFit for Health summit included a 10-part series featuring fitness, performance, longevity, chronic disease, and more.

Longevity

Longevity is such a key benefit that there are numerous studies and articles from the CrossFit Medical Society around it. At its core, CrossFit is about performance and fitness mixed with community and support, but CFDA takes it a step further with our emphasis on living longer.

So why is CrossFit so effective in the longevity goal? In a word: Prevention. And the CrossFit methodology is prevention that actually works. Fitness is increased work capacity across time and domains that can be measured. If we can measure, we can manage. If you are moving more weight over various durations with greater speed you are getting fitter. And that means you’re becoming more resilient in key metrics: physically, metabolically, and neurologically.

It doesn’t stop there. There is more to longevity than simply the number of years. These benefits encompass quality of life, independence as you age, and staying strong and healthy. All of this is what creates longevity and quality of life.

Why is CrossFit so Effective

First, let’s have a deeper look at the CrossFit methodology and why it is so effective.

Functional Movement

Functional movement returns numerous benefits over the isolated training found in more traditional gyms. Functional movements engage multiple muscle groups at once, compared to exercises that isolate one or two muscles. A study conducted by PLOS sound functional training is superior to isolated training for overall strength gains and fitness improvements. This is because it causes:

Increased muscle activation
Neuromuscular coordination
Higher calorie burn, helping fat loss while building muscle

While this increases strength and improved functional abilities, it does not improve endurance, This is where HIIT comes in.

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT is another key part of CrossFit. Alternating bursts of high-intensity activity with rest periods or low-intensity intervals significantly improves both cardiovascular health and muscular endurance. This places a high demand on the cardiovascular system by causing your heart rate to spike and increasing your oxygen consumption, which leads to improved endurance. It also trains your system to adapt under load and recover effectively, reducing the risk of a health crisis.

HIIT also boosts your metabolism for hours post workout due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). A study found that HIIT improves VO2 Max (more on this metric below) more effectively than steady-state cardio, such as jogging, and promotes better aerobic capacity.

Progressive Overload

This fundamental principle refers to the gradual increase of stress placed on the body during exercise and is effective at increasing both strength and muscular endurance. In CrossFit, progressive overload can be in:

Increasing weight
Increasing reps or time
Increasing intensity with less rest or more complex movements

Variety

CrossFit workouts are designed to vary constantly, keeping the body from adapting to patterns and promoting continual improvement. When the body adapts to patterns, it leads to plateaus. The variety aspect ensures ongoing adaptation and engagement.

Lab Results

Traditionally, lab values are used to measure your health: cholesterol, blood pressure, weight, etc. These are called lagging indicators and are the warning signs that something is wrong. CrossFit focuses on leading indicators: how you performed last week and how you performed today, which gives insight into how you will perform in the future.

There’s no question we still use those lab results as part of your health indicators. How is your blood pressure? Your EKG? But instead we use that data (along with WOD results; benchmark WODs are specifically used not only to program but to track your own progress) to increase your fitness.

Cardiovascular

With its mix of aerobic and anaerobic workouts (short bursts of movement with defined rest in between), strength training, and longer endurance-focused programs, CrossFit provides excellent cardiovascular benefits. Increasing your heart rate strengthens the muscle and reduces the risk of heart attacks and stroke. This (and the VO2 Max metric described below) is tied to your HRV (Heart Rate Variation) levels.

Bone Density

Bone density is an important metric of health, especially for women. Research shows structured, heavy lifting and high-impack exercises can increase bone mineral density in the spine and hips. It also suppresses bone-degrading cells and stimulates bone-building cells. However, repetitive exercises can lead to orthopedic injuries. This helps prevent osteoporosis, but it also prevents injury and improves mobility. Doctors urge you, especially at the beginning, to learn the basics, start slowly, and listen to your coach!

Increased VO2 Max

VO2 Max is the gold standard when measuring cardiorespiratory health and determines your body’s ability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles and the muscles’ capacity to utilize that oxygen for energy. There are multiple facets. When you increase the delivery pipeline by having clearer blood vessels and a complicated word word called mitochondria, the greater the volume being delivered. When you raise the maximum amount each cell can use, they can do more. When they can do more, the result is increased energy, performance, endurance, our ability to recover, and even reverse conditions we thought were irreversible. V02 Max is seen when you are exercising at an intensity where your cells can’t get the oxygen they need to keep going. HIIT (High Intensity Interval training), done a few times a week, is key to increasing VO2 Max. Recovery is also crucial to repair tissue and increase those mitochondrial levels, etc. CFDA utilizes HIIT throughout each week in our EMOM (every minute on the minute), tabata, and interval bursts that may be paired with strength training for the day’s workout.

Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

Regular CrossFit training can lower resting blood pressure, often resulting in reductions of 5-8 mmHg diastolic and 4-10 mmHg systolic. The combination of strength training and metabolic conditions contributes to improved cholesterol levels. Research indicates HIIT is highly effective for reversing hypertension, sometimes even better than moderate-intensity training.

Improved Body Composition

Improved fitness and strength results in more muscle and reduced body fat. Increased muscle mass brings significant health benefits. Over the past decades, medicine has recognized the importance of a healthy BMI in people of all genders and ages, and have adjusted their values to mark healthy vs overweight vs obese.

Higher resting metabolism: Muscle tissue is more metabolically active and burns more calories. Naturally, this leads to better weight management.
Blood sugar control: Muscle is a primary site for glucose update. The more you have, the better your insulin sensitivity and the less your chance of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Conclusion

CrossFit’s methodology and science-backed approach is proven to be highly effective at reaching your fitness goals.Whether it is to lose weight, get stronger, or live longer; reduce the risks of injury and lack of independence when you get older; or just feel better, CrossFit’s approach has been recognized by the medical field in numerous disciplines. CrossFit Downtown Atlanta is here to help you reach those goals and have fun doing it, surrounded by coaches and other athletes who will support you and encourage you every step of the way.