CrossFit athletes: an easier route to success

The sport of CrossFit has developed into a widely practiced sport over the past 20 years or so. Much of its appeal is that CrossFit athletes need to build and optimize a wide array of physical performance measures, such as strength, endurance, stamina, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and motor skills⁽¹⁾. For this reason, it can be considered a truly comprehensive sport for developing total and all round fitness.

Training for CrossFit

Because of the nature of the event where athletes are subject to a large variety of physical demands in a short time (around 10 minutes or so), the basis of CrossFit training is built around ‘high-intensity functional interval training (HIFT)’. With a focus on varying functional movements, HIFT training incorporates key elements of gymnastics (eg handstand and ring exercises), weightlifting exercises such as barbell squats and presses, and traditional cardiovascular activities such as running or rowing – all performed in one training bout⁽²⁾.

These HIFT exercises are typically performed quickly, repeatedly, and with comparatively high training intensity, while the inter-set recovery time is reduced⁽³⁾. Although this form of training is demanding, it remains popular with CrossFit athletes since studies have shown that it can simultaneously develop both strength⁽⁴⁾ and an increased maximal rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max)⁽⁵⁾.

The downsides of HIFT

While undoubtedly effective, HIFT has a distinct downside in that the high intensity and training load can lead to considerable fatigue and delayed recovery. If recovery is not sufficient, this in turn can result in reduced performance, disturbed sleep, increased perceived fatigue, and a higher incidence of respiratory tract infections (coughs, colds, sore throats etc)^(6,7). Importantly also, it’s during the recovery period where desirable training adaptations take place; therefore if recovery is not quite sufficient, the fitness gains resulting may fall short of what is potentially achievable⁽⁸⁾.

Is CrossFit more endurance than strength?

While it seems intuitively right that athletes should conduct mainly HIFT to prepare for CrossFit competition, some recent research has questioned this approach. Based on the winning times of individual events (ie duration from start to finish) at the CrossFit Games during the(2017–2021 period, the actual loading time is 9.0 minutes for men and 8.8 minutes for women; likewise, an analysis of the CrossFit open workouts between 2011 and 2022 reveal similar average load times⁽⁹⁾.

Looking at the exercise intensity required to maintain a high level of performance throughout these events, it becomes clear that while engaging both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems, CrossFit competition intensity lies within the intensity spectrum of many endurance-based activities. Given that’s the case, some researchers have questioned whether athletes undertaking training for CrossFit or other similar mixed endurance-strength activities should adopt the kind of training intensity distribution used by endurance athletes such as triathletes, cyclists, rowers etc.