Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai founded it in 2000 under the registered trademark CrossFit Inc. An exercise regimen quite alright, but not just your regular fitness routines – CrossFit is a customized/branded fitness regimen involving high-intensity strength and conditioning workout routine made up of everyday functional movements. It consists of a blend of cardio and resistance exercises like kettle belling, Olympic weightlifting, calisthenics, powerlifting, and the likes.
With over 5 million devotees and about 14 thousand affiliated boxes (gyms) worldwide, CrossFit has gained quite the audience in the health and fitness world since its inception. It is also claimed that the routine fits everyone, both men and women, at any level in life. Devotees’ competitively try to accomplish each workout of the day (WOD) which is part of the program – there is a new set of routines for each day.
Today, we want to know how safe (or not) CrossFit is for you as a woman.
So, what does CrossFit do to a woman’s body? Keep reading for the pros and cons of Crossfit for women.
Pros of CrossFit to a woman’s body
Although a controversial exercise routine, CrossFit has been applauded for different things by fitness cults, and here are some:
- Improves physical strength
CrossFit is sure to improve your physical strength, agility, and stamina. With its high-intensity routines of everyday functional movements like squats and kettlebell swings, your muscles are challenged, improving balance, flexibility, and the likes. In addition to this, your pain resistance ability is improved, and you develop overall bodily strength.
- Burn calories faster
With CrossFit customized routines, you are sure to burn an average of 15 calories per minute. It’s an excellent selection for a weight loss plan but should be accompanied by an equally ideal weight loss nutrition plan for you. This is so much more than how many calories you will burn doing regular exercise routines.
- Competitions and games
CrossFit holds an annual Crossfit Game every year for competitors to win the title “Fittest on Earth.” The program also avails devotees the opportunity to try out at various CrossFit competitions at local, regional and national levels as individuals or teams.
Cons of CrossFit to a woman’s body
What do they say about something having advantages and also disadvantages? Controversies have trailed the very intense fitness workout plan since it was established in 2000 and the following are some of the reasons why some may not recommend CrossFit for a woman or just about anyone:
- High risk of injury
People have criticized CrossFit for promoting dangerous movements and high-risk exercise intensity levels, which causes injury to participants. The fitness routine has also been alleged to cause exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER), a life-threatening breakdown of the muscles due to extreme exertion.
Debunking this claim, Crossfit Inc assures that CrossFit is safer when performed with good and quality techniques, and injuries can be avoided by adequately scaling and modifying workout routines.
- More muscle than you might want
CrossFit routines focus mainly on building muscle mass, burning lots of calories at the same time. So while you might lose loads of fat, you are sure to gain toned muscles. If you do not want a body of toned muscles, you probably might want to forgo CrossFit for more subtle exercise routines. But if you don’t mind, then go for it.
- Expensive fitness plan
Well, CrossFit isn’t called an Elite regimen for anything. Membership to the CrossFit program could cost you much more than you pay at your local gym. Monthly fees allegedly exceed $150 a month. If you do mind splurging on a high-end fitness plan, you probably might want to rethink getting on it for a long time.
Takeaway
While keeping fit is undoubtedly for everyone, we shouldn’t go overboard by taking on routines with the potential to hurt us in any way. That will only be defeating the purpose of your exercise routine. In addition, people react differently to varying fitness approaches for different reasons like underlying health issues, age, ability levels, and whatnot.
The rule of thumb is to stick to what will only help develop you and give you your desired result without hurting your health in any way. Consult with your professionally trained fitness coach to know what exercises are ideal for your body, as well as nutrition plans and whatnot.