7 Surprising Health Benefits Of CrossFit You Should Know

Founded in 2000, CrossFit has shown that it has umpteen serious health and fitness benefits. It’s goal being to return fitness to the basics via several low-tech, functional movements combining gymnastics, weight training, Olympic weight training, and metabolic conditioning. Continue reading to learn some surprising health benefits of CrossFit.

1. Improves overall strength- CrossFit can help you get stronger. Since it incorporates lifting weights, resistance training as well as Olympic weightlifting, all of such fitness modalities can improve your power, speed, coordination, accuracy, balance, agility and cardiovascular & respiratory endurance. One study has found that multi-joint exercises are effective at improving strength and general fitness.

2. Calorie burn will continue post workouts- A majority of the CrossFit workouts will include weight lifting which tends to torch calories during and after the workout. This is because, your muscle mass is one major determining factor of your metabolic rate and when you gain muscle by CrossFit, it leads to a faster metabolism.

3. Improves heart health- While most CrossFit workouts do not include traditional cardio training methods, it is totally possible to improve your cardiovascular health by doing these 3-5 minutes. One study has found that three minutes of all-out exercise done on a weekly basis improved cardiac health in obese/overweight individuals.

4. It makes you a better runner- CrossFit improves your overall strength and improves performance. One study has reported that when runners add a couple of strength training to their workout regimen every week, their running efficiency improves significantly.

5. Helps reduce risk of Injuries- Some functional movements being done as exercise (sitting down and getting up from desk, carrying a heavy duffle bag, etc) form the foundation of many CrossFit workouts and they help keep your body in physical readiness for the demands of daily life and can help perform daily activities (like shoveling snow or moving a heavy furniture) successfully and safely.

6. Offers better sleep quality- Several CrossFit enthusiasts have reported improvement in their sleep quality. Although any kind of exercise improves sleep quality, high-intensity training such as CrossFit, in particular, is found to be very effective in improving sleep quality.

7. Promotes mental health- CrossFit not only trains your muscles but your brain as well. It created mental toughness since the workouts give you the chance to use positive self-talk and encourage yourself through challenging moments in life. CrossFit enthusiasts have reported that they have seen incredible changes in their mental positivity levels.