As exercise programs and methods become popular and develop, they also gather myths from people who overheard “something” said but weren’t fully aware of the context. Here are a few common misconceptions about CrossFit and the truth behind them.
This depends entirely on what you’re training for. If you want to improve your cardiovascular system? It’s fantastic. Can it be adjusted to suit people at different capability levels and gradually increased? Yes, but the best way to get in shape is to talk to a professional about a program individualized for your specific goals.
Any exercise program can result in injury if performed incorrectly or if the person exercising doesn’t listen to their trainer. CrossFit is no different from any other program in that if it’s approached intelligently and done correctly, it can have amazing health benefits and not result in injury.
Women are often concerned with becoming too muscular, and CrossFit utilizes a lot of muscle. The size of a woman’s muscle structure depends on her natural body type and diet, not CrossFit. The purpose of CrossFit moves is to improve power, not increase muscle bulk.
CrossFit utilizes high-intensity exercises from weightlifting, agility work, calisthenics, gymnastics and traditional cardiovascular workouts. These combined are CrossFit programs, but the exercises themselves have been successfully used for decades.
The beauty of CrossFit is how easy it is to scale the intensity of workouts to a person’s body, fitness level and abilities. It can be utilized by any age and current fitness level, gradually pushed forward in intensity and adjusted to provide the greatest benefit to the person doing it.
CrossFit has myths and misconceptions like any sport or exercise program, but the benefits greatly outweigh the need to explain to curious people what your workout is!
