Adults’, involved an eight-week intervention comparing three
CrossFit sessions per week with three days per week of
aerobic exercise for 50 minutes, plus approximately 20 minutes
resistance exercise on two of those days. The key finding was
that even though the CrossFit group exercised for significantly
less time per week (38.7 ± 15.6 minutes) than the AerobicResistance Training group (190.0 ± 10.7 minutes), not only was
there no significant difference between glucose control between
the two groups, there were greater improvements in fitness in
the CrossFit group. The CrossFit group included seven males
and five females, compared to the other group which had three
males and eight females. The uneven distribution in the groups of
males and females may explain much of the increased changes
in fitness in the CrossFit group, which has a dominant strength
foundation – and literature suggests greater changes in males
than females. However, this is an interesting area of research
that may see increased potential over the next few years.
Summary
Apart from a few case studies reporting significant injuries, in
the most part the published research shows a positive effect
on CrossFit participants in either acute response or shot term
interventions. Injury rates, while topical, appear to be similar
to traditional resistance training and, as in normal training
environments, these reduce when coaching is increased. The
current topic of conversation around the value in CrossFit,
regards working at maximal levels under fatigue for extended
periods, has yet to appear as research in the literature. There
is certainly a lot of material available on the internet about the
value of CrossFit, but most is unsubstantiated with no peer
review process, or absent of any real scientific rigour. In closing,
the limited body of evidence suggests that CrossFit training
potentially has a number of benefits that match those previously
reported for both resistance training and conditioning activities,
and is worth considering as a training option.
Dr Mark McKean PhD AEP CSCS is a sport and exercise scientist and
Level 3 Master Coach with ASCA. He is Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
at USC and editor in chief for Journal of Fitness Research.
29 APRIL TO 1 MAY 2016 / MELBOURNE CONVENTION CENTRE
Benefit from Mark’s insights at the fitness industry’s premier event
• Instability training – to balance or not? (A3D)
• The 7 basic moves to assess movement competency (B2E)
All details and registration at filex.com.au
MEMBERSHIP
EARN YOUR FREE CEC!
Every issue of Network magazine includes an article linked to a FREE 1-CEC exam, which you can complete at
fitnessnetwork.com.au/cecs. This quarter, the multiple-choice exam is based on ‘Evidence-based practice: CrossFit’
and two other online articles by Dr Mark McKean.
To earn yourself 1 CEC, simply log on to fitnessnetwork.com.au/cecs, click on the FREE tab and select
‘Evidence-based practice’ from the list. Read the linked articles online, successfully complete your exam, print your
certificate and you’re done!
For help logging on to the site, please email [email protected] or call our friendly team on 1300 493 832.
1300 493 832 | FITNESSNETWORK.COM.AU/CECS
32 | NETWORK AUTUMN 2016