Recently, crossfit for girls began to take an increasing place in the sports information field. It’s time for us to cover this topic and figure out what CrossFit is for women. What is the use of it and what is the secret of its frenzied popularity?
On the way to gender equality, women prove that not only representatives of the stronger sex can train hard, but they are also fragile, adorable creatures. Therefore, many girls “jumped” from the cardio equipment and went to master high-intensity and explosive crossfit. Well, commendable, but how justified are such sacrifices? Is such a training system harmful to health and what features do girls need to know before starting to exercise? Or maybe give preference to more familiar areas – fitness, yoga, Pilates? Read on for more on this and more.
Pros and cons of crossfit for women
Let’s summarize the pros and cons of doing CrossFit for girls.
Strengths
- Effects on all muscle groups. CrossFit training does not involve a day of legs, arms, or buttocks. You work through everything at once.
- The training program can even be changed every day, so in a month or two you will not feel bored. In the halls, classes are often conducted in groups, which also increases interest in training, and a competitive spirit appears.
- Increases aerobic and strength endurance of the body. You won’t move the closets with your little finger, but CrossFit training programs will help you in everyday tasks (it will become easier to carry a heavy bag from the supermarket).
- Improved reaction speed, whole body flexibility and coordination of movements.
- Intense training will give you a daily release of endorphins, which means less stress in your life.
Weaknesses
Disadvantages or things that crossfit trainers often keep silent about:
- CrossFit is a sport where the correct technique of performing exercises is very important, and non-compliance significantly increases the likelihood of injury due to the high intensity of the load. At first, it is advisable to train under the supervision of an experienced instructor.
- An unprepared girl needs to be extremely careful. CrossFit puts a lot of stress on the heart as all the work takes place at a high intensity mode.
Is the game worth the candle? It is worth it if you have a goal and are ready to listen to your own feelings. With the right approach, CrossFit will become your favorite destination.
The benefits and harms of crossfit for girls
Almost any sport is good for a girl’s health – it strengthens the body and spirit. Is this the case with CrossFit? This direction is relatively young – since 2000 (here you can read more about what CrossFit is), and not fully understood. There are a lot of conflicting reviews about him on the Internet.
So what’s so special about CrossFit – let’s look at the issue and consider the benefits and possible harm to the girl’s health.
Health Benefits
The benefits for girls from classes are obvious:
- Crossfit training is a really effective way to lose weight for a girl and bring her figure to the desired shape. After a killer workout, your body will continue to burn calories. This means that the process of losing weight will be faster than that of the average amateur runner. Do not just forget about the mandatory calorie deficit, otherwise all workouts will be useless.
- Strength training (including CrossFit) speeds up metabolism. As a result, your general condition will improve: you will sleep well, eat with appetite, feel better.
- CrossFit is no less effective for girls in the fight against cellulite. The combination of toning muscles and burning excess fat will make you forget about this problem.
- Thanks to short, high-intensity sessions, you will be able to work out all areas of the female body in a complex.
- You will tone your body – that is, you will not only lose weight, but also pump well the core muscles, which are so important for women’s health.
- You will become more flexible and improve your coordination with gymnastic exercises.
Let’s immediately dispel one of the most enduring myths about women’s crossfit: “all crossfit-athletes girls are pumped up and look like men – fu this be.” Let me disagree with this opinion. We are not going to argue about tastes – although, by the way, a lot of people like professional crossfit athletes, but this is not about that now.
In general, this argument lies in the plane of one of the excuses why not go to the hall. There will always be reasons – find a better opportunity to start working on yourself and you will get involved, and all questions will disappear by themselves. We will consider the issue of pumping in CrossFit for girls in detail below.
Harm to health
Like any other active sport, CrossFit also has negative sides:
- With an uncontrolled training regimen, CrossFit puts a serious strain on the cardiovascular system . Still would! The average heart rate of work in training for experienced athletes varies from 130 to 160 beats per minute, and in some places it can reach 180. Follow your work in training and listen to the coach – you will be happy!
- Due to anatomical features, women suffer from osteoporosis much more often than men – 3-5 times. Pubmed published (source article on the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health on November 22, 2013) an interesting scientific study: it turns out that CrossFitters are more likely to get problems with the musculoskeletal system than other athletes. And not so long ago it became known that over extreme activities gradually lead to a decrease in bone mass, which is the root cause of the development of osteoporosis.
- Unlike workouts in the gym and banal cardio, CrossFit is not recommended for pregnant women and new mothers during lactation. Such high-intensity training can lead to overwork of the unrecovered female body and cause a lack of milk. Often athletes complain that after training, children refuse to breastfeed, since the taste of milk becomes less pleasant. The reason is the lactic acid that the body releases during exercise.
Read more about the benefits and dangers of CrossFit in our separate article. In it you will find a complete list of contraindications to classes, all the pros and cons, reviews of doctors and famous athletes.
Crossfit features for women
Let’s talk about the features of female CrossFit in terms of physiology and anatomy.
Women are more likely than men to bend their legs inward during squats or deadlifts (this is due to the angle of the quadriceps). Therefore, by doing these exercises, there is a great risk of injury. Especially when an ardent crossfitter forgets about quality and starts working on quantity.
Women are also prone to strong quads, but have underdeveloped hamstrings and glutes. This can cause problems with the lower back, so the exercise should be approached with the utmost responsibility, and before that – thoroughly study the technique. For the same reason, women should spend more time stretching and cooling down after training.
Are the exercises different?
Crossfit classes for women are no different from men’s. Except that the intensity of exercise and working weight change. But this does not mean that you can do a workout “to the floor of the leg”. Try to carry out the maximum load for you, but do not chase the working weight at the expense of equipment. Perfect technique is paramount.
Cannot be pumped
So where to put a comma in this ill-fated sentence when it comes to the fair sex and CrossFit? As strength training is gaining more and more popularity among women, the myth has arisen that active weight training will inevitably lead to “bodybuilder” legs and huge “banks”, instead of a beautifully delineated biceps line.
In fact, the female body reacts to exercise a little differently than the male. To a greater extent, any exercise – both cardio and strength – affects the decrease in the percentage of body fat. If you ask the girls who are engaged in the gym, then they will all confirm that the increase in muscle mass is slow. And all because women are “sharpened” for the accumulation of body fat, which CrossFit (or any other exercise system) and eliminates in the first place. But, of course, it will not be superfluous to revise your diet, calculating your calorie intake and making a small surplus or deficit, depending on the goal.
Remember that muscle gain is associated with testosterone levels, and it is negligible in the female body. Therefore, in order to build up serious muscles, ladies will have to not only train for years for wear, but also not disdain the use of “pharma”. Therefore, you can safely give yourself loads with weights.
Crossfit during critical days
If during critical days a woman feels normal and can exercise well, you still should not exercise as usual. Many female crossfitters who
are not bothered by the abdomen have pains in the hips and lower back. That is why training on such days should be done in a gentle mode. Lifting weight from the ground is especially dangerous during this period.
This is interesting: some of the fair sex claim that they feel good during their periods thanks to regular CrossFit. And there is nothing to be surprised at: after all, high-intensity training has a positive effect on blood circulation and enrichment of the body with oxygen, including the genitals.
Why can your periods disappear with high-intensity training? As a rule, the reason lies in the percentage of fat that is too low. For optimal fertility function, you need at least 17-20%. Amenorrhea – the absence of menstruation – may also be related to the intensity of training. As you know, CrossFit will not favor you in this regard, so take your health seriously. It has been proven that in middle distance runners, amenorrhea is observed in 20% of cases, and with an increase in weekly mileage by 2-3 times – in 30%. Another possible reason is sports pharmacology, which is used by many professional athletes.
Summary
All women who want to catch envious feminine and adoring masculine looks on themselves, demonstrate excellent body quality with a clear muscle pattern on the beach, are recommended to do CrossFit. However, do not forget that the system can not only make you stronger and more resilient, but also have a detrimental effect on your health. Be careful when doing extreme exercise. And remember that it is better to “not put the squeeze on” or do an exercise with a low weight for more repetitions than to “tear” joints of already tired muscles. Maintain balance, because disregarding your body can lead to fatal consequences.
If you are interested in this sport, but you still have doubts about how the training is going, whether it will be difficult for you, etc., we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the material on crossfit training programs for beginner girls.
We hope that we helped you understand the question of what CrossFit means for a girl and her health. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to write under the material below. If you liked the article – support us with a repost!
