As we have commented previously in this blog, the first thing you have to define when you train are your goals. Do I want to develop my upper body? Do I want to increase my strength? I want to lose weight? Etc.

The difference between athletes who practice bodybuilding exercises and weightlifting is visually noticeable since their objectives are different. Anyway, there are many people who doubt about the training that they follow each other to achieve results. In this post we will review the types of training and objectives of each discipline to understand it better.

After an introduction to these disciplines, we also leave you with several bodybuilding exercises in case you want to focus on gaining volume.

Bodybuilding: the focus is on size.

Bodybuilders often lift weights not with the goal of building strength but with the goal of increasing the size of their muscles. Bodybuilders will obviously build strength as they train, but this will be an added effect to their main goal of bulking up.

Bodybuilders who lift weights to increase their size usually work to get the blood to carry as much oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. This gives them a nice feeling and keeps them active while training at the limit. The type of lifting that bodybuilders do has the goal of creating micro-tears in the muscle, forcing the body to repair it and thus increasing storage capacity. The body repairs, causes muscle growth. This training procedure is known as hypertrophy.

As muscles grow they can develop more power, which means they can exert greater force during workouts. However, the energy stored in bulky muscles is not the same as actual strength, and for this reason bodybuilders tend to be weaker than they appear.

The term bodybuilding generally refers to competitive displays, which is why many bodybuilders focus on working their bodies to look their best on stage.

Read until the end to find 5 bodybuilding exercise programs

Strength training: the focus is on muscle power.

When it comes to strength training, there is one main goal with training: to increase the amount of power your muscles can develop to lift loads. The size and shape of the muscles do not matter as long as they can provide maximum force during the lift.

Strength training focuses on exercises with low repetitions and heavy weights, and is focused on teaching your central nervous system how to use your motor units when you lift. Lifting is focused on increasing the strength of your muscles, strengthening your joints, strengthening your bones, and developing stronger tissues.

Unlike bodybuilding exercises, in strength exercises the strength of athletes does not have to be reflected in a perfectly sculpted body. Strength athletes typically have a higher percentage of body fat, and their body shapes tend to be more solid and blocky rather than sleek and lean as is the case for bodybuilders. In any case, when it comes time to use the muscles, strength athletes can develop more strength and last longer than bodybuilders.

Weightlifting

Weightlifting is a particular type of strength training to increase muscular strength and the size of skeletal muscles. In weightlifting, bars, dumbbells and weight discs are used to train concentric and exectric muscle contraction exercises. This discipline also uses a series of specialized equipment to train specific muscle groups.

Weightlifting is also an Olympic discipline in which athletes attempt to lift their maximum weight in a one repetition lift of a barbell loaded with weight plates. The two weightlifting competitions are the snatch and the two-stroke.

The snatch has a wide grip and a single lift while in the two-stroke the bar is raised in two different sequences. In Olympic weightlifting, each athlete receives three attempts for each of the categories: snatch and two times. The sum of the total weight of the two highest lifts will determine the weight lifted to be taken into account in a competition. An athlete who fails to perform a valid snatch and two-stroke lift will receive an incomplete grade for the competition.

Although there are not many globally competitive Olympic lifters, the lifts developed in the sport of weightlifting, and in particular the components of the lifts such as squats, deadlifts, etc. They are frequently used by elite athletes specialized in other disciplines and sports to train explosive and functional strength.

You may have also heard of Chinese Weightlifting. Chinese Weightlifting is the training system for weightlifters from the communist country with which they are achieving great results.

5 bodybuilding exercises to increase volume

If you are interested in gaining muscle mass, one of your highest priorities is to determine which method will work for you. Here we present 5 training programs to increase your volume.

#1. The 5X5 program

The 5X5 program is quite popular among those who are interested in gaining the maximum amount of strength and muscle mass. The objective of this program is to perform three exercises focused on the main muscle groups of the body: the upper body and the lower body, performing series of 5 repetitions for each exercise. At the end of each training you can add series of isolated bodybuilding exercises if you need them, although they are not required by the program itself.

#2. german volume training

The next program to build bulk is the German Bulk Training program. This training is similar to the 5X5 program since it will also ask you to do a good number of exercises, but it differs in that the number of repetitions increases up to 10 repetitions and 10 series for each exercise.

The goal of this program is to focus on two muscle groups a day, alternating between them over the course of three training days a week.

#3. The FST-7 training program.

The third type of volume training program that is currently in vogue is FST-7 training. This program is not specifically based on a series of exercises that you have to perform or a protocol to divide the muscle groups of your body. This program gives you the guidelines for what you should be training in the last bodybuilding exercise for each body part you worked in that session.

The acronym FST comes from the English Fascial Stretch Training, which indicates that one of the main objectives that this program tries to achieve is to stretch the soft connective tissue that is found around your muscles as well as in the rest of your body.

This fabric is primarily responsible for helping to maintain the structural integrity of your body, providing support and protection, and works as a shock absorber when you perform your workouts both in and out of the gym.

When the soft tissue is stretched, you will see increases in muscle growth. There will also be a greater contribution of minerals, amino acids and oxygen to the tissues.

With this workout, perform seven sets of 15 repetitions of the last exercise you did for each muscle group. It is important that you make the rest periods between these sets shorter and shorter – about 30 seconds total.

Keep in mind that you will probably have to use a lower weight than you normally used for each bodybuilding and weightlifting exercise since you are now doing a much higher total number of repetitions.

#4 Split upper and lower body training.

The fourth type of exercise is the upper and lower body. This routine is based on training exchanging muscle groups so that you train each group twice a week.

This system is a good option for beginners and lifters who are looking to gain mass since it allows you to get plenty of rest throughout the week. If you are an advanced athlete you can also increase the number of series and define your selection of exercises and rests to increase your muscle gains at any level.

On the other hand, this system forces you to do four sessions a week. If you have trips or other commitments, following the training calendar can be a problem for you since it is not very flexible.

#5. full body workout

Finally we stop at full body training. The 5 x 5 program could also be considered a full body program since you work virtually all major muscle groups with the three exercises of your choice. In any case, true full body training programs will give you a specific exercise for each muscle group: quads, hamstrings, chest, back and shoulders (arms are worked when you work chest and back).

In addition to these lifts and bodybuilding exercises dedicated to muscle groups, you can also work some isolated exercises to train individual muscles.

In conclusion, remember that workouts aimed at bodybuilders are focused on gaining volume, while exercises used by strength athletes seek to gain muscle power. Weightlifting is a discipline within strength exercises and has two Olympic categories that are the snatch and the two-stroke.

If you want to start doing bulking training, you can follow our recommendations on the training programs most used by athletes. Always remember to ask specialized professionals who know your physical situation when defining your training to obtain the best results in a timely manner.

If you don’t already know Fitenium is a free, mobile, video-based social network for athletes who train strength or bodyweight exercises. At Fitenium users can follow their performance, compete and get discounts in nutrition and sports equipment stores. Download it here.

The Military Press is an exercise in which to test your torso strength, it is considered a compound exercise in which you will test the strength of your shoulders, but the benefits of the military press also include the core strengthening, improvement in mobility and transfer to other lifts and to your daily life. This is why to gain strength almost all athletes should incorporate some type of Military Press into their training routine, as this is one of the best shoulder exercises.

Implicated musculature

The Military Press, also known as the Shoulder Press or Olympic Press, primarily engages our shoulders (middle and outer deltoids), but also engages our Triceps, Pectorals, Trapezius, Scapular Stabilizers, and Core. It is done by extending the arms vertically from the starting position at shoulder height, placing the bar on the pectoral clavicular bundle.

Barbell or Dumbbells?

Both alternatives will offer us the benefits of the Military Press, and we do not consider that it is necessary to choose between one version and the other. The military press with dumbbells is an exercise for unilateral work, correcting asymmetries and may be more comfortable for some people, perhaps if you train looking for aesthetics you would give this version more priority. However, the Barbell Military Press allows strength athletes to move more kilograms which will translate into greater strength gains.

Benefits of the Military Press

– Strength and hypertrophy of the shoulders: whether you train for strength or for aesthetics, the military press is the foundation for building strong and hypertrophied shoulders and should be the foundation of your shoulder training or vertical push. Any variant will have positive effects on the recruitment of the above mentioned musculature as mentioned in this study.

– Overhead exercise performance: When it comes to executing other more technical exercises such as the Jerk or handstand variants (Pine Push-ups, Handstand Walk…), strong shoulders as a result of the benefits of the Military Press are the basis for doing them safely. more complex exercises.

– Shoulder health: the “resilience” of our shoulders plays a significant role in avoiding injuries. The Military Press will help you build stronger shoulders and resilient joints.

– Transfer to our daily life: Regardless of whether you are a Powerlifter or simply like to be in shape, all of us will benefit in our daily lives from having a good torso musculature thanks to the Military Press, either when carrying groceries or if we develop postural problems for long days seated work

– An iron “core”: it is known that when we raise the dumbbells or the bar doing Military Press we require our stabilizing muscles of the abdomen, in particular our rectus abdominis, external oblique and spinal erector. This is especially true of the standing Military Press compared to the seated version.

– Improvement of the Bench Press: among the benefits of the Military Press is its transfer to the Bench Press. It can be said that having a strong Military Press implies a strong Bench Press, since both lifts recruit similar muscles. In fact, there is one study that suggests that the dumbbell Military Press can be predicted reasonably well from the bench press 6RM measurement.

Cons of the Military Press

– Injurious potential: the more mobile a joint is, the more possibilities of injuring it we have. That is why the shoulder is a joint that is somewhat easy to injure. However, as in almost any exercise, with correct technique, the Military Press is not going to be particularly harmful. The biggest problem can come from not controlling the weight and the joint giving out, so control the weights and you won’t have too much of a problem.

In conclusion, due to the benefits of the Military Press, we recommend including it in your routine, but be careful with the weights you move because failing in the Military Press is more dangerous than in other exercises.

Why is Military Press not part of any competitive discipline?

In this article we have talked about the benefits of Military Press, however it may be curious that Military Press is not done in any discipline. Behind this situation there is a rather interesting story that is worth telling.

Although today when we are asked about upper body strength we almost always think of the Bench Press, for most of the 20th century the answer would have been the Military Press. That is why the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games included the Clean and Press together with the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk within the so-called “Olympic Lifting”.

While the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk were exercises called “fast”, considered as exercises that tested the athlete’s speed and agility, the Clean and Press was seen as the true measure of the athlete’s strength, since the push was performed in a controlled way.

However, problems were not long in coming. While the idea was for weightlifters to do this strict exercise, i.e. with their backs straight, heels together, and their heads facing forward, this proved highly impractical, as it allowed various ways of “cheating” the movement to achieve participation. of larger muscle groups such as the legs and hips.

This meant that decades later, already in the middle of the Cold War, the desire for victory and competitiveness between political blocs led Soviet athletes to develop a series of techniques in which they arched their backs in an exaggerated way to commit as much as possible to the athlete. pectoral and manage to move a greater amount of kiloage. Although it is said that it was the Soviet athletes who started this trend, it would be unfair to ignore that the athletes of the capitalist bloc (American, French, German…) imitated this technique as soon as they learned it, degenerating the Military Press into a pseudo Press. of Chest.

This lousy technique led to breaking records with absolute ease abusing it and going from a Press of 122 kilos in the 1928 Olympics to bordering on 200 in just a few decades. It was clear that the strict form of the Military Press was more laughable than anything else.

The Olympic Committee decided to give in to this trend and at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics allowed a slight bend in the back if it was not excessive. The vagueness of the rule did not fix anything and athletes of all nationalities did the Military Press with the help of swaying and with their backs arched as much as possible.

As a curiosity, this was the last winner of Clean and Press in the heavy category, nothing more and nothing less than the mythical Vasily Alekseyev moving 500 pounds in the Clean and Press in 1972, as the Olympic Committee decided to eliminate the Clean and Press from the Olympic lifts starting in 1976.

His departure from Olympic lifting caused his popularity to drop precipitously, even among bodybuilders, with dumbbells and even the injurious Overhead Press widely used by Steve Reeves becoming more popular. Arnold however built his shoulders on the Dumbbell Press. On the other hand, at the end of the 60s, Powerlifting displaced the Military Press as the torso exercise par excellence, replacing it with the Bench Press. Many people called the Military Press “the forgotten lift” until the 2010s.

Fortunately, from that decade, programs like Starting Strength, in which the athletes work a series of basic exercises within which is the Military Press and the explosion of the Crossfit, where the Military Press is also widely used, have helped revive old laurels of our favorite Vertical Press. Of course it’s not nearly as popular as it was in the 1920s or 1930s, but we can safely say that it hasn’t been forgotten.

Of course it’s not nearly as popular as it was in the 1920s or 1930s, but we can safely say that it hasn’t been forgotten.

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Weightlifting is a sport that has brought us a lot of joy in recent times, mainly from Lydia Valentn, but not exclusively from her. Atenery Hernndez from Tenerife returned from the last European with 3 bronzes or Alejandro Gonzalez, who from Madrid won his category in Olympic total and in two times. With work and dedication they have achieved their weightlifting record, if they have been able to, you can too!

From Fitenium we want to honor this noble sport, gathering all the world and Spanish weightlifting records in this article. Whether you are looking for a men’s weightlifting record or a women’s weightlifting record, this is your place. Sit back and enjoy the best lifts ever.

Weightlifting record broken by category.

The snatch or snatch is one of the two movements of Olympic weightlifting along with the two times, being considered the most difficult of both. This movement consists of lifting a bar loaded with plates from the ground to the full extension of the arms above the head without any interruption.

Here you can see any weightlifting record, particularly snatch or snatch, according to each male or female category.

Men’s weightlifting record: snatch

56kg – Wu Jingbiao (China) lifts 139kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Houston (USA) 2015.

62kg – Kim Un Guk (North Korea) lifts 154kg at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games (South Korea)

69kg – Liao Hui (China) lifts 166kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Almaty (Kazakhstan) 2014

77kg – Lyu Xiaojun (China) lifted 177kg at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Olympic Games

85kg – Andrei Rybakou (Belarus) lifted 187kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Chiang Mai (Thailand) 2007

94kg – Sohrab Moradi (Iran) lifted 189kg at the 2018 Jakarta (Indonesia) Asian Games.

105kg – Andrei Aramnau (Belarus) lifted 200kg at the 2008 Beijing (China) Olympic Games

+105kg – Lasha Talakhaze (Georgia) lifted 220kg at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim (USA)

53kg – Li Ping (China) lifted 103kg at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games (China)

58kg – Boyanka Minkova Kostova (Azerbaijan) lifted 112kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Houston (USA) 2015

63kg – Svetlana Tsarukaeva (Russia) lifted 117kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Paris (France) 2011

69kg – Oxana Slivenko (Russia) lifted 123kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) 2006

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75kg – Natalya Zabolotnaya (Russia) lifted 135kg at the Presidents Cup in Belgorod (Russia) 2011

90kg – Victoria Shaimardanova (Ukraine) lifted 130kg at the 2004 Athens (Greece) Olympic Games

We have not been able to find audiovisual material of this survey, if you can help us, please contact us at info@fitenium.com

Record weightlifting two times by category.

The two times or clean and jerk is the second of the lifts to be performed in weightlifting. This movement is divided into two phases, the clean one in which the bar is raised from the ground until it is placed on the shoulders, making a squat to be below it. Once we have the bar loaded on our shoulders, we will proceed to do the second part of the movement, called the jerk. In this part of the movement we get under the bar either in the form of a squat (Squat jerk) or advancing and flexing one leg in the form of a stride (Split jerk). Normally it is more complicated to execute the squat and most athletes opt for the split jerk but there are some recent weightlifting records executed with the squat.

Below you can see the world weightlifting record in the two-stroke category, both male and female.

Men’s weightlifting record: two times

56 kg – On Yun Chol (North Korea) lifted 171kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Houston (USA) 2015

62kg – Chen Lijun (China) lifted 183kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Houston (USA) 2015

69kg – Liao Hui (China) Lifted 198kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Wroclaw (Poland) 2013

77kg – Nijat Rahimov (Kazakhstan) lifted 214kg at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Olympic Games

85kg – Kiaonush Rostami (Iran) lifted 220kg at Tehran Fajr Cup (Iran) 2016

94kg – Sohrab Moradi (Iran) lifted 233kg at the 2017 World Weightlifting Championships in Anaheim (USA)

105kg – Illya Illyin (Kazakhstan) lifted 246kg at the 2015 Grozny President’s Cup (Russia)

+105kg – Hossein Reza Zadeh (Iran) lifted 263kg at the 2004 Athens Olympics (Greece)

Women’s weightlifting record: two times

48kg – Nurcan Taylan (Turkey) lifted 121kg at the 2010 Weightlifting World Championships in Antalya (Turkey)

53kg – Zulfiya Chinshanlo (Kazakhstan) lifted 134kg at the 2014 World Weightlifting Championships in Almaty (Kazakhstan)

58kg – Kuo Shing-Chun (Taiwan) lifted 142kg at the 2017 Taipei (Taiwan) Asian Weightlifting Championships

63kg – Deng Wei (China) lifted 147kg at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Olympics

69kg – Zarema Kasaeva (Russia) lifted 157kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Doha (Qatar) 2005

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75kg – Kin Un Ju (North Korea) lifted 164kg at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games (South Korea)

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90kg – Hripsime Khurshudyan (Armenia) lifted 160kg at the Antalya (Turkey) Weightlifting World Championships 2010

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+90kg – Tatiana Kashirina (Russia) lifted 193kg at the World Weightlifting Championships in Almaty (Kazakhstan) 2014

We can see that some weightlifting records are quite recent, so we understand that they have been broken over time, while others are more than 10 years old and it does not seem that they are going to break them yet. It is also curious how some records have been established in the Olympics and World Cups while others have even been in regional competitions.

Spanish records

We want to take the opportunity to also name some of the most impressive records in Spain in this sport.

Andrs Mata (Andalusia) lifts 157kg in the snatch and 185kg in two times in the 77kg category at the European Championships in Bucharest (Romania) 2018

Lidia Valentn lifts 147kg in two times in the 75kg category at the European Weightlifting Championships in Tel Aviv (Israel) 2014

We may never become elite athletes, but the weightlifting record that matters is our personal record, since the important thing is to compete against ourselves and progress on our path of performance and health.

Fitenium wants to be part of that progress and help you grow as an athlete and motivate you to be your best version.

A powerlifting belt is one of those products that any strength athlete should have. But of course, there are many powerlifting belts on the market and with very different characteristics, so it can be difficult to know which type of powerlifting belt is best for you. Don’t worry, in this article you will know what a lifting belt is for, the best material, measurements, how to use it and ultimately everything you need to know if you want to acquire a quality powerlifting belt that fulfills its function.

What is a powerlifting belt for?

A quality powerlifting belt supports your spine making it more stable under heavy loads. This is achieved by the pressure of the belt with your abdominal muscles, leaving everything as a block. That is why belts that are wider in the back than in the abdomen are not recommended, since where they have to press is on your abdomen.

When to use a powerlifting belt?

There are typically two streams of powerlifting belt users. On the one hand are the athletes who do not squat without their belt because the belt offers them more stability and on the other are those who avoid using the belt as much as possible because according to them the abdomen works more without using a belt.

So where is the middle ground? Well, according to a study by Life College in the United States, they studied 5 athletes to perform series of their 8RM with and without a powerlifting belt and they reached some interesting conclusions. First it is important to note that the athletes moved an average of 125.5kg for 8 repetitions, so we can say that they were advanced athletes.

The main difference between the sets with and without a belt was that the intra-abdominal pressure was reduced between 25 and 40% in the sets with a powerlifting belt, which translates into less stress on our lower back. They also noted some differences in the work on the hamstrings and quadriceps, higher in the series with a belt.

The conclusion we reached with this study is that it is very useful to protect the lumbar region in the heaviest series, but abusing the powerlifting belt in all your series can unbalance our lumbar muscles and generate dependence on the belt to work. For this reason, we recommend using the belt when we go to work with series of 3 or fewer repetitions, since that is when our lower back can be compromised and injure us.

Characteristics of the best powerlifting belts

Measurements: the most important width is that of the abdominal area and not that of the lumbar area, which is why, although it does not affect too much if it is wider in the lumbar area, it does not contribute anything special. For most athletes, a width of 10 centimeters is comfortable so that it fits perfectly between the kidneys and the hip bone. However, there may be cases of very small athletes, particularly women, who may do better with a small belt.

On the other hand is the thickness of the belt. The most common sizes are 10 and 13mm, and we recommend using the 13mm ones as they are more durable and robust. In this case, 13mm is the maximum thickness allowed in most powerlifting federations.

Material: Most belts on the market are made of leather or suede. This is quite simple, leather is stronger and more durable, so the best powerlifting belt is going to be made of leather and not some other material.

Closure: There are three types of closure on powerlifting belts: single-prong closure, double-prong closure, and toggle.

Although a double prong closure may seem more secure a priori, taking into account the materials used and the pressure to which the closure is subjected, one prong is exactly as secure and does not have the disadvantage of having to fit a second. tooth which is quite a cumbersome step.

On the other hand, some higher-end seat belts have a lever system that makes it even easier to fasten the seat belt. Therefore, depending on how much we want to spend, a belt with a simple tooth or lever closure are the best options.

How to wear a powerlifting or weightlifting belt.

Now that you know how to choose the best powerlifting belt, you also have to know how to put it on so that it is not useless or even damages your performance.

There is a very interesting trick to know where to put your seat belt, for this follow the following steps:
– Put on your seatbelt and fasten it just enough so that it stays stable. Don’t overtighten it.
– now get into a squat position and lower down to a full squat. The belt will move to where it is most useful to you.
– If we are going to do deadlifts, we recommend raising the belt slightly with respect to the squat position.

Here we can see Niels Gordjin deadlifting 420kg with a perfectly fitted belt.

Some recommendations

Adidas Leather Weightlifting Belt:

This belt is a good option for novice lifters because of its low price and high-quality material. The downside is that it is only 10mm thick so for more advanced lifters it may be a bit short.

Everlast 4 Padded Weight Lift Belt

With a similar price to the previous model, this powerlifting belt has the advantage of being 13mm thick, but the disadvantage of having a double tooth system which makes it difficult to fasten. Likewise, if you are concerned about quality and durability, this model is hard to beat for value for money.

Venum Hyperlift Leather Weightifting

This belt stands out for the high quality of the leather used and for the lumbar padding that provides extra comfort. It’s a great option for intermediate lifters who also don’t want to spend a million dollars on their powerlifting belt.

Crossfit is a high-intensity workout that has as its motto “be good at everything, but great at nothing.” This means that in Crossfit 10 components of physical training are trained: resistance, strength, power, agility, balance, coordination, flexibility, aim, speed and aerobic capacity. However, even if you never go through Crossfit to be as strong as a powerlifter, powerful as a weightlifter, or tough as a marathoner, you will have acceptable levels in all of these categories. A crossfit WOD usually has the following elements:

• Plyometric jumps (such as box jumps)
• Halterofilia (Snatch, Clean and Jerk o variantes)
• Exercises with dumbbells or kettlebells (Kettlebell swing, Military Press…)
• Exercises with body weight on bars or rings (dominated, chin ups, muscle ups…)
• Cardiovascular exercise (running, rowing, skipping, assault bike…)

Your WOD will combine some or all of these elements to make you as complete an athlete as possible. No training is similar to another, except for the “benchmarks” that are the Hero WODs and the Girl WODs.

List of benefits of crossfit

You will improve your strength

The large number of weightlifting and multi-joint exercises along with a progressive increase in loads on them is a perfect cocktail to increase your strength and muscle mass. For example, when you do a lift like the Snatch, Deadlift or Squat, you are activating and therefore strengthening all your muscles from the head to the feet.

There is scientific literature indicating that compound movements such as Squats, Deadlifts, Push Press, Snatch, Clean and Jerk, Pull-ups or Muscle Up are the best for strength gains compared to isolated or compound movements, and surprise, Crossfit is full of the first.

So if your goal is to gain strength, but not be the strongest guy in the world, Crossfit is a great option for you.

you will increase your caloric expenditure

A study from the University of Wisconsin that analyzed two Crossfit WODs in a group of male and female athletes, calculated that women burned an average of 12.9 kcals per minute and men an incredible 20.6 calories per minute. Therefore it can be clearly said that one of the benefits of crossfit is caloric expenditure.

This is also related to Crossfit multi-joint exercises, since the more muscles involved in an exercise, the more calories will be burned per repetition. We’re not just talking about compound lifts, but bodyweight exercises like burpees or muscle ups work a large part of your body as well.

On the other hand, this high intensity training will make you benefit from two more effects on calorie burning. First, the increase in muscle mass will make your metabolism speed up and you can create a caloric deficit more easily if you want to lose fat. Then there’s “Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption” or EPOC, which it says, high intensity training will burn more calories in the hours after your workout, typically 6-15% of the calories you burned training, no small amount! stuff!

you will lose body fat

Not everyone gets into Crossfit to lose weight, but if this is your goal, Crossfit may be a great option for you. Being a workout in which you gain muscle mass and also spend a lot of calories during training and even afterward, it is not risky to say that one of the benefits of Crossfit is fat loss.

The Ohio State University published a study showing the improvement in body composition and aerobic capacity after only 10 weeks of Crossfit. In addition, knowing that one of the key factors for fat reduction is consistency, the community that is generated around the Crossfit BOX helps users to continue working and therefore continue to progress.

it’s good for your heart

Although most WODs are not focused on the usual cardiovascular training methods, consisting of long sessions of low intensity aerobic work, you can work your cardiovascular resistance in short sessions of up to 3-5 minutes. A study from the Tokyo Institute of Technology found significant improvements in cardiovascular health, including VO2 max and blood pressure, only with high-intensity sessions of 3-5 minutes.

it’s safer than you think

Due to the nature of Crossfit of performing complex movements in a state of fatigue, it can be understood as harmful, this must be contextualized. It is true that there are times when it is practically impossible to maintain a correct technique, however let us not forget that we are training in a controlled environment with a coach who will prevent this situation from prolonging.

If we compare Crossfit with other weight sports, it has a higher number of injuries per 1,000 hours than bodybuilding, calisthenics or even powerlifting, although lower than strongman. However, when we compare it to other activities that are carried out in a less controlled environment such as soccer or handball, one of the benefits of crossfit is that it is much less harmful than these sports.

it will help you sleep better

Although there are many factors in your lifestyle that affect the quantity and quality of your sleep, it is known that doing sports helps you rest better and fall asleep. That is why even if Crossfit is not your first option, we recommend that you do the exercise that you like best because it will have a positive impact on your sleep.

However, it has been observed that high-intensity exercises are especially positive for improving sleep quality and resting better in order to continue enjoying the other benefits of doing crossfit.

you’ll get stronger than vinegar

Stronger than a kilo of grapefruit, than a bulldog, than a punch from Goku… call it what you want, but if you diet reasonably well, another crossfit benefit for men (and for women, why not ?) is that you will have a functional, strong and very aesthetic physique.

you will make friends

If you are one of those who go to the gym with a hoodie and headphones without talking to anyone, then Crossfit is probably not for you. Progressing in a new sport creates very strong bonds of friendship while you learn those weightlifting exercises or share your first muscle up. In fact, a review of the scientific literature on Crossfit reveals that it is related to a feeling of community, satisfaction and motivation.

If you enter Crossfit, it is very likely that you will end up making good friends with people who have similar tastes and hobbies to yours. There are even voices that call Crossfit “the new Tinder”

some disadvantages of crossfit

Not everything can be beneficial in Crossfit, there is no perfect program and Crossfit was not going to be the exception. Here we name some disadvantages of Crossfit.

• It is not specific: for people who seek to improve a specific athletic ability, Crossfit is not going to make them reach their maximum in it. If you are looking to specialize, Crossfit is not your thing.
• It is not personalized: although the WODs are adaptable according to levels and abilities, it must be recognized that training is done in a general and non-personalized way. If you need particular treatment beyond improving your general athletic level, you still need another option that adapts the training to you.
• It depends on your coach: this happens in many disciplines, but it is quite noticeable when you have an expert coach who cares about his students and when you have one who works without desire. As we have mentioned before, Crossfit is done in a controlled environment and the coach is the main control element, so if he fails, the quality of the training is drastically diminished.
• It’s not cheap: Don’t get this wrong, Crossfit is worth the money. You are training with a coach for 8-10 people paying attention to you and not in a gym with 50 people at a time and no one supervising. However, for those less affluent, paying 70-100 for training may be out of their financial means.

conclusions

There was a demand for a type of training that avoided the ultra specialization of most sports and simply sought to improve your physical abilities without focusing on any specific one. Crossfit has come to fill that gap and the benefits of Crossfit in all areas are public and notorious.

That does not mean that Crossfit is for everyone, but we do think that there should be no doubt about whether to try it or not, that is why we have gathered the greatest benefits that Crossfit offers so that you can run to the nearest Box.