It comes as no surprise that most of us are always on the lookout for something to change about our bodies. There is always at least one body part that we think could look better, or we just need to lose or gain 10 more pounds to look the way we want.
A lot of people turn to CrossFit because of this reason, and they’ve seen some great results. While CrossFit is known to help you lose weight and build muscle, a lot of people wonder, will it help them with their stubborn belly fat?
Even though CrossFit can help you lose belly fat because you burn calories while you work out, reducing belly fat comes down to your nutrition. There is no way for you to out-exercise your bad diet.
If you want to lose belly fat, you have to decrease your overall body fat percentage. You can do this by watching your diet, eating whole foods, not eating junk food, and creating a calorie deficit.
Does CrossFit help you lose weight?
The CrossFit Workouts of the Day will help you lose weight. If you want to lose weight and become leaner, a mixed variety of strength training, aerobic pieces, and high-intensity interval training is a great way to do so, and that is how CrossFit workouts are structured.
It has been recently discovered that the average CrossFitter burns about 2,700 calories per week during 5 hours and 15 minutes of exercise. This amount of calorie burn results in significant weight loss.
Don’t let yourself be fooled by the scale, you might become slimmer without the number on your scale changing. A better way to see how much you’ve progressed is by taking before-and-after photos.
You also have to watch your nutrition when you’re trying to lose weight. No matter how much you train, if you have poor nutrition, you won’t see any change.
The food that you should eat is meat, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Eating fruit is okay, but try to limit your starch intake and eliminate processed sugar.
Make sure you eat enough calories that you feel fueled for exercise, but not so much that your body stores the excess as fat, which leads to weight gain.
Does CrossFit burn fat and build muscle?
CrossFit workouts are high-intensity, fast-paced, and are built around compound exercises like squats, burpees, and push-ups. They contain proven fat-burning methods one of which is high-intensity interval training. There are a few ways CrossFit helps you burn fat and build muscle.
It burns a lot of calories in a short period
Some studies show that sprinting, circuit training, and other high-intensity training methods work better for calorie and fat burning than low-intensity jogging, swimming, and aerobics classes. These training methods are incorporated into CrossFit workouts.
CrossFit workouts result in increased post-exercise calorie expenditure
According to a recent study, high-intensity CrossFit workouts trigger the afterburn effect. When you work out hard, your metabolism remains elevated for several hours and burns more calories in the process. This is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC.
Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption can be triggered by a build-up of lactic acid, something that is common with CrossFit. This is because your body uses a lot of oxygen and energy to break down and clear out lactic acid.
This means that the more lactic acid a workout produces, the longer this process will take. If your metabolism is faster, you will use more calories, and that will help you burn fat faster, even between workouts and while you sleep.
Building muscle increases your metabolic rate
Even if you’re not doing CrossFit to build muscle, you will likely end up building at least some muscle. A lot of CrossFit workouts involve lifting weights, and certain studies show that HIIT, in general, can increase muscle size.
Muscle is metabolically active tissue which means that it needs calories. This means that the more muscle you have in your body, the more calories you will burn.
Increased insulin sensitivity
When you eat carbs, your body produces the hormone insulin so that it can move the resulting glucose out of your blood and into your muscles. If there is any unused glucose left it will be turned into fat.
If you aren’t active and have a lot of body fat, the effectiveness of insulin will be reduced and you will become resistant to insulin. CrossFit will increase your insulin sensitivity and lower your blood glucose level and that will prevent fat gain and create a better environment for fat burning.
Strength training
To build muscle with CrossFit, you will have to focus on strength training. Some CrossFit workouts focus only on cardio, and you will want to avoid those. Choose strength training exercises like deadlifts, pull-ups, dips, overhead presses, power cleans, and squats instead.
Selective bodybuilding training
You will also have to do selective bodybuilding training. CrossFit mostly consists of compound exercises, which use a lot of muscle groups at the same time and also allow you to lift heavy weights. But, if muscle hypertrophy is your goal, you will have to do more than just compound exercises.
Add some lateral raises, biceps curls, triceps pushdowns, and leg curls to your CrossFit workouts.
Nutrition
Another important thing to do when trying to build muscle is eating for muscle growth. CrossFit workouts will break down your muscles in a process called catabolism.
While resting, your body goes into repair mode and builds your muscles back up again. To make this process faster, you should provide your muscles with adequate nutrients and energy.
This is best done by eating one gram of protein per pound of body weight because your body needs protein for muscle repair and growth. Some good sources of protein are meat, fish, poultry, eggs, soy products, nuts, and beans.
How many days a week should you do CrossFit?
Most people want a straight answer about how many days a week they should do CrossFit, but the answer is largely individualized. It will depend on your coach, your wishes, and your abilities.
Another big factor that influences how often you will do CrossFit is your lifestyle. Maybe you’re a student or a parent who can’t work out 5 days a week, or your work schedule allows you to work out only 3 times a week. It is important to set realistic expectations because you will be more likely to hit your goal that way.
Generally, the minimum number of workouts per week should be 3, and the maximum should be 5. Make sure you have at least one day of rest to properly recover because recovery is just as important as workouts.
How long until you see results from CrossFit?
Many factors will determine how long it will take you to see results from doing CrossFit.
One big factor to keep in mind is where you’re starting from. It’s not the same if you’re just starting to work out or if you’ve been working out for 5 years.
Your goal is as big of a factor as your starting point. The length of time that will take you to see results will be different if you’re trying to get from 30% body fat to 25% body fat, or if you’re trying to be as lean as models on magazine covers.
Your commitment will greatly influence how long it will take you to see the results. It depends on whether you will stick by your workout and nutrition plan, or skip workouts and eat whatever you want.
Some immediate results that you will notice will be increased strength, stamina, endurance, and flexibility. After around 2 to 3 weeks of committed working out, you should see an improvement in your skills and muscle definition.
Long-term results will be a healthy, fitness-focused lifestyle. After you’ve been working out for about a year, you’ll see a few long-term benefits, for example, weight loss, toned muscles, and increased athletic abilities.
Every person is different and has a different level of commitment and body type, so it’s hard to say when you will notice the results that you want. CrossFit trainers will keep you motivated, shape the workouts to fit your needs and give you advice so you can progress faster.