Part II: Does Cross Fit lessen athletic performance: lean muscle growth, fat loss

Article by Mark Wine CSCS ; NASM PT, CES, PES

Cross fit has numerous stories of body weight reduction. Is this reduction fat loss? Generally speaking sports require a certain body fat percentage, or lean mass versus fat mass. Fat reduction becomes essential in order to be successful. Sports like mixed martial arts (MMA), football, hockey, soccer, swimming, tennis, and so on… Because you need a significant amount of lean muscle, with lower body fat levels, should these athletes participate in cross fit? Sports like baseball, golf, or a football lineman can pack on a little extra weight, a little more fat, should they stay away from cross fit? Cross Fit moves at a high intensity pace for a long period of time. Experts in the field of fitness say that ‘in order to burn more fat you want less rest between exercise sets. Experts in the field claim ‘performing complex total body movements, instead of isolating one specific muscle, is preferred.’ This is true. Cross Fit performs complex movements with minimal rest periods, so this must mean Cross Fit is works? If only it were that simple. Cross Fit participants often lighten the load below 70% of their 1RM (one rep max). The best way to gain lean muscle mass is by increasing the weight, so your body doesn’t become adapted to the specific imposed demands placed upon it. Calorie expenditure increases, the resting metabolic rate (RMR) increases, and extended post exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is extended. RMR is your metabolic rate when you are no active, you are at complete rest. EPOC is the oxygen consumption post exercise, which aids in increasing your calorie expenditure. Lighter weight, or constantly performing the same exercises with the same weight, falls short in achieving these four results. However, can only using light weight increase fat loss? Does this mean you can’t expect gains in performance due to body weight reduction through Cross Fit? Intermediate to advanced athletes cannot expect optimal results from Cross Fit. If you are a beginner exercising or beginning Cross Fit for the first time then you can expect body weight reduction; fat loss; lean muscle growth; and your athleticism may improve. At the same time, if you engage in any new proper exercise program you can expect these results. The best best way to gain lean muscle and achieve optimal fat loss is through resistance training, with weight that makes you struggle. You want to pick up weight that makes you struggle to achieve the desired repetitions, usually around 6-12, with under 60-90 seconds of rest. Cross Fit is extremely limited in this regard because they do not use weight that fits to that repetition count; therefore, Cross Fit does not lead to maximal athletic performance. Lean mass (muscle) is produced by resistance training, so let us look further into Resistance Training. Resistance training can be anything from body weight training, suspension training, plyometric training, and/or weight lifting. Simply put, being physically active will build some lean muscle. However, not all methods of resistance training are equal. For example, only performing pushups as your whole workout method will stimulate muscle growth for a short while, if you have never trained before. However, once your body has adapted to this motion and weight, more resistance must be added on. We do this by using dumbbells, barbells, changing the pushup to suspension training pushups and other variations. This is one reason Cross Fit has weaknesses. Cross Fit’s rep speed, volume of reps, the energy depletion within your muscles (ATP / CP reduction), all result in an external stimulus weight reduction. Therefore, lean muscle mass will not be stimulated for optimal growth. Without this growth, strength and power gains are limited. Without strength & power gains, in fact, sometimes even a strength & power reduction, athletes can expect to become slower, weaker, more injury prone, and less athletically talented. As an athlete, the constant stimulation of new lean muscle growth is necessary; if nothing more, maintaining muscle is essential if you are in season. During Part I of Cross Fit: Does it really achieve the results it claims?, the correlation between strength and power was made. Power development is important to becoming a better athlete. The more lean mass, the higher power output. The higher the power output, the more explosive you are. The more explosive you are, the faster / quicker you are. Cross Fit performs the same structured workout routines, as well as the same exercises, on a continual basis. There are some variations here and there. Eventually the body becomes adapted and any results diminish. One exercise that Cross Fit performs over and over again is jumping pull ups, which stimulates nearly zero back muscle growth. Ask a Cross Fit participant to perform a Military pull up, which requires actual back strength. The majority cannot. A real life example; a female athlete, whom worked out at Functional Muscle Fitness LLC, received a Division I scholarship from a Pac-12 University. She developed her core and strength / power while training properly. She is involved with a sport that requires high amounts of muscular endurance and power. When she arrived at her university she was asked to perform a pull up test with the rest of her team. She performed 13 Military style Pull Ups. The other girls performed 20-30 Cross Fit pull ups. When the new Strength and Conditioning Coach asked the other girls to perform a correct pull up, a non Cross Fit pull up, the majority could not perform one. The athlete from Functional Muscle Fitness LLC is one of their top performers. This is just one of many examples of Cross Fit’s weaknesses. Sports that require a significant amount of muscular endurance to perform include MMA, soccer, swimming, tennis, hockey, and any other sport involving fast paced movements. Normally these movements are engaged for longer than 30 second of high intensity bouts, with minimal rest time. These sports could benefit from performing a workout similar to that of Cross Fit. However, like any other sport, these sports also require high power outputs. Therefore, training the Cross Fit way will result in a decrease in athletic performance, unless coupled with a proper Strength and Conditioning program. So how do you incorporate training for muscular endurance, without jeopardizing power gains? Functional Muscle Fitness LLC suggests a 2:2 day split for those sports, maybe even a 3:1 split; Two-Three days would be strength & power training, with one-two days for muscular endurance. Sports that require less mass and less muscular surface area can optimize strength & power growth through supersets. Supersets are coupling two or three exercises together; example, perform dmbl bench, followed by push up jumps. This will ensure more fat loss, with less mass gain. You can train for both muscular endurance and power gains this way. Besides, why not leave the specific sport endurance to playing the sport??? Is it not optimal to learn how to play the sport by playing the sport?

SOURCES1. The Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd edition).By, National Strength and Conditioning AssociationEditors: Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle©2008, 2000, 1994

2. NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training (3rd edition)By, National Academy of Sports MedicineEditors: Michael A. Clark, Scott C. Lucett and Rodney J. Corn©2008

3. Strength Training Anatomy (3rd edition)By, Frederic Delavier©2010 by Editions Vigot

More Nasm Essentials Of Personal Fitness Training Articles

Cross Fit: Does it really achieve the results it claims? Part III: Does cross fit lessen athletic performance: endurance with strength & power

Article by Mark Wine

Cross fit’s premise is simple, perform as many reps and designated exercises as fast as possible. Performing or viewing a cross fit workout will provide you with the idea that cross fit participants utilize endurance training, which is a correct observation. The emphasis of cross fit is on muscular endurance (buffering hydrogen ions) and an overall cardiovascular output. Athlete’s involved with sports that require a higher VO2 max and/or improved muscle buffering capacity (MBC) show great benefit when performing muscular endurance and aerobic training. However, aerobic and muscular endurance training must utilize certain protocols / variables to ensure optimal increases in VO2 max, MBC, maximal oxygen uptake, while still being capable of increasing strength and power, which lead to the greatest gains in athletic performance. Cross fit, simply put, often neglect numerous variables / protocols.

One style of training that is advantageous, that cross fit does perform is Circuit Training. Circuit training is a method of training that requires high volume coupled with short rest periods of 30 seconds or less [1]. This style of training has shown to increase relative VO2 max. This is vital for anaerobic athletes who require elevated aerobic-endurance levels. The most widely accepted measure of cardio respiratory vigor is Maximal Oxygen Uptake, which is the greatest amount of oxygen that the body can utilize at the cellular level. The goal of aerobic athletes, and cross energy athletes is often to increase these levels through circuit style training.Circuit training should utilize functional movement patterns that are similar to movements of the sport. It is not necessary, nor is it beneficial, to re-create exact anatomically based movements. An analysis of the muscles activated during the sport / activity is needed first and foremost. Following this analysis is a re-creation of competition speeds and muscular recruitment during training. Muscular recruitment and movement are most advantageous when re-created during training to be similar to the sport. On the other hand, there is a high degree of cross over between exercises and movements utilized for multiple sports. A common mis-conception is that movements must anatomically look the exact same as the sport itself, this is not Functional Training. The variables of the program make the difference, which are the sets, reps, rest time, structure, and placement of the exercises. Having a goal in mind will provide you with a solid structure leading to optimal athletic performance. A plan with random exercises, just to get a high amount of work done, is undesirable and not a plan. Cross fit takes that extreme.Cross fit does not utilize a sport or athletic analysis to individualize or customize a program that has similar recruitment patterns to that of the sport itself. Cross fit believes in “one size fits all.”

Cross fit coaches utilize nearly all of the same movements for their participants; clean to press, snatch, kipping pull ups, kettle bell swings, and others… Although some of these movements (never kipping pull ups) can often be advantageous, utilizing them with a plan based upon sets, reps, rest time, and placement in a workout are essential for creating optimal and superior results. Cross fit often places exercises into a workout resulting in weight reduction and improper technique, while still expecting performance increases. Not only does this not increase performance, it often decreases performance, especially with previous athletically trained athletes. Another negative aspect is that this style of training and program structure, or lack-there-of, can lead to injury and periods of detraining.Training with larger muscles, or recruiting more than one muscle in a movement, is done through compound movements / lifts. This is often advantageous because oxygen demand increases during an acute bout of aerobic exercise [1]. Cross fit takes advantage of this by utilizing total body movements throughout the entirety of its workouts. This increases its MET (metabolic equivalent of tasks) levels, which is common when assessing the level of intensity of an exercise / workout. Higher levels of MET’s are associated with increased metabolic rates, heart rates, and an overall energy output. MET workouts often lead to decreased fat levels and improved body composition, resulting in athletic performance. Incorporating large muscular movements during repeated bouts of exercise will deplete energy stores, such as ATP and creatine phosphate, which results in an inability to perform the movement correctly, efficiently, and with optimal strength and power. Exhaustion, due to energy store depletion, leads to injury, improper muscular recruitment (zero athletic performance), a reduction in weight, a loss in strength and power, and an overall slower movement pattern. The body becomes adapted quickly and atrophies even quicker. This reduction in weight, which is often required when performing numerous bouts of intense reps, leads to a slower athlete, a less powerful athlete, a weaker athlete, a more injury prone athlete, a less capable athlete, and a less coordinated athlete (Cross Fit: Does it really achieve the results it claims? Part I). Finding a balance between endurance and strength is needed for every athlete.

Strength is a common misunderstood term. Fitness enthusiasts and athletes think of strength as slow and power as explosive / fast. This cannot be further from the truth. Strength and power reflect the ability of a muscle to exert force at any given speed [1]. A stronger athlete is often more powerful and vice-versa. Training for strength and power is a critical component for all athletics. Soccer athletes train for strength and power in order to increase sprint speed, agility, and quickness. Swimming athletes train for strength and power in order to increase their concentric contraction during each pull of their stroke and to increase the push off from the wall. Athletes in sports like these, along with many others, require a higher oxygen uptake and MBC. They have been shown to enhance athletic performance through strength training. Anaerobic exercise has proven to increase cross-sectional areas, neurological coordination, flexibility, aerobic capacity, motor performance, local muscular endurance, lean muscle tissue, metabolic rates / efficiency, and power. All of these side effects are significant, resulting in a more developed / better athlete. Cross fit does not provide the same benefits because it does not practice safe and efficient strength training.

Type II muscle fibers are fast twitch and Type I are slow twitch. Type I are more oxidative (aerobic) and type II are associated with strength and power (anaerobic). However, the common claim is that aerobic endurance training will change type II to type I. There is little evidence to support this claim [1]. Continually performing strength and power training, even coupled with aerobic-endurance training, will not only maintain type II fibers, but it increases type II fibers. One side effect of aerobic endurance training is a gradual change from type IIx fibers to type IIa fibers. Type IIa fibers are more functional then type IIx fibers. Type IIa fibers posses a greater oxidative capacity and are more advantageous when performing repeated bouts of exercise. Repeated bouts of movements are required in nearly all sports. Therefore, one can theorize that coupling aerobic muscular endurance training with anaerobic strength training will result in superior athletic performance. One exception to the rule is Olympic Power lifters. Olympic lifting athletes are made up of mainly IIx fibers. This is advantageous for the sport of Olympic lifting, but it often leads to a poorly trained athlete as a whole.

It is essential to engage in a program that utilizes strength and power training and aerobic endurance or local muscular endurance training. “Acute aerobic exercise results in increased cardiac output, stroke volume, heart rate, oxygen uptake, systolic blood pressure (pressure exerted against arterial walls as blood is forcefully ejected during ventricular contraction and combined with heart rate measures work of heart), and blood flow to active muscles and a decrease in diastolic blood pressure (estimate pressure against arterial walls when no blood is being forcefully ejected through the vessels)” [1-125]. Cross fit can aid in the ability of select athletes, generally beginner to amateur athletes, with an increased ability of muscular endurance for increased performance. However, there is a trade off. With cross fit’s minute gain in endurance, one can expect a loss in absolute strength and power, which will result in poor athletic performance, a reduction in speed, improper technique, minimal injury prevention training, a reduction in agility, lower back pain, and many other non-desirable side effects.For athletes who are involved in a sport or activity that require a high aerobic output and/or MBC, utilizing a proper strength and conditioning program will ensure optimal gains in athletic performance. Develop a program that balances between strength and power and muscular endurance / aerobic training. Here is an example:Day 1: Strength & Power – Lower BodyDay 2: Endurance / Circuit – Upper BodyDay 4 or 5: Endurance / Circuit – Lower BodyDay 5 or 6: Strength & Power – Upper BodyThis is nothing more than a sample weekly regimen. Provided that you give 100% effort, follow the plan, perform proper technique during exercise, place equal emphasis on all the training days, and observe all program variables, you can expect to become a superior athlete. An athlete who can dominate both aerobically and anaerobically, an elite hybrid athlete.SOURCESwww.functionalmusclefitness.com1. The Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd edition).By, National Strength and Conditioning AssociationEditors: Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle©2008, 2000, 1994[113, 123, 125, 129]2. NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training (3rd edition)By, National Academy of Sports MedicineEditors: Michael A. Clark, Scott C. Lucett and Rodney J. Corn©20083. Strength Training Anatomy (3rd edition)By, Frederic Delavier©2010 by Editions Vigot