Need advice!!

nikihigbee

I’ve been a cross country runner for years and have also weight lifted for years, but just recently got into CrossFit. I love it! But will it help me to build muscle and lose fat as much as it advertises?

middlehaitch

A calorie deficit is what you need to lose fat/weight.

As far as I know, weight lifting, using a compound, progressive, hypertrophy, programme, is superior for muscle building.

I don’t know how much muscle gain CrossFit advertises so can’t answer that.

That being said, if you at maintenance, but want to lose fat, look at doing a recomp.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

When all is said and done, do what you enjoy.

Cheers, h.

cupcakesandproteinshakes

There used to be a few CrossFitters on here so hopefully they will chime in. If I recall, most also did hypertrophy lifting as well as CrossFit. I’m not sure CrossFit alone is optimal for muscle gain.

That said, the “best” programme is one you enjoy and can stick to. If you like CrossFit, you could carry on for say 6 months, while Keeping up a moderate calorie deficit and see what happens. If you aren’t satisfied with the results, then maybe look to reduce cross fit sessions and do more lifting.

Some of those athletes at the CrossFit games are pretty ripped but I wonder if they also do hypertrophy training too.

michirouge

Hi there, I have been doing CrossFit for about 1 year and a half and I can say that results came about after 2.5 months (Both muscle gain on my upper body and weight loss).
Last year I also played volleyball so had 3 sessions during the week of crossfit plus 3 of Volleyball (much lower impact but still moving)
Now I only go to Crossfit and I am more than happy with how I feel and how my body looks like.
This being said, I guess that muscle gain depends on how often you train also. I try to go 3xweek and progress is slower now compared to the the beginning, but that's fine for me. I think you should give a try to it!

Chieflrg

Under the right conditions you possibly will notice some added muscle with Crossfit initially if you are untrained.

Can you expect to see optimal results long term compared to well written programming with more appropriate frequency and load? No, unless Crossfit is the only training you will adhere to long term. Crossfit in reality is a sport and as in any sport one should train for strength and practice the sport separately for optimal results.

It could help you to lose fat as a tool. That being said, it would be in relation to adherence to your diet which is on a individual basis. It certainly can help burn calories, not control the amount of calories you consume.