Physiological Performance Measures as Indicators of CrossFit^® Performance

• Main Authors: Joshua D. Dexheimer (Author), E. Todd Schroeder (Author), Brandon J. Sawyer (Author), Robert W. Pettitt (Author), Arnel L. Aguinaldo (Author), William A. Torrence (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2019-04-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

CrossFit^® began as another exercise program to improve physical fitness and has rapidly grown into the “sport of fitness„. However, little is understood as to the physiological indicators that determine CrossFit^® sport performance. The purpose of this study was to determine which physiological performance measure was the greatest indicator of CrossFit^® workout performance. Male (<i>n</i> = 12) and female (<i>n</i> = 5) participants successfully completed a treadmill graded exercise test to measure maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max), a 3-minute all-out running test (3MT) to determine critical speed (CS) and the finite capacity for running speeds above CS (D′), a Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT) to assess anaerobic peak and mean power, the CrossFit^® total to measure total body strength, as well as the CrossFit^® benchmark workouts: Fran, Grace, and Nancy. It was hypothesized that CS and total body strength would be the greatest indicators of CrossFit^® performance. Pearson’s r correlations were used to determine the relationship of benchmark performance data and the physiological performance measures. For each benchmark-dependent variable, a stepwise linear regression was created using significant correlative data. For the workout Fran, back squat strength explained 42% of the variance. VO_2max explained 68% of the variance for the workout Nancy. Lastly, anaerobic peak power explained 57% of the variance for performance on the CrossFit^® total. In conclusion, results demonstrated select physiological performance variables may be used to predict CrossFit^® workout performance.

Item Description

2075-4663
10.3390/sports7040093