Does CrossFit Help You Lose Belly Fat?

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.

There are studies that 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.

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.

Even if you’re not doing CrossFit to build muscle, it is highly likely that you will end up building at least some muscle. A lot of CrossFit workouts involve lifting weight, 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 on your body, the more calories you will burn. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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 bodyweight 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. 

One big factor to keep in mind is where you’re starting from. It’s not the same if you’re just starting to workout 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, 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.