Updated May 4, 2023
Although CrossFit has been around a while, it has finally become a household name – at least on the tongues of fitness-minded individuals. Whether you run the occasional 5K, meet up with your bestie for Zumba twice a week, or have your sights on besting the competition in your weight class at the next powerlifting meet, you’ve likely entertained the prospect of visiting your local box to see what all the fuss is about. If you’ve hesitating to give it a try, check out these top ten reasons women LOVE CrossFit.
1.) Challenging Workout in Record Time
Sure, you could continue to spend hours on end on the elliptical machine or treadmill, but why? CrossFit workouts are designed to be in the thirty minute range while providing strength benefits for the entire body and still test your endurance. This would require two separate workouts with traditional fitness training methods, and few women have that sort of time to spare.
2.) Harness Your Own Strength
CrossFit pushes you to test the limits of your strength, which, in turns, increases it. Forget how the old-timers insist strength training will bulk you up like the Incredible Hulk. The fact is, that’s not going to happen. You will, however, gain the ability to do things you never thought possible, such as carry your groceries in a single trip or crush the competition in taxing obstacle races.
3.) Strong Sense of Community
The first time you walk into a CrossFit box, you’re sure to notice how tightly knit the people there are. Although that type of camaraderie may signal exclusivity in other groups, people who CrossFit also tend to welcome newcomers with open arms. After all, it is a special type of community that continually pushes to physically excel, not just as individuals but as a group.
4.) Build a Healthy Competitive Spirit
CrossFit workouts encourage you to set personal records wherever possible, whether that be a faster sprint from the time before or increase the weight on your squat. Although you may still strive for the best time in the box for a particular WOD, the competitive spirit CrossFit evokes is chiefly with yourself. This motivation to continually raise the bar on your own performance is invaluable in all aspects of your life and not just your workouts.
5.) Pride of Being an Athlete
Making the CrossFit commitment may not turn you into an Olympian, but it does make you an athlete. You will be training like a professional, putting the effort in to build endurance and strength at an astonishing rate. It introduces athletic skills into your wheelhouse, and that’s something any woman should take pride in.
6.) Through-the-Roof Energy Levels
When you train hard, like you’re guaranteed to in CrossFit, it has an energizing effect. You will develop a disdain for rest days and constantly look for a way to be more active – even when it isn’t part of your workouts. With this increase in energy, you can kiss sluggish mornings goodbye and embrace the possibilities for each day with a fresh enthusiasm.
7.) Achieve the Best Physical Shape of Your Life
Since there is no such thing as halfway in CrossFit, you will be torching fat and putting on lean muscle like you never thought possible. Within weeks, the changes will be noticeable in the mirror, and it won’t be much longer before everyone you know begins to take notice, too. You’ll soon be donning tank tops and short shorts without a care and loving the way you look in them.
8.) Build Confidence In and Out of the Box
With all the changes CrossFit helps you achieve in your physical abilities and appearance, you will want to show off. After all, what’s the point of having a rockin’ bod and being able to lift a gazillion pounds if people don’t know about it? Self-consciousness will be a thing of the past; in fact, you will seek out opportunities to showcase your achievements both in and out of the CrossFit box.
9.) Invest in Your Future Health
Being fit doesn’t just benefit you now; it affects your health later down the road. It prevents a horde of medical problems, promoting things like good bone density and cardiovascular health. Also, making fitness a priority in your younger years develops good habits you can take with you into your 40s, 50s, 60s, and even beyond.
10.) Be an Inspiration to Other Women
When you make positive changes in your lifestyle like you will with CrossFit, you send a message to the other females in your life that women can be strong and independent. Your friends, co-workers, or maybe even daughter will be able to look at you as someone they want to emulate. The fitness journey you undertake really can inspire others to find their own way.
