CrossFit has been known to provide exceptional results for those who have stuck it out over time. The problem with CrossFit is that injuries are more likely when compared to regular exercise. These injuries can be prevented by focusing on prevention and recovery methods.
Prevent injuries
Many injuries in CrossFit can be prevented by correcting form, resting, and using the correct amount of weight.
Most injuries that come from CrossFit are shoulder injuries due to overtraining. Overtraining is caused by using too heavy of a weight or too many reps using the shoulder.
To prevent overtraining injuries, alternate between upper and lower body workouts days. Most importantly take rest days.
The other injuries that come from CrossFit are caused by bad form. CrossFit focuses on completing workouts in the fastest time as possible. Going fast through workouts leads to bad form.
If you’re training on your own it can be hard to correct form without a coach. A good coach can correct bad form and plan workouts correctly to prevent overtraining. A bad coach can cause injuries through bad form and overtraining. The difference between the two of them is that a good coach will stop to correct form or modify exercise while a bad coach will focus on motivating through a workout.
Recover and rest
Recovery and rest is crucial to seeing results from any workout program and will prevent injuries from becoming long term.
For peak recovery muscles will need to rest at least 48 hours to rebuild damaged muscles and ligaments.
CrossFit is difficult to do this with because most workouts are full body. The best solution with CrossFit is to alternate between strength dominant and cardio dominant workouts.
The other option is to alternate intensity. This website does a great job of breaking down workouts into beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Don’t do multiple advanced workouts in a row but alternate between the skill levels to recover.
To be successful and prevent injuries with CrossFit focus on planning and resting. If you’re having trouble, reach out to a CrossFit coach with good reviews.
