Effects of CrossFit training on lipid profiles, body composition and physical fitness in overweight men

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the CrossFit training on cardiovascular risk factors in overweight men. Methods Twenty-six overweight men (age, 21.6 +/- 1.6 years; weight, 86.6 +/- 13.1 kg; height, 176.1 +/- 6.28 and BMI, 27.8 +/- 3.17 kg m(2)) were randomly divided into two groups of CrossFit (n = 14) and control (n = 12). Subjects in CrossFit group performed five sessions of CrossFit training per week for 4 weeks; while, subjects in control group had no regular exercise. Exercise session included continuous all-out cycling, burpee and squat exercises. Body composition, maximal oxygen uptake (V?O(2)max), anaerobic performance, blood pressure (BP) and lipid profile were assessed in the both groups before and after training. Results Data analyses showed that weight, BMI, body fat percentage, resting heart rate, diastolic BP, V?O(2)max, peak and average power, triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and LDL-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio significantly improved in CrossFit training in comparison to control group. However, waist, hip and thigh circumferences, waist-hip ratio, systolic BP, HDL and very-low-density lipoprotein (vLDL) were not significantly different between groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions It is concluded that 4 weeks of CrossFit training induces considerable changes in body composition, physical fitness and lipid profiles (except for HDL) in overweight people.