48-hour recovery of biochemical parameters and physical performance after two modalities of CrossFit workouts

Abstract

CrossFit is high-intensity interval training involving routines called ‘workouts of the day’ (WOD). The aim of the present study is to analyse biochemical parameters and physical performance after two modalities of CrossFit WODs, and to evaluate 48-hour recovery. Twelve trained CrossFit practitioners (age: 30.4 ± 5.37 years; VO2max: 47.8 ± 3.63 ml/min/kg; 1RM Power Clean: 93.2 ± 7.62 kg) participated in the study. A crossover design was applied, and participants completed two modalities of WODs on separate days: WOD1 (as many rounds as possible) and WOD2 (rounds for time). Blood lactate, ratings of perceived exertion and heart rate were measured to determine the intensity of training sessions. Biochemical parameters and physical performance were evaluated before, immediately after, 24 hours after and 48 hours after exercise. There were significant differences in intensity between WOD1 and WOD2 (lactate: 13.3±1.87 vs. 18.38±2.02 mmol/L, heart rate mean: 127.6±11.1 vs. 159.8±12.1 bpm), and blood glucose concentrations were significantly higher after WOD2 (135.4 ± 19.6 vs. 167.4±19.6 mg/dL). After exercise, WOD1 and WOD2 caused significant increases of hepatic transaminases, creatine phosphokinase and blood glucose, as well as a large decrease in the physical performance evaluated by the plank test. All these values returned to baseline by 48 hours after exercise. Both WODs caused metabolic and muscular stress, as well as a decrease in physical performance. All the levels recovered at 48 hours, so the stress caused by CrossFit WODs did not induce a pathological state.

Characterization of Hormonal, Metabolic, and Inflammatory Responses in CrossFit® Training: A Systematic Review

“…However, blood lactate responses after the protocols were similar regardless of the WOD time. The values presented were 10.15–18.38 mmol·L −1 for protocols with a time <10 min (Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2018a ; Tibana et al, 2018 ; Timón et al, 2019 ), 5.95–16.56 mmol·L −1 for protocols with a time ranging from 10 to 19 min (Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2018a ; Tibana et al, 2018 ; Timón et al, 2019 ) and 11.79–17.43 mmol·L −1 for protocols ≥20 min (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Ahmad et al, 2019 ; Tibana et al, 2019b ). The values presented were 6.34–14.0 mmol·L −1 for studies that did not report the duration of the protocols (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Perciavalle et al, 2016 ; Tibana et al, 2016 ; Coco et al, 2019 ).…”

“…The studies that described the training protocols analyzed participants who performed different combinations of multiple types of exercise modalities. CV, gymnastic and weightlifting exercises): gymnastic ( n = 2; Shaw et al, 2015 ; Ahmad et al, 2019 ), G + W ( n = 4; Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Escobar et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Timón et al, 2019 ), CV + weightlifting ( n = 6; Perciavalle et al, 2016 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2017 , 2018a , b ; Coco et al, 2019 ; Feito et al, 2019a ), and CV + gymnastic + weightlifting ( n = 9; Tibana et al, 2016 , 2018 , 2019a , b ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Mangine et al, 2018 , 2019 ).…”

“…The training intensity was verified in a few studies through heart rate (HR) assessment, in which the HR remained between 85.9 and 97.4% of the maximum HR (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Murawska-Cialowicz et al, 2015 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2018a , b ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2018 ; Tibana et al, 2018 ; Ahmad et al, 2019 ; Feito et al, 2019a ). Regarding the WOD time, 10 studies used protocols with times <10 min (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2017 , 2018a , b ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Mangine et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Tibana et al, 2018 ; Timón et al, 2019 ), 13 studies used protocols with times between 10 and 19 min (Murawska-Cialowicz et al, 2015 ; Shaw et al, 2015 ; Escobar et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2017 , 2018a , b ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Mangine et al, 2018 , 2019 ; Tibana et al, 2018 ; Feito et al, 2019a ), and five studies used protocols with times over 20 min (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Mangine et al, 2018 ; Tibana et al, 2019b ).…”

“…Nineteen studies (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Murawska-Cialowicz et al, 2015 ; Shaw et al, 2015 ; Escobar et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Perciavalle et al, 2016 ; Tibana et al, 2016 , 2018 , 2019a ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2017 , 2018a ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Ahmad et al, 2019 ; Cadegiani et al, 2019 ; Coco et al, 2019 ; Feito et al, 2019a ; Timón et al, 2019 ) investigated metabolic responses (see Table 2 ). The metabolic variables analyzed were lactate (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Murawska-Cialowicz et al, 2015 ; Shaw et al, 2015 ; Escobar et al, 2016 , 2017 ; Perciavalle et al, 2016 ; Tibana et al, 2016 , 2018 , 2019b ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2018a ; Ahmad et al, 2019 ; Cadegiani et al, 2019 ; Coco et al, 2019 ; Feito et al, 2019a ; Timón et al, 2019 ), glycemia (Shaw et al, 2015 ; Perciavalle et al, 2016 ; Tibana et al, 2016 ; Kliszczewicz et al, 2017 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Cadegiani et al, 2019 ; Coco et al, 2019 ; Timón et al, 2019 ), cholesterol (Shaw et al, 2015 ), creatinine (Cadegiani et al, 2019 ), GOT and GPT (Timón et al, 2019 ).…”

“…This increase seems to occur at the beginning of the training and persists for up to 30 min after the session (Tibana et al, 2018 ). Some studies presented differences between the different WODs (Tibana et al, 2016 ; Maté-Muñoz et al, 2017 , 2018 ; Timón et al, 2019 ), and some found no differences (Fernandez-Fernandez et al, 2015 ; Durkalec-Michalski et al, 2018 ; Tibana et al, 2018 , 2019b ). Chronically, Murawska-Cialowicz et al ( 2015 ) reported non-significant changes in lactate values after 3 months of CrossFit ® training.…”