Psychological variables of CrossFit participants: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to review the existing literature concerning the psychological variables of CrossFit participants. Methodology This review followed the PRISMA guidelines and was documented in the PROSPERO registry (CRD42018091177). Six electronic databases (SCOPUS, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Cochrane) were searched from their inception through July 2020. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed. Results Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. We observed an increase in satisfaction, clinical addiction, and enjoyment among participants related to exercise, social improvement, and high intrinsic motivation to participate for the purpose of enjoyment, challenge, and affiliation. Perceptions of effort were high among CrossFit participants. Some studies found that the reaction time was impaired after the CrossFit session, whereas others found no changes in mental health, self-esteem, and well-being after training. Conclusion Adherence and maintenance of the practice of CrossFit are related to psychological variables such as motivation and satisfaction of basic psychological needs. CrossFit participants demonstrated high perception of effort, intrinsic motivation, and reasons for practice such as enjoyment, challenge, and affiliation. The quality assessment demonstrated the need for more detail in the methods section of future investigations. Additional high-quality studies are needed to investigate the effects of CrossFit training on the mental health of participants.

Proposal for a Fitness Program in the School Setting during the COVID 19 Pandemic: Effects of an 8-Week CrossFit Program on Psychophysical Well-Being in Healthy Adolescents

“…Adolescents showed high levels of enjoyment and learning perception after CrossFit practice. Our results are in line with findings by Dominski et al [ 46 , 47 ]. The effects of the CrossFit protocol on fitness level were significant.…”

“…In 2020, Alemany-Arrebola et al demonstrated that the worldwide pandemic situation has caused an increase in stress and also showed that a stressful situation (pandemic and confinement) together with a critical event (COVID-19), increases anxiety levels and influences the perception of self-efficacy [ 44 ]. Although the connection between self-esteem and regular physical activity is well documented, Dominski et al (2020) showed a connection between CrossFit training and higher levels of psychological functioning (well-being, affect, body awareness, and self-esteem) [ 45 , 46 ]. Adolescents showed high levels of enjoyment and learning perception after CrossFit practice.…”

Acute effect of benchmarck crosstrainig associated with physiological parameters and mental skills according to performance

“…However, the reason for staying at cross training indicated that 37.5% of the practitioners aim for more fun activities, 21.9% seek to improve health, and 12.5% practice the modality for social interaction. The data presented corroborate those of previous authors (Tibana et al, 2015;Dominski et al, 2020), which point to a relationship between the challenging character and the motivation for staying and adhering to the modality -with higher levels of social relations, satisfaction, and behavioral regulation. These findings indicate that professionals seek strategies to increase practitioners' adherence and permanence in the cross training modality.…”

“…Motivation has been one of the most cited concepts among the reasons that justify athletes' success (Sibley & Bergman, 2018). Besides, it is considered an essential element for the permanence and maintenance in a sports activity, being fundamental in the athlete's conduct, as it awakens and maintains adequate activation levels to regulate the performance-oriented behavior (Dominski et al, 2020).…”

“Functional Fitness Training”, CrossFit, HIMT, or HIFT: What Is the Preferable Terminology?

“…There are activities such as calisthenics, strength/power, weightlifting, gymnastic movements, plyometric exercises, cycling, running, and rowing, which can be performed at a high intensity (Tibana et al, 2019 ). Challenge, scalability, enjoyment, affiliation, and the constant variation of workouts are characteristics that may explain the exponential growth among practitioners of different levels of physical fitness (Dominski et al, 2020 ), including a wide range of populations, including healthy individuals, obese individuals, and athletes. The growth in training with high intensity has aroused the interest of researchers, including our research group, mainly focusing on psychological (Dominski et al, 2020 ) physiological benefits (Tibana et al, 2022 ) as well as injuries (Dominski et al, 2021 ).…”