Cool CrossFit®-specific research 🙌

📝 In this study the authors followed recreational CrossFit® participants for 6-months. Every 2 months they checked hormones related to muscle growth (free testosterone) and immune function (CD38+ cells) in the blood.

✅ This one of the first studies that really does a long-term(ish) follow-up of CrossFit® participants.

👀 The data shows that men had much higher overall testosterone levels, which increased over time when doing high volume CrossFit®. Not shown in the infograph, but cortisol decreased over time.

🦠 In both genders there was an initial decrease in immune function (measured via markers), but this restored back to baseline after 6 months of training.

👉 Take-home: Even though these relatively inexperienced CrossFit® participants trained 5/week for 6-months, they did not show signs of overtraining and/or decrease in immune function. The authors hypothesize that this is due to the constant varied nature of the sport.

Full text: PMID: 31330935

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