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CrossFit: How To Build Muscle With The Popular Workout

The Fitness Craze That Can Help You Build Muscle
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One woman was naturally slender and woefully weak -- until she discovered the singular rush of heaving barbells toward the sky.

By Karen Valby

For years, my version of strength training involved lazy biceps curls with a pair of canary yellow two and a half-pound weights during commercial breaks. "You're so teeny," people would say when they hugged me, as if talking about a baby bird. I took their comments as praise, even as I stewed over the imperfections (short legs, thick ankles) beneath my delicate shoulders.

But two years ago, drained by work and motherhood, I'd shrunk to an angular 110 pounds. Though I admired my slender arms in pictures, I felt listless. My neighbor JoEllen suggested I check out a CrossFit gym she'd joined (the gym, which offers intensive strength and conditioning training and is popular with the Marines, has locations all over the country). "I hate working out, but I love lifting heavy shit," JoEllen told me. Her passion was appealing: I wanted to feel that turned on by my workout.

During my first few classes, the humiliations were endless. I whimpered while squatting a 25-pound "training" bar as the women around me -- mothers, surgeons, musicians -- pressed 100 pounds or more over their heads and then threw their bars down like used tissues. Attempting a back squat, I fell forward and became pinned under my bar, requiring my coach, who conjured the cranky drill sergeant in Private Benjamin, to rescue me. I thought often of quitting -- until the morning I added a five-pound weight to either end of my 35-pound bar and timidly heaved it into the air. My classmates cheered like I'd just medaled at the Olympics. Suddenly it didn't matter that I was the weakest person in the room. I was stronger than I'd been the week before.

Over the next several months, I came to appreciate that my barbell left no mental space for anything but my quivering arm muscles and tightening core. When I got home I'd admire the broadening V of my back, the pronounced curve of my hamstrings. And when my four-year-old daughter drew a picture of me with a crude barbell at my feet (saying, "When I grow up, I'm going to be strong like you"), I knew there was no turning back.

I'm now 39, and for the first time I look upon my body with unabashed respect for all it can do and lift and bear. The other day my coach told me that my butt was looking bigger. "Oh my God," I said, awash in pride. "Thank you!"

Before You Go

10 New Reasons to Exercise
It’ll Cure Whatchamacallits(01 of10)
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Every time you have a tip-of-the-tongue moment or forget to buy milk, let this be a reminder -- to go for a power walk. In a six-month study at the University of British Columbia, older women who exercised aerobically had markedly better memories -- recalling more words and items in tests -- than control groups that lifted weights, toned or didn’t exercise. The regimen: 40 minutes of walking, twice weekly, working up to 70-80 percent of the target heart rate for their age. (Find yours here.) (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Strengthen Your Shot(02 of10)
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Another thing to do before a workout: get your flu shot. Exercise may double its potency, as it did for volunteers in an Iowa State University study led by kinesthesiologist Marian Kohut. Those who jogged or rode bikes for 90 minutes post-jab had twice the antibody response a month later compared to those who relaxed. Two possible explanations: exercise boosts immune response and helps circulate the vaccine away from the injection site. "Exercise may have benefits for other vaccinations, too," Kohut says. (Stay tuned; research is ongoing.) (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Make New Skills Stickier (03 of10)
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Here’s the best advice for learning something new, especially if it involves "muscle-memory," like piano-playing, 16-wheeler-truck driving and all-butter-pie-crust rolling. Do it -- then try running (or jump-roping, Aqua Spinning, Piloxing, whatever, as long as it’s heart-racing). In a University of Copenhagen study, volunteers who had a vigorous 15-minute cycling workout right after learning a new computer skill retained it much better the following week than those who exercised beforehand or not at all. Exercise boosts brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that helps "cement" memories. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Offset Yesterday’s Vices(04 of10)
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No, this isn’t a license to go hog-wild. But exercise may reverse cognitive decline caused by a longtime high-fat diet, found researchers at the University of Minnesota. When rats on the equivalent of a burger-stuffed-pizza diet exercised daily, their mental decline reversed itself after seven weeks. At four months, these fat-fed mice had better memory function than non-exercisers on a low-fat diet. Aerobics may also help compensate for alcohol-related brain damage, found a new study published in Alcoholism. Immoderate drinkers who worked out had far more white matter than their sedentary peers. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Offer Two Kinds of High(05 of10)
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We’ve all heard of a "runner’s high" (endorphin rush). Now there’s another inducement to get thee to the gym, found an Indiana University study: the "coregasm" -- an exercise-induced orgasm (which may strike by surprise, apparently.) In case you’re interested, "coregasms" happen most often when doing crunches (lifting legs toward the chest or at a 90-degree angle repeatedly), climbing poles or ropes, biking/spinning and weight-lifting. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Be Your Secret to Self-Control(06 of10)
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Make better decisions by exercising for 10-40 minutes first -- that’s the upshot of an overview of studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Kids and young adults who worked out right before test-taking showed better concentration and self-control than non-exercisers. During exercise, more oxygen-rich blood flows to the frontal lobes, the area responsible for "executive function"-- thinking ahead, reasoning and keeping yourself in check. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Save Your Hide(07 of10)
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Angry, red, scaly skin—if it happens to you, it may be psoriasis, an effect of chronic inflammation (which afflicts about one in 40 of us). The good news: about two hours of vigorous exercise a week (walking doesn’t cut it, sadly) may reduce your risk by up to 30 percent, find researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Exercises most associated with flake-free skin are running and calisthenics. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Reverse Shrinkage(08 of10)
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Yes, the brain shrivels with age, but losing our minds can be optional, found a study published in PNAS. When seniors exercised for a year, their hippocampus ("memory gateway") plumped up 2 percent -- which sharpened recall and reduced dementia risk. In the inactive control group, that part of the brain shrunk and memory got fuzzier. The routine: 40 minutes of aerobic walking three times weekly, which increased oxygen flow to the brain and levels of the neuron-booster BDNF. (As a brain-saver, exercise even beats puzzles.) (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Get You More (Birthday) Cake(09 of10)
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Work out just 15 minutes a day -- and you get an extra three years of life, found a study at the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan of more than 400,000 people. (And more means more: 30 minutes daily gets you four years more than a couch potato), Cancer rates among exercisers dropped by 10 percent; heart disease by 20 percent. Granted, these are just statistics, but they’re inspiring -- and they apply both to super-jocks and those of us who only grudgingly break a sweat. (credit:Thinkstock)
It’ll Protect Your Last Nerve(10 of10)
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Okay, we’re not saying that nothing will bother you. But you’ll likely find that your fitter self is more resilient to slights, pressure and disappointments. Aerobic exercise increases the "fight-or-flight threshold," says John Ratey, MD, in his exercise science book, Spark -- by relaxing muscles, boosting mood-moderating neurotransmitters (like serotonin and dopamine) and reducing the body’s stress response to the hormone cortisol. (credit:Thinkstock)
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