A new study published in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance has pit a form of CrossFit® training against a beloved running protocol to see which is best at improving performance: the old system or the new.
CrossFit may not be as well known for producing runners as it is at producing very strong people who can exercise at very high intensities, but CrossFit Endurance is one of the ways the training system has branched out into the endurance running space. “CFE” uses a mixture of CrossFit-style training and running, typically at high intensities (ie. interval training), to improve endurance.
CFE was compared with polarized endurance training. As strength sports aficionados, we can’t say we know a whole lot about training protocols used by runners but according to Runner’s World the idea is to undulate intensity. Not by the second, as is the case with the high intensity interval training to which you may be accustomed, but by the day: most workouts are either very hard (a day that may well include some intervals) or pretty easy. More than a few studies have found it to be better than high volume training, lactate threshold training, or HIIT alone.
[Learn more: Could jogging actually get you stronger?]
Onto the study: for twelve weeks, 21 recreational runners trained five days a week. The CFE group spent about half the workouts doing CrossFit and the other half running. The results? The old-fashioned polarized training was significantly better at improving VO2 Max, a way to measure person’s maximum capacity to take in, transport, and use oxygen during exercise.
But. The two groups both had a pretty similar improvement in 5k run time and body composition, so CFE was far from a waste of time — and we’re willing to bet the CFE group got better at lifting and pull-ups than the runners.
In any case there weren’t that many people in this study and there are very few other studies like it, so we shouldn’t take this as gospel. Still, it’s great to see the body of academic studies on CrossFit continue to grow.
Featured image via @elleryphotos on Instagram.