Fitness Workouts Workout Trends 20 Legit Reasons to Love CrossFit By Amy Schlinger Amy Schlinger Instagram Twitter Amy Schlinger is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and freelance journalist with over 12 years of experience. She regularly covers health, fitness, wellness, and lifestyle topics for Shape, Health Magazine, Self, Women's Health, Men's Health, The New York Post, Business Insider, Livestrong, Well + Good, MSN, and more. Her work has also appeared in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Outside Magazine, Runner's World, Pilates Style, and more. She has held staff positions at Shape Magazine, DailyBurn, Self Magazine, Hearst, and PopSugar. She earned a B.A. in Media Arts and Design from James Madison University and is currently based in New York City. Amy has run six half marathons, completed two triathlons, biked two century rides and finished two Tough Mudder races as well as four Spartan races. Shape's editorial guidelines Published on April 24, 2015 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Find a box, schedule a WOD, set a new PR—find out what this means and why CrossFit workouts are well-deservingly taking the fitness industry by storm 01 of 20 It's Two Times the Workout CrossFit helps you develop cardio respiratory and muscular endurance. 02 of 20 You = Superwoman Because of weight plate size, even just 10 pounds on either side of the bar makes you look super strong. (Try this 4-Week Weight Training Plan for Women.) 03 of 20 You Push Your Limits Whether it’s a squat or push press, you can always best your personal record—and it’s exhilarating and exciting every time. 04 of 20 You Find Your People Haters gonna hate. (See the 12 Biggest Myths About CrossFit.) 05 of 20 Who Run the World? Sixty percent of the 10 million CrossFitters in the world are women. 06 of 20 It Switches Things Up Your WOD is different every day. (Check out 5 Modified Moves to Switch Up Your Strength Training.) 07 of 20 The Payoff Is Awesome You can improve aerobic fitness and burn calories! And there aren’t as many injuries as you think. A small study found there were three in every 1,000 hours of training. 08 of 20 The Gym Is Your Playground You get to do handstands and handstand walks! (These 10 Exercises to Prime Your Arms for Tough Yoga Poses can help.) 09 of 20 You Set—and Meet—Your Goals You can see right away if you did more reps or pushed more weight than last time. 10 of 20 You Are Unstoppable Seriously, you are fierce. (Meet The Hottest, Fittest Women of the 2014 CrossFit Games.) 11 of 20 Anyone Can Do It Whether you believe it or not, all shapes and sizes are welcome. Each move is scalable, so each workout can be tailored to your body. 12 of 20 Doctor's Orders WODs sound like medical jargon: Workouts are “prescribed” and using the correct weight is called “Rx.” 13 of 20 It Gets Your Heart Rate Up Run lovers can still get their cardio on, and those who hate it won’t have to do it too often. 14 of 20 It's Empowering With so many components, you have to be good at something. From rowing to weight lifting, handstands to wall balls, everyone can excel. 15 of 20 You Can't Not Do It There are more than 7,000 boxes worldwide. They’re everywhere now, so you never have trouble finding one. (Track down one of the 17 Best CrossFit Boxes in the U.S.) 16 of 20 You Are Your Best Competition There are numerous apps to record your WOD results so you can always see when you’ve beat your last record…and others! (Start your search with myWOD, WOD Workout Logger, iCross WOD, or Wodify.) 17 of 20 You Always Have a Friend Partner WODs! It’s great motivation to split up a workout and cheer each other on. Plus, the accountability makes you try harder. (Flip through 17 Instagram Photos of Incredible Partner Exercises for inspiration.) 18 of 20 You Go, Girl Whether you’ve completed 10 rounds in 12 minutes or worked up to squat more than double your body weight, every finish feels awesome. 19 of 20 There's Always Incentive CrossFit’s highest honor is the kind of title anyone would want bragging rights to. (Read How Camille Leblanc-Bazinet Went from Skinny to Fittest Woman on Earth.) 20 of 20 You CAN Do It Sure, there’s a huge element of competition. But fellow CrossFitters will cheer you on until the last rep. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit