CrossFit vs Bodybuilding  

Are you looking into a new workout routine and wondering if you should go the classic bodybuilding route or try that new CrossFit gym down the road?

Like so many things in life, deciding between CrossFit vs bodybuilding comes down to your goal.

CrossFit and bodybuilding involve similar movements and share some overlap in equipment. But the goals of each are different.

In this post, I’ll talk about the similarities and differences of each so you can make the most informed decision possible. I’ll also talk about how I’ve enjoyed both at different times using a periodized approach to my training year.

CrossFit

Let’s Start with CrossFit 

Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai founded CrossFit in 2000. They developed CrossFit with the idea of a constantly changing workout schedule involving various “functional movements” performed at the highest intensity possible.

CrossFit quickly began receiving attention from people who were bored doing the same exercises on the same machines at their local gyms. The athlete community used to doing high-intensity training also promptly took to CrossFit.

Before long, CrossFit began franchising its names to gyms around the country. Not long after, the franchises spread around the world. As of 2022, CrossFit has over 12,000 affiliates in 150 countries.

What are CrossFit box gyms like?

CrossFit gyms are called “boxes.”

They are often located in box-shaped warehouses. Most boxes have multiple racks or an entire rig for squats, Olympic lifts, and pull-ups. You will also find kettlebells, cardio machines like air bikes and rowers, ropes, plyo boxes, and sleds.

What are CrossFit workouts like?

CrossFit workouts are like most workouts. You get out what you put in. Most are high-intensity, timed workouts, with several completed as an AMRAP or as many rounds as possible.  Others are in the “EMOM” format or every minute on the minute. And several are completed “for time” or as fast as possible.

The workouts can involve a variety of disciplines combined to challenge the entire body in one WOD or “workout of the day.” CrossFit incorporates strength training, strong man lifts, Olympic lifting, gymnastics, cardio, bodyweight movements, and kettlebell training. 

CrossFit movements are typically compound exercises involving multiple joints and muscle groups. There is very little, if any, isolation work (biceps curls, triceps extensions, etc.) involved in CrossFit.

CrossFit usually organizes WODs as circuits. Circuits include several rounds of different exercises. Some WODs use lighter weights or body weight. Others, especially those with Olympic lifts, use heavy weights.

Here are a few examples of WODS:

CrossFit WODs are also typically named after real people. Several are given women’s names and are referred to as girl WODs.

Amanda

For time:

• Muscle-Ups and Squat Snatches Round 1: 9 reps each
• Muscle-Ups and Squat Snatches Round 2: 7 reps each
• Muscle-Ups and Squat Snatches Round 3: 5 reps each

Angie

For time:

• 100 Pull-Ups
• 100 Push-Ups
• 100 Sit-Ups
• 100 Squats

Annie

For time:

• Double-Unders and Sit-Ups Round 1: 50 reps each
• Double-Unders and Sit-Ups Round 2: 40 reps each
• Double-Unders and Sit-Ups Round 3: 30 reps each
• Double-Unders and Sit-Ups Round 4: 20 reps each
• Double-Unders and Sit-Ups Round 5: 10 reps each

Barbara

Five rounds for time. Take a 3-minute rest after each round.

• 20 Pull-Ups
• 30 Push-Ups
• 40 Sit-Ups
• 50 Air Squats
• 3 minute Rest

Chelsea

Complete a round of the below every minute on the minute (EMOM). This WOD has a time cap of 30 minutes total.

• 5 Pull-Ups
• 10 Push-Ups
• 15 Air Squats

CrossFit hero WODS are named to honor fallen military, law enforcement, or emergency services workers. The most famous is the Murph WOD, named for LT Michael P. Murphy, who was killed in action in Afghanistan.

Murph

While wearing a 20 lb weight vest (optional), complete the following for time:

• 1-mile Run
• 100 Pull-Ups
• 200 Push-Ups
• 300 Air Squats
• 1-mile Run

Below are 10 other classic hero WODs:

Zachery Tellier

For time:

• 10 Burpees
• 10 Burpees
• 25 Push-Ups
• 10 Burpees
• 25 Push-Ups
• 50 Lunges
• 10 Burpees
• 25 Push-Ups
• 50 Lunges
• 100 Sit-Ups
• 10 Burpees
• 25 Push-Ups
• 50 Lunges
• 100 Sit-Ups
• 150 Air Squats

Loredo

For time:

• 24 Air Squats
• 24 Push-Ups
• 24 Walking Lunges
• 400 meter Run

The Kabul 13

Complete the movements below for time. Perform 13 Burpees after each movement. The load prescribed for male athletes is the first number in parentheses, and the load prescribed for female athletes is the second number.

• 20 Deadlifts (75/55 lb)
• 23 Hang Power Cleans (75/55 lb)
• 31 Front Squats (75/55 lb)
• 23 Push Presses (75/55 lb)
• 22 Box Jump Overs (24/20 in)
• 20 Butterfly Sit-Ups
• 20 Reverse Step Lunges
• 20 Pull-Ups
• 23 Goblet Squats (53/35 lb)
• 25 American Kettlebell Swings (53/35 lb)
• 22 Power Snatches (75/55 lb)
• 20 Overhead Squats (75/55 lb)
• 22 Thrusters (75/55 lb)

What is CrossFit sport?

The CrossFit Games have become a massive sporting event that pits the top CrossFit athletes around the world against each other. The Games occur over three days and include several WODs and challenges not revealed to the athletes beforehand.

CrossFit sport has spread like wildfire since the first CrossFit games in 2008.

This is partly due to the rise of several CrossFit stars like Matt Fraiser, Rich Froning, Tia Toomey, and Annie Thorisdotir, among others. 

Most top athletes have received media attention and endorsement deals that have helped to increase CrossFit’s popularity.

What is CrossFit good for?

Ultimately, getting good at CrossFit is good for getting good at CrossFit. Yes, you will build some strength. You will experience improved body composition, especially if you were sedentary before starting CrossFit.

Will you gain as much muscle strength with CrossFit training as you would on a strength training program? No. Probably not. Are you going to be building muscle mass with CrossFit training like you would with a bodybuilding program? No, probably not. Or, at least not as much.

But that doesn’t have to be a deal breaker if it’s not what you care about. If you care about being generally fit and good but not great at many things, then you are in the same camp as most people. And you will enjoy CrossFit.

The very thing that makes CrossFit enjoyable is the same thing that makes it challenging to be great at any one thing—the variety. The variety can make you a jack of all trades but a master of none.

Olympic weightlifters are great at precisely one thing—Olympic weightlifting. If you add too much variation into their programs, their strength in Olympic lifts will decrease as their strength in other areas increases.

To illustrate my point, we’ll take the example of five-time CrossFit Games champion Matt Fraiser. When Matt Fraiser was an Olympic weightlifter, he was great at Olympic weightlifting. He regularly finished in the top three of international meets. 

When Fraiser switched to CrossFit, he seemed great at Olympic weightlifting. But the reality was he was great at Olympic weightlifting compared to everyone else. He wasn’t as strong in those movements as when he focused only on Olympic weightlifting, but he dramatically improved at other things, like his aerobic fitness.

What about nutrition for CrossFit?

CrossFit has become popular in the paleo diet community. Or the Paleo diet community gravitates toward CrossFit. In any case, a lot of CrossFitters adhere to the paleo diet.

Paleo centers around the idea of eating what our ancestors ate. Put more simply, it’s eating a diet of foods that can be found in nature and not in a box or package. Though eating natural foods is always a better option than eating prepackaged processed food, it is always a favorable option, so it’s not mandatory to participate in CrossFit. 

One does not need to monitor macros or calories as precisely as a bodybuilder. If you have any weight-related goals while pursuing CrossFit, you will need to focus more on the number of calories consumed depending on your goal.

CrossFit Summary

• CrossFit is great for people who like doing different things in the gym. 
• CrossFit is great if you like working out with others.
• CrossFit is great if you like having your workouts determined for you.
• CrossFit is great if you don’t have a specific goal and want to improve your all-around fitness.
• CrossFit is great for people who don’t want to worry about manipulating nutrition to achieve muscle growth and fat loss.
• CrossFit is not great if you have a specific goal, like building as much muscle as possible or bench pressing 250 lb.
• CrossFit is not great if you like working out by yourself.
• CrossFit is not great if you like to design your workouts.

One more note about CrossFit. On average, joining a CrossFit gym costs significantly more than joining a standard gym. The difference is you are paying for the coaches to lead a class through a WOD. Those coaches are supposed to help teach, instruct, and correct. 

So, now that we’ve covered CrossFit let’s look at bodybuilding.

Here are some other articles you’ll love!

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Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding aims to build as much muscle mass as possible while reducing body fat as much as possible. Bodybuilding is about size and definition. Though strength development plays a role in bodybuilding, it is not the primary focus.

Bodybuilding uses a variety of compound movements like the squat, deadlift, bent-over row, shoulder press, and bench press to build the body’s largest muscle groups.

Bodybuilding also uses accessory exercises to isolate smaller muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, and calves. Bodybuilding is concerned with the symmetry of each side of the body. Muscles on the left side of the body should be the same size as the muscles on the right side of the body. And both sides should be as large as possible.

Does bodybuilding have variation?

Bodybuilding does not involve a ton of variation in exercises. Most bodybuilders stick to the same movements year in and year out. The variation often comes in sets, reps, intensity, and load. Tweaking these resistance training variables allows the bodybuilder to manipulate the program to stimulate muscle growth.

How long are bodybuilding workouts?

Bodybuilding is also not fast-paced. Unlike CrossFit, which incorporates both aerobic exercises and anaerobic work, bodybuilding is primarily an anaerobic training method. Rest periods are assigned depending on the training intensity, and bodybuilding is rarely timed with AMRAPS.

Though bodybuilding does not incorporate the same type of cardiovascular and plyometric work that CrossFit does, it does involve intense workouts. Bodybuilding workouts, like CrossFit, should slowly increase in intensity as skill and neural activation increase with training.

What kind of exercises make up bodybuilding workouts?

Bodybuilding workouts include more isolation exercises than your typical CrossFit workout. The reason is to increase hypertrophy throughout every muscle group in the body. That’s why types of exercises focused on smaller muscle groups like the biceps, triceps, and deltoids are included in bodybuilding programs.

Most bodybuilding routines will focus on moderate load and moderate sets/reps. However, bodybuilding training cycles will also have strength work with heavier weights and low reps.

What about cardio for bodybuilding?

Unlike CrossFit, bodybuilding workouts do not incorporate much cardio. Cardio is instead done separately from the bodybuilding workout. Some people prefer to do cardio immediately before or after a bodybuilding workout. Others prefer to do their cardio workouts on separate days from their weight training.

What about the sport of bodybuilding?

Bodybuilding, like CrossFit, is also a massively popular sport. Bodybuilding competitions range from small local shows to the large events that have become the Arnold Classic and Olympia weekend.

Also, like CrossFit, bodybuilding has increased in popularity with epic battles between top pros. Competition between professional bodybuilders dates back to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno and includes other famous showdowns between Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler and Phil Heath and Kai Green. There always seems to be a battle between top bodybuilders to promote and attract new audiences.

As popular as bodybuilding and CrossFit are, they are still niche sports. But they grow a little bit each year in popularity. It may even be the reason why you’re interested in them.

CrossFit + Bodybuilding

What if you want to do both CrossFit and bodybuilding?

I’m glad you asked because I’ve included both in my training cycles for years. A great way to include CrossFit and bodybuilding is through a macrocycle training plan. A macrocycle is your long-term training plan. Mine is a little over six months long, and I break it out into eight to twelve-week mesocycles (training cycles that make up a macrocycle). It looks something like this.

Mesocycle 1: strength training for eight weeks

Mesocycle 2: CrossFit/metabolic conditioning ten weeks

Mesocycle 3: hypertrophy 12 weeks

Hypertrophy is my primary goal during these macrocycles, which is why I put it last and for the longest duration. Building strength and metabolic conditioning can contribute to the mechanical factors that support muscle growth, so I start my macrocycle with strength training and CrossFit.

Here are some more articles you’ll enjoy!

Barbell Squats vs Dumbbell Squats: Which Is Right for You?

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Hybrid Strength Training and Endurance: The Next Big Thing?

Can I train for both CrossFit and bodybuilding at the same time?

You can. However, combining two vastly different training methods simultaneously is a bit like multi-tasking. You’re unlikely to do well at either. Your body can only recover from so much.

Both training methods can be very demanding on your body’s recovery systems. So, an optimal route is an approach that takes advantage of each at different times within a given training cycle.

What are the nutrition requirements of bodybuilding?

Proper nutrition is an essential and inescapable factor in bodybuilding. Nutrition must be considered to maximize muscle growth and minimize the addition of body fat. That means eating a caloric surplus with adequate protein, carbohydrates, and fat ratios. It also means predetermined periods of bulking (caloric surplus) to gain muscle size and cutting (caloric deficit) to reduce body fat. The nutrition component of bodybuilding requires a high degree of discipline and attention to detail with food.

Bodybuilding Summary

• Bodybuilding is great for people who like working out alone or with one other person (a spotter). 
• Bodybuilding is great for people who like going to the gym on their own time without worrying about class schedules.
• Bodybuilding is great for people who want to maximize muscle growth.
• Bodybuilding is not great for people who like working out with others.
• Bodybuilding is not great for people who don’t want to worry as much about nutrition.

Injuries

Any time you engage in demanding physical activity, you put yourself at risk of injury. Injury risk comes with the territory. I have injured myself during CrossFit, and I have injured myself during bodybuilding workouts.

Your best bet, especially if you are new to working out, is to hire a personal trainer or strength coach. Find someone who specializes in the training type that interests you. If you choose an online trainer, you want to find a specialist who provides you with feedback during workouts or spends time reviewing your videos. Individualized feedback on technique, form, and intensity is one of the best protectors against injury.

CrossFit vs Bodybuilding Conclusion

CrossFit and bodybuilding are excellent options if you want to change from a sedentary lifestyle. Both have unique benefits that can help you achieve your goals. Both are focused on developing resistance-trained athletes. The nature of your goal should inform which one is right for you.

CrossFit might be an excellent option if you want to be good at many things and improve your overall fitness level. If you want to build as much muscle as possible, try bodybuilding. Or, if you like planning long-term training cycles, consider including training blocks of each in your plan. 

Also, keep in mind that goals and interests change. Starting down one path doesn’t mean you can’t switch down the road.

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