Time Course of Recovery Following CrossFit® Karen Benchmark Workout in Trained Men

Ivo Vieira de Sousa Neto; Nuno Manuel Frade de Sousa; Frederico Ribeiro Neto; Joao Henrique Falk Neto; Ramires Alsamir Tibana

doi:10.3389/fphys.2022.899652

Time Course of Recovery Following CrossFit^® Karen Benchmark Workout in Trained Men

Front Physiol. 2022 Aug 19:13:899652. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.899652. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ivo Vieira de Sousa Neto¹, Nuno Manuel Frade de Sousa², Frederico Ribeiro Neto³, Joao Henrique Falk Neto⁴, Ramires Alsamir Tibana⁵

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Molecular Analysis, Graduate Program of Sciences and Technology of Health, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Exercise Physiology, Faculty Estacio of Vitoria, Vitoria, Brazil.
³ Paralympic Sports Program, SARAH Network of Rehabilitation Hospitals/SARAH Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
⁴ Athlete Health Lab, Van Vliet Complex, Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
⁵ Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiabá, Brazil.

Abstract

The establishment of fatigue following the acute exercise stimulus is a complex and multi-factorial process, that might arise due to a range of distinct physiological mechanisms. However, a practical method of assessing CrossFit^® athletes' recovery status has been neglected entirely in real-world sporting practice. The study describes the acute and delayed time course of recovery following the CrossFit^® Benchmark Workout Karen. Eight trained men (28.4 ± 6.4 years; 1RM back squat 139.1 ± 26.0 kg) undertook the Karen protocol. The protocol consists of 150 Wall Balls (9 kg), aiming to hit a target 3 m high. Countermovement jump height (CMJ), creatine kinase (CK), and perceived recovery status scale (PRS) (general, lower and upper limbs) were assessed pre, post-0h, 24, 48 and 72 h after the session. The creatine kinase concentration 24 h after was higher than pre-exercise (338.4 U/L vs. 143.3 U/L; p = 0.040). At 48h and 72 h following exercise, CK concentration had returned to baseline levels (p > 0.05). The general, lower and upper limbs PRS scores were lower in the 24-h post-exercise compared to pre-exercise (general PRS: 4.7 ± 1.5 and 7.7 ± 1.7; p = 0.013; upper limbs PRS: 6.6 ± 1.3 and 7.5 ± 1.3; p = 0.037; lower limbs PRS: 3.9 ± 2.5 and 7.3 ± 0.1; p = 0.046). Our findings provide insights into the fatigue profile and recovery in acute CrossFit^® and can be useful to coaches and practitioners when planning training programs. Moreover, recovery status can be useful to optimize training monitoring and to minimize the potential detrimental effects associated with the performance of repeated high-intensity sessions of CrossFit^®.

Keywords: functional fitness; high intensity functional training; muscle recovery; overreaching; periodization.