Table 3.

Psychological effects of CrossFit practice investigated in experimental (n = 10) and qualitative studies (n = 4)

Experimental studies
References	Objective	Sample			Intervention	Results	Overall Testex
		n	Caract./gender	Age
Heinrich et al. [8]	To examine effects of HIFT as compared to moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance training (ART) on exercise initiation, enjoyment, adherence, and intentions	23	Sedentary 56.5% women	26.8	8 weeks. Two groups: ART (moderate aerobic exercise each session and full-body resistance training on two sessions per week) and HIFT (CrossFit 60 min—WOD 5–30 min)	HIFT participants spent significantly less time exercising per week, yet were able to maintain exercise enjoyment and were more likely to intend to continue	7
Perciavalle et al. [35]	To analyze the influences of blood lactate produced during a specific session of CrossFit® on intensity and selectivity of attention	15	Athletes Men	Do not report	WOD 15.5: 27–21–15–9 repetitions in term of Row (calories) and Thrusters	Reaction time, execution time, number of errors and number of omissions exhibited a significant worsening concomitantly with the increase in blood lactate	3
Eather, Morgan, Lubans [44]	To investigate the effectiveness of the CrossFit™ Teens resistance training program for improving mental health outcomes in adolescents	96	Adolescents 51.5% women	15	Twice a week for 8 weeks. A typical session of CrossFit included: a dynamic warm-up (10 min), a technique-based skill session (10 min), a Workout of the Day (WOD = 10–20 min) and a stretching session (5 min)	There were no significant effects of the intervention on mental health in the full study sample	14
Drake et al. [45]	To examine the magnitude and direction of the effects of short-term CrossFit participation on measures of health and fitness	6	Participants men	25	4 weeks of CrossFit training (5 days for week with 1 h each session)	The effects on mood states of CrossFit practice were ranged from unclear to possibly harmful Possibly harmful small effects on overall Total Mood Disturbance	8
Woolf and Lawrence [55]	To explore CrossFit participants’ social identity and athletic identity before and after members participated in CrossFit Open	34	Participants 62% women 38% men	31.3	CrossFit Open 2015	The results indicated that participants strongly identify themselves as part of CrossFit	4
Box et al. [56]	To observe whether any changes in six specific mood states occurred across a 5-week CrossFit Open competition or in response to each individual workout challenge	8	Participants 5 women and 3 men	34.3	CrossFit Open 2016	No differences were observed between baseline and pre-workout mood states across the five weeks, indicating little effect of the unique competition design	1
Sławińska, Stolarski, Jankowski [57]	To test whether impact of physical exercise on mood depends on time of day and chronotype	94	Participants 32 women and 62 men	32	A natural experimental. Two experimental conditions were distinguished—morning and evening hours	Participation in CrossFit training resulted in mood improvement consisting of increase in energetic arousal and hedonic tone and reduction of tense arousal. CrossFit training during morning hours boosted mood in the intermediate/evening chronotype group to the levels observed in morning chronotypes	8
Heinrich et al. [40]	To compare the affective responses between HIFT and two commonly studied exercise modalities, HIIT and moderate continuous aerobic training (MCT)	7	Participants 5 women and 2 men	20.6	3 randomly groups: MCT, HIIT, or HIFT. Nine total exercise sessions per group were scheduled across 3 consecutive weeks on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays	Perceived exertion increased across each modality but remained elevated following the cooldown period for only HIFT and HIIT. Inspection of the circumplex model of affect indicated that HIFT and HIIT shifted participants from a state of calmness to energy, whereas during MCT they remained in the calmness quadrant. The slope of the affective response to HIFT continued to increase in pleasure and arousal until the end of the workouts	8
Kolomiitseva et al. [58]	To evaluate the effectiveness of using the CrossFit program as a physical activity based on a motivated choice in the process of physical education of students	92	Students and cadets Men	17–18	Two experimental (12 weeks with several WODs considering the rule more exercises—less rounds, less exercises—more rounds) and two control groups	The following motives for choosing CrossFit were pointed out: to adjust the body shape, make me more courageous and athletic, increase muscleʼ; ʼto increase my activity and vitalityʼ; ʼto improve my endurance, performance, reduce fatigue during physical loadsʼ	5
Pereira et al. [18]	To evaluate the mood states of individuals trained and not trained in ECT, submitted to a training session of a high degree of physical effort	20	Participants men	20–40	Two groups: Trained (n = 10); Individuals practicing regular extreme conditioning training and conditioned (n = 10); running athletes that never practiced extreme conditioning training. Assessments at baseline, immediately after and 30 min after the end of the session	Trained group induced a significant reduction of the depression variable, in both moments. The trained group significantly increased vigor immediately after the end of the training session compared to the baseline. However, the conditioned group significantly reduced its vigor 30 min after the end, in comparison to the baseline	4

Qualitative studies
References	Study design	Sample			Results	SRQR
		n	Caract./Gender	Age
Nielsen et al. [47]	Qualitative Focus groups	28	Participants Men	Group 1: 68 Group 2: 56 Group 3: 67	The participants mentioned feelings of well-being, improved mood, and calmer behavior during the intervention period. In CrossFit, writing up their individual performance and comparing them to the others was a motivating factor for some	16–High
Simpson et al. [46]	Qualitative Semi-structured interviews	17	Participants 12 men and 5 women	34.9	The participants expressed that CrossFit is a demanding and rigorous workout regimen and felt as though they needed to embrace the challenge. Participants viewed their commitment as the integral aspect of their success. All the participants expressed CrossFit improving their mood. All participants expressed a strong commitment to CrossFit, as a primary motivation to continuing CrossFit in some cases	14–High
Bailey, Benson and Bruner [48]	Qualitative Focus groups	17	Participants 10 men and 7 women	33.7	Espoused beliefs and values identified included pride in the gym and their workouts, inclusivity, and a strong sense of community that extended beyond the gym. The common goal of improving their health and well-being was observed in the participants	17–High
Podmore and Ogle [27]	Qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interviews	16	Participants 16 women	31.8	The results were reported in categories such as body/appearance ideals, bodily appraisals, appetites and diets, physical fitness ideologies, appearance management routines, perspectives on gender, and identity development Several participants experienced the CrossFit box as inclusive, while others felt that the community was rather exclusive. Participants experienced the culture of the CrossFit box as supporting varied ideologies about diet—in order to see results members needed to follow specific dietary regimens to support their CrossFit workouts	15–High