The risk of injuries among CrossFit athletes: an Italian observational retrospective survey

BACKGROUND: CrossFit is a strength and conditioning training program, that begin very popular in the last ten years. One of the most concerned characteristics of model is the high intensity activity performed under fatigue conditions that was proposed as potential risk of injuries; current literature on this topic was not conclusive. The purpose of this research was to examine injury epidemiology and risk factors for injury in CrossFit. METHODS: This is a retrospective observational study carried out by an anonymous, self administered questionnaire in a convenience sample of CrossFit athletes. RESULTS: 454 subjects completed and returned the questionnaire, of which 325 (71.6%) were male with an average age of 28.8±7.9. 39.9% reported skeletal or muscles injury after to start training Cross Fit. Lifetime Prevalence is 0.23 events per year of training/person. The average number of muscles and skeletal injuries reported was of 1.96±1.36. 16.7% reported tendinitis. Time of CrossFit training is a determinant of tendinitis (aOR = 1.02; p = 0.021). Attending the On-Ramp program seemed to protect against the occurrence of injuries. CONCLUSIONS: According our results the risk of injury in the Cross Fit practice is acceptable and, as discussed in a recent published review, CrossFit is comparable to other exercise programs with similar injury rates and health outcomes.