Your favorite CrossFit athletes are jacked. Sure, they are not flexing their biceps on stage, but their physiques suggest they easily could. CrossFit Workouts for Muscles are not seriously about aesthetics, per se, but the intense training often results in an impressive build.

Yes, CrossFit can be good for building muscle if that is what you are after. It does require more focused training, though, for real muscle growth. Most of the WODs that go with CrossFit aren’t specifically geared toward hypertrophy, or muscle growth.

But if you’re in it for the gains, you’re in luck. We’ve rounded up some of the best CrossFit workouts for muscles to get you jacked. Sure, most WODs will have you building some serious strength, but these focused routines will take it to the next level on your shoulders and quads.

Editor’s Note: Information provided within this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to substitute the advice of a medical professional. Consult a trusted medical professional before starting any new training or diet program. This work is not a substitute for professional medical advice.

Table of Contents:

• Best CrossFit Workout for Building Upper Body Muscles
• CrossFit Workout for Building Lower Body Muscles
• Core Building Muscles
• Beginner CrossFit Workout for Building Muscle
• Best No-Equipment CrossFit Workout for Building Muscle
• Benefits of Building Muscle for CrossFitters
• CrossFit Warm-Up for Hypertrophy
• How to Program CrossFit Workouts for Building Muscle
• Overview

Best CrossFit Workouts for Building Upper Body Muscles

CrossFitters like to push their upper bodies to the limit. Even exercises that, on the surface, appear focused on the lower body often end up working the upper body as well. Take lunges, for instance. They seem to be focused on the legs, but add a barbell or a kettlebell in the front-rack position or overhead, and your upper body is tested.

However, in this workout, you are only going to train your upper body. The idea here is to hit some of those smaller muscles that get overshadowed by your back and chest. You’ll be zeroing in on triceps and biceps, so get ready for a serious pump.

The Workout

What is most important about CrossFit Workouts for Muscles, of course, is pushing the limits, and that goes for this workout. On paper, it seems really easy, but once you add some reps together and make it a race against the clock, boy, does it get difficult.

12-Minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible):

• 10 Chin-Ups
• 20 Bar Dips

Because you will be doing strict chin ups and not kipping pull ups, you are really going to have to think about your strategy with your reps in this workout. As you start to fatigue you may want to scale the movements even if you aren’t at the beginning.

Exercise Modifications

This seems to be a little bit of an easier movement pattern, but fatigue will set in quickly. It works your upper body, so the exhaustion has nowhere to hide when only two movements are at play.

Thinking you may feel strong while beginning, to stay sharp with your form and drive through for a full 12 minutes, you may want to make some manipulations of the movements. Here are some variations to help you power through:

Chin-Up Modifications: 

• Band Assisted Chinup: Use band to take some weight off and keep your form clean.
• Underhand Inverted Row: A really nice variation but working pretty much the same muscles with a little bit more control.
• Heavy Hammer Curl: An exercise for the bicep workout; it simulates a chin-up.

Bar Dip Modifications:

• Band Assisted Dip: Same as the chin-up variation; use a band to assist your dips to keep the form.
• Bench Dip: Another way to slightly hit the triceps more conveniently than the parallel bars.
• Close-Grip Push-Up: This will slightly target the triceps but also target the chest, and it is a friendship to bar dips.

This will also maintain your intensity and form, even if you’re practically fatigued.

CrossFit Workouts for Building Lower Body Muscles

It can be brutal on your lower body—no question about that. Any person who has powered through a tough WOD knows this feeling: as if you did multiple leg days in one, making it tough to even get out of bed the next day.

All the more reason then to give the extra care to your legs. The stronger and more conditioned, the better you’ll be at getting through the next WOD that comes your way—just be sure to recover to have those muscles ready to roll out.

The Workout

This workout hits every single part of your legs, including your calves—a notoriously tough spot to build muscle. Be sure to warm up your heels and ankles extra well, and take time to recover afterward.

Five rounds, for time:

– Back Squat: 5 reps
– Front Squat: 10 reps
– Romanian Deadlift: 15 reps
– Double-Under: 20 reps

Lift with a weight light enough that you feel OK during the first round, but it gets progressively harder by the third. By the fifth round, it should be tough to complete the set without breaking it up.

Movement Modifications

Unless otherwise noted, back squats and front squats are performed with a barbell. If you find dumbbells easier to manage or more comfortable, by all means use them.

Set up to duplicate the back squat with dumbbells by standing on a bumper plate or step riser with your feet wide enough apart to allow a dumbbell to fit between them. Hold a dumbbell between your hands with your arms extended, then, keeping your torso tall, squat down. This setup will let you do an extremely deep squat using far more weight than you could use with a goblet squat.

Now, on goblet squats, those are a really good alternative to barbell front squats. In case you like them unweighted, perform them with a PVC pipe or broomstick to mimic the feel of a barbell for both types of squats, or just do air squats.

This exercise involves performing Romanian deadlifts, but with dumbbells instead of a barbell. That is, do hip hinges with about the same sort of form as a Romanian deadlift while having no weights at all. The key is keeping tension in your glutes and hamstrings while moving slowly and with control.

If double-unders are beyond your capacity, substitute single-unders—normal jump-rope skips. Additionally, if you don’t have a jump rope, just fake it, using small hops. If jumping doesn’t work for you because of foot, knee, or hip problems, you can do the eccentric calf raises instead. Be sure to really stretch those calves afterwards, and as an added special treat for yourself, take time to massage those calves and heels.

Building Core Muscles

You don’t need to have a six-pack to excel in CrossFit. CrossFit athletes are crazily strong, and, besides, visible abs are an aftereffect of high-intensity exercise—not necessarily the prerequisite.

But if you are all about idea of developing core muscle mass and strength, then this workout is for you—accomplished with classic CrossFit moves—it targets and elevates your core muscles for a resilient and powerful midsection.

The Workout

In this workout, you’ll be taking on a classic CrossFit format: the descending rep ladder. You’ll start with 21 reps of each exercise, then drop to 15 reps, and finish with 9 reps of each movement.

21-15-9 Reps
– Front Squat
– GHD Sit-Up
– Toes-to-Bar

Movement Modifications

Want an easier version of this workout? Substitute exercises as necessary:

21-15-9 Reps, For Time:

– Goblet Squat (instead of Front Squat)
– Sit-Up (instead of GHD Sit-Up)
– Hanging Knee Raise (instead of Toes-to-Bar)

If you don’t have any equipment or need modifications:

– Goblet Squat: Use dumbbell or kettlebell without a barbell.
– Sit-Up: Do on a decline bench or simply regular sit-ups.
• Hanging Knee Raise: In the event that you don’t have access to a pull-up bar, then you can do lying leg raises.

This approach keeps up the intensity and focuses on core strength but allows for differences in fitness levels and equipment availability.

Beginner CrossFit Workouts for Building Muscle

This makes it a very challenging journey for the new beginner to balance the learning of new skills in CrossFit with the development of strength and high-intensity endurance. This can make a muscle-building workout a better avenue to make this transition easier. This approach would be more introductory in style while working toward hypertrophy but still getting an introduction to CrossFit. You’ll be using a classic descending ladder format that’s a somewhat traditional rep scheme adapted for muscle growth to help you build some strength and get familiar with what’s demanded of you in CrossFit.

The Workout

While these movements might sound simple, they get intense fast—especially when you’re doing them in descending ladder format. Think of this workout as a giant drop set — but instead of decreasing the weight, you’re decreasing the number of reps with each round.

This workout should be a bit easier to get into than your traditional CrossFit workouts. You won’t need to do any kind of advanced gymnastics, and though Bulgarian split squats can be difficult, they are quite doable for anyone just starting out.

Three to five rounds, for time:

– 40 Ring Rows
– 30 Bulgarian Split Squats (15 per side)
– 20 Box Step-Ups (10 per side)
– 10 Shoulder-to-Overhead

This structure will help you build foundational strength and endurance while introducing you to the intensity of CrossFit workouts.

Movement Modifications

While this workout is relatively beginner-friendly, everyone’s starting point may be quite different in reality. Here are some ways to scale the exercises to make them more accessible:

• Ring Rows: If you find ring rows too unstable, then inverted rows with a Smith machine or with a barbell locked in a power rack are good alternatives. Light barbell rows will do too, seeing as how the volume of reps will still present a solid workout.
• Bulgarian Split Squats: If you have any sort of balance or hip mobility issues, replace with forward or reverse lunges. You can grab the handles of a TRX suspension trainer to feel more stable, as counterbalancing with your upper body engages it to help your lower body.
• Box Step-Ups: You will do a lower step if you find that using a full plyo box is not manageable for you. On the other hand, high knee marches might substitute well here.
• Shoulder-to-Overhead: If any type of overhead press is out of the question, substitute with bench press. If an empty barbell is too heavy to work with, use lighter dumbbells instead.

These modifications allow you to complete the workout effectively at any fitness level.

Best No-Equipment CrossFit Workouts for Building Muscle

Just because it’s a bodyweight workout doesn’t mean there’s no equipment involved — especially when it comes to CrossFit. Bodyweight exercises can include anything from ring muscle-ups to box jumps, many of which require some sort of equipment.

But this equipment-free CrossFit workout will have you building muscle and getting your heart rate up anywhere, anytime. The only space you’ll need is enough floor space to lie down, so space isn’t going to be an issue.

The Workout

Don’t let the lack of equipment fool you—the workout isn’t easy. Each move requires full concentration to execute them so that you can complete them for maximum performance, especially overhead squats while your upper body is as engaged as it would be if you were holding a loaded barbell.

As much as you would hold discipline in your form for heavy lifting, that is what you want to do. This kind of attention to detail is what’s going to pay off when you start seeing the muscle gains.

21-15-9 reps, for time:

– Burpee with Push-Up
– Bodyweight Overhead Squat
– Pike Push-Up
– Jump Squat

Movement Modifications — CrossFit Workouts for Muscles

If any of those movements sound challenging to you, don’t worry—there are simple adjustments you can make.

You can simply step back to plank position for the burpees instead of jumping. If you are really struggling to get your belly to the ground, you can hike your hips up and lower your chest down softly. Other options are to skip the jump at the end and to skip the push-up at the bottom.

In case an overhead position is too much tension onto the bodyweight overhead squat, keep the hands down or out in front of the body. If one finds it hard to do the full-depth squats, substitute by sitting down onto a stable chair.

If you find the pike push-up too tough, fall back to a regular push-up. You can progress to a wall push-up, incline push-up, or a push-up from your knees to ease into it more.

Lastly, if jump squats are just too demanding, then just do normal squats. You can even squat down onto a solid chair if you need to. To retain the explosiveness of the move, really go low into the squat but do it pretty slowly, then drive up as hard as possible from there. Your feet don’t need to leave the ground to develop force.

Benefits of Building Muscle for CrossFitters

Should CrossFitters even care about gaining muscle? The short answer is yes, you probably should—provided you’re able to recover from additional training sessions.

Prevent or Break Through Plateaus

Even smaller groups of muscles take a significant amount of work from the functional compound movements in any WOD. But by targeting those smaller muscles specifically, you’ll likely see a big improvement in your lifts.

Take the case of kipping pull-ups: You’re getting a serious workout on your whole body, with a key focus on the core, and your grip is going to be on fire by the end of your sets. It is this type of intensity that gives way to really noticeable strength gains and even muscle growth in the forearms.

However, if you are doing too much, the smaller muscles will get burned out long before the bigger ones. This limits the ability, thus lowering the overall reps that one can do continuously before resting.

This time-wasting due to pausing between repetitions will defeat your purpose. Maybe your plateau is caused by underdeveloped smaller muscles.

Building strong forearms, biceps, and triceps will give you that solid base for your big lifts. Then, hammering out an increased poundage in all your lifts and WODs will help punch you through to the next level from that plateau.

Combat Muscle Imbalances

Because most of the movements in CrossFit are bilateral—that is, both limbs work simultaneously—it’s easy for your dominant side to take over. For example, if you’re left-handed, your left side might bear more of the load during a handstand push-up. This can lead to strength and muscle imbalances.

While perfect symmetry is not really needed unless you are a physique athlete, it does matter for injury prevention. Balancing your muscles will help make your body much more resistant to injuries. The longer you can stay away from injuries, the better you’ll do in each WOD for better progress and consistency.

Help Transition Into CrossFit — CrossFit Workouts for Muscles

Coming from some other strength sport into CrossFit? You’re no doubt used to performing a set number of reps and sets to drive certain adaptations, such as the creation of raw strength or hypertrophy.

You will still count reps in CrossFit, but now against a ticking clock. Implementing hypertrophy-based training in your CrossFit programming may lend an air of familiarity to your workouts, dressing them up in a CrossFit flair. This old and new mix will instill much-needed confidence in beginners for their maiden dives into the world of CrossFit.

CrossFit Warm-Up for Hypertrophy

No matter what your workout goal is, warming up before getting into WOD is quite important. A good warm-up does not only prime your body for the ensuing physical tasks but also sets you up for great performance and injury prevention.

Now, with a hypertrophy workout, it becomes especially important to take into consideration some of the smaller and usually overlooked muscle groups. These areas of your body—the rear delts, the triceps, and the biceps—form critical areas of hypertrophy training; hence, special emphasis has to be put on their warm-up.

Tailor your warm-up specifically to the movements you will be executing that day. If you are going to snatch, squat, or lunge, then spend a little more time opening up those hips. If you know you are going to kip or do some overhead work, bring some extra attention to your shoulders and thoracic spine.

Since most CrossFit WODs get you moving your entire body in one way or another, a full-spectrum warm-up provides good insurance.

Here’s an example warm-up:

Air Bike: 3-5 minutes, low intensity
Band Pull-Aparts: 15-20 reps
Active Frog Stretch: 60 seconds
World’s Greatest Stretch: 6 reps per side
Lateral Lunge: 8 reps per side
Half-Kneeling T-Spine Rotation: 8 reps per side
Bear Crawl: 30 seconds forward, 30 seconds backward
Crab Reach: 8 reps per side
Session-Specific Strength Exercise: 2-5 ramp-up sets, 3-6 reps per set*

Do this before each of the day’s major lifts: go through the action, just body weight or unloaded-barbell, and work up to a few sets that bring you within range of the weight or intensity called for in your workout. What you’re doing is getting some blood flowing and getting your muscles firing without wearing yourself out before the main event.

How to Program CrossFit Workouts for Building Muscle

Because most CrossFit workouts engage a broad range of muscles in any given session, it is already a comprehensive workout on its own. Supplementing this with a specific focus on muscle growth will require, again, careful programming so that you max out your gains and reduce associated risks.

Here’s how to do it smart:

Focus on Recovery — CrossFit Workouts for Muscles

Recover with adequate sleep and proper nutrition. Rest adequately and have good food to complement your workouts. The warm-ups and cool-downs are significant for the safety of a workout, and for recovery, include foam rolling and resistance band stretches to extend that stretch into the muscle tissue, increasing flexibility.

Recovery will help give your muscles time and support needed to grow stronger.

Program on Separate Days

This, in particular, can be very useful for strength athletes who are new to CrossFit. If you are already doing one or two CrossFit WODs per week—maybe on weekends—you can add some muscle-emphasized workouts to your other training days. In this scenario, you wouldn’t be short-changing your recovery time.

Incorporate these muscle-building sessions, and you’ll have a recognizable format for training in your CrossFit regimen. The sets and rep schemes common in hypertrophy training from disciplines like powerlifting, weightlifting, and bodybuilding can help ease you into the conditioning and mental demands of CrossFit. This helps you build muscle while progressively improving at CrossFit.

Add Hypertrophy Finishers

More hypertrophy sessions can be tough for those with more experience in CrossFit Workouts for Muscles. In case you are already doing two-a-days or really tough daily WODs, another stand-alone session could blow up your recovery or logistical routine.

Well, a practical solution would be to add some short hypertrophy-focused finishers at the end of your WOD. Do most of your workout; then take a minute or so to drink some water and cool off a bit before getting into some short, lower-intensity muscle-building work.

Stack your hypertrophy work strategically. For example, if you’re looking to increase leg muscle, schedule your hypertrophy finishers right after a WOD focused on the legs. This way, you get maximal muscle engagement in one shot and condense the recovery period.

Program Around Your Weak Points

Tailor your workouts in accordance with your weak points, and you shall know how significant the importance of these workouts actually is in your muscle building. Identify those weak spots that make you struggle during WODs and program hypertrophy training accordingly.

Missed your shoulder-to-overheads? Focus on upper body hypertrophy, and don’t forget to drive some serious triceps work to improve lockout strength. If it is in your deadlift lockout, then turn to lower body hypertrophy and focus on development in the glutes and hamstrings.

Related: 11 CrossFit Workouts for Functional Fitness You’ll Wish You’d Known Before

Overview — CrossFit Workouts for Muscles

It’s hard to deny it: CrossFit athletes are jacked. While a typical WOD will help you develop some muscle mass, knowing that you need to further work on it and having these alone as guides in training will not be enough to help you reach your hypertrophy goals.

Let’s get some hypertrophy-based CrossFit workouts going to really realize those gains. You can do these as an add-on at the end of your normal WODs or develop separate days for these. Recovery should be paramount so that your body is ready to face this increased intensity. It’s this type of focused workout that will really give you the edge in performance and size gains within the weak areas. It will show up in both your WOD performance and physique.

References;

• “CrossFit Training: A Comprehensive Review of Exercise and Performance Adaptations”
  *Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research*
• “Effects of High-Intensity Interval Training and Traditional Resistance Training on Muscle Mass and Strength in Resistance-Trained Men”
  *Journal of Sports Science & Medicine*
• “The Role of CrossFit in Building Muscle Mass: A Comparative Study with Traditional Bodybuilding Techniques”
  *Strength and Conditioning Journal*
• “Recovery Strategies for CrossFit Athletes: How Sleep, Nutrition, and Stretching Impact Performance and Muscle Growth”
  *Sports Medicine*
• “Optimizing CrossFit Programming for Muscle Hypertrophy: Effective Strategies and Common Pitfalls”
  *International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance*
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