I read (yesterday, from Tuesday's paper) this article "In Women, Training for a Sharper Mind," and it raised some interesting questions for me.
To whit: Does strength training change the brain somehow? OR, and this is my main question, OR is there something about strength training that changes the way we think?
For example, after doing some crazy hard workout like, let's say, Barbara,* I think, "Holy shit! How did I do that?" Then, later, after I have consumed a lot of water and protein, I think, "Wow! I did that." Then, even later, when confronted by some arduous task, I think, "Well, that might be a little hard. Sort of hard. But it's not as hard as Barbara!" And so then I do that task, which does not involve lifting weights, or doing pull ups, and I finish it.
I think, maybe, the study discussed above did involve some brain measuring, but all I can say is that, from personal, non-scientific experience, I would say, Yes. Crossfit helps my brain.
* FYI: Barbara is 20 pullups, 30 pushups, 40 sit ups, 50 squats. That doesn't sound too bad? Right. Oh wait, 5 rounds. Yeah. It took me 53 minutes. Ha!