Thursday, March 27, 2014

Off The Wall Fitness

Yesterday I had the chance to try a group workout with Kyle from Off The Wall Fitness.  I had been introduced to them via a tent during the 3W Six Pack Series.  They were popular not only for their service, but also the portable propane heater.  As I have been interested in shaking things up, I put my name on the list for a complimentary workout.

The studio is nestled into an industrial complex in Broomfield, which is ideal for these group workouts.  There is no sense in me paying for extra overhead.  I arrived at about 4:15 PM for a 4:30 PM session and warmed up with some jump rope and stretching.

The workout officially started with a warm up of 10 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 10 jumping jacks, 10 kick throughs and 10 arm swings.  They had these resistance bands which made it possible for me to do 10 pull-ups, otherwise I would not have made it past my usual 3.

Next was the core workout.  One day a week, they do a test set.  I was “lucky” enough to schedule my initial session during the test set.  It was a series of Cross fit sit-ups, Burpees, Walking Lunges and Double Unders preceded by either a 100 yard out and back run (down the stairs to a truck across the parking lot) or 30 second wall sit.  The number of repetitions was 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  The full test set would therefore include 55 of each exercise 5 runs and 5 wall sits.  Needless to say it was brutal.  Of 6 people in the class, the winner came in at 25 minutes, I was dead last at 38 minutes, but within a couple of minutes of fifth place.  The double unders were demoralizing as it was either the prescribed number or double the prescribed number of attempts.

The early finishers had the luxury of doing some core work while everybody was finishing up. 

Once recovered and hydrated, the balance of the hour was Tabata Abs, which consisted of 3 sets of 3 exercises (Bicycles, Planks, Leg Lifts) 20 seconds ON and 10 seconds OFF.  This may not sound like much but the 3rd set was a killer.

The class was well organized with friendly folks.  It was half men and half women.  The girls seemed younger, but I was in a similar age range with the guys.  The exercises were explained clearly and Kyle kept an eye on us the whole time.

The membership costs are steep, but the personalized attention is a perk.  Membership options include drop in, punch card and monthly plans for 3, 4 or unlimited classes per week.  Class sizes are capped at 12 and reservations are expected.


I would go back, but today my shoulders and abs are cautioning me to wait a couple of days.

2 comments:

Philip Wang said...

Sounds like a BRUTAL workout! It seems like it would be really beneficial though, to help strengthen the core and other muscles. Is it considered a Crossfit gym?

Sanjiv Gupta said...

It is a fitness studio. It appears the guys background is corporate fitness center.

My lats are still killing me.