A few weeks ago, I had a great experience at the weight lifting introduction class in Fuel Athletics. Recently, they opened their doors to a new outlet in Shah Alam and invited me plus a few friends to try CrossFit after iftar (breaking our fast). I immediately said yes because I was drawn to CrossFit’s high intensity; I can get maximum amount of work done and calories burnt in a short period of time.
CrossFit can be roughly defined as varied high intensity functional movements, while combining certain aspects of gymnastics, weightlifting, running, rowing and more. (source: https://www.crossfit.com/what-is-crossfit). Based on this definition, CrossFit is not new to me. I had similar experiences before at Revelation Republic and a few LesMills GRIT classes, under various names such as Body Conditioning or GRIT Strength. To me, the principles and movements are pretty similar so experienced athletes (or in my case, athlete-wannabes) will have no problem transitioning.
However, what makes Fuel Athletics different is its location and spacious design. Currently, Fuel Athletics is the first CrossFit certified gym in Shah Alam, attracting crowds from as far as Sungai Buloh and Puncak Alam. The location at Menara Naza TTDI is strategic, with a nice mix of working adults and student crowd. The gym has 2 floors, an outdoor space, and a pool with changing room and surau.
CrossFit space and equipment on the lower floor
Spacious upper floor, with future plans for yoga classes
Plus point: This gym even has an outdoor pool too!
After some dynamic stretcing and warming up indoors and outdoors, we proceeded to the highlight of the night – the WOD (Work Out of the Day). For tonight’s session, the WOD was simple, yet effective: partner up, and one person does burpees while the partner holds weight plates above his/her head. Then switch roles after the partner completes a few burpees. Do this as many rounds as you can in 10 minutes. Do not underestimate the lack of fancy equipments or movements, because burpees are advanced enough to be considered as a full body work out. So after a few rounds of burpees and holding up the weight plates above my head, my arms were already shakey. I even hesitated if I should decrease my weights from 10kg to 5kg so I can ‘survive’ all 10 minutes of the WOD!
Warming up outdoors with some sprints
The WOD got me like… (in a good way of course)
I can see that these series of WOD will definitely complement my marathon training programme. It will build up my legs muscle strength so I can run longer, faster, and less prone to injury. As for my upper body which has been neglected for some time, needs a lot of work as it has gotten flabby and weak. Perfection is still a long road ahead, so for the mean time, I just need to strike a balance between strength work outs and clocking in enough mileage.
For more info and registration: http://www.fuelprimecrossfit.com/
For more reviews on other types of cross-training and gyms:
Until next week,
The Weekend Runner