Jennifer Tries……..F45

Hey there! What’s the haps? Did you have a good week? My week consisted of working myself into an early grave per usual. Sometimes I just need my brain to stop, collaborate and listen. You know what I mean? Sheesh. It’s like I just can’t get it to turn off.  I mean, even at Yoga this week I had to keep refocusing myself because my mind would just wander back to what I needed to do for work. Usually I can just Stop..Yoga Time. But not this week. Aww yah 90’s music references all day!

So, as I’m writing this week’s blog I’m sitting on the couch eating a bowl of quinoa, kale and chicken. Glamorous I know. Try to contain yourself. I’ve been sitting here trying to think of what to write about this week. To be honest I haven't gotten a lot of reading done, which sucks because I’m supposed to be working on my health coach certification but there just never seem to be enough hours in the day. I haven’t really gotten out there and tried anything new since the hubs and I went to Vertical Ventures and I haven’t created any recipes. LAME! But, I realized I never shared my little day trip down to Ft. Myers with you all. It’s the Jennifer Tries post that never was. I blame It on Hurricane Irma. That B*%$# turned my life upside down. Darn you IRMA!

Prior to the hurricane, I refuse to say her name anymore, my husband and I took a little day trip down to Ft. Myers Florida. Now, you may be asking yourself, Why? There’s nothing in Ft. Myers. Oh, but there is. Ft. Myers has an F45. Bum, Bum, BUUUUUMMMMMM!

What is F45? It stands for Functional 45. I had heard about F45 through a friend who saw an ad on Facebook. After looking at their website, scrolling through their Facebook page and seeing they had franchise opportunities I knew I had to check this place out! From the pictures, it seemed like a cross between Orange Theory and Crossfit. At the time Ft. Myers was the only location open on the West coast of Florida so that is the one we visited. I couldn’t wait to try it out! It looked pretty intense which is right up my alley.

The drive down seemed to take forever. I mean Ft. Myers is like 4 hours from me. UGH! To infinity.  When we got to the gym I noticed they had a tire out front. HEELLLLOOOO Tire Flips! That’s my jam right there! I knew in that moment this was the place for me. When we walked in the gym I took a look around to get a feel for the lay out. It was a pretty open floor plan except for a random wall smack dab in the middle of the room. They had battle ropes, bikes, rowers, TRX, Bosu balls, sleds, boxes. You name it, they had it! It was like the skies had opened up and delivered pretty much all the things I like into one gym. :: Cue heavenly music here::

On the day we went, the workout we were doing was FoxTrot. Yes, you read that right. They have some funky names for their workouts. Let's see, so they have Fox Trot, Hollywood, Romans, Brooklyn, Wingman, the list goes on. In fact they have 31 different types of workouts but the workouts are never the same. What up variety! 

So for our workout, the FoxTrot, there were several stations we rotated through. There were monitors on the main wall that showed the exact exercise for that station and keep time for you. Each station consisted of two exercises you basically ran like a superset and we completed two rounds at each station. Each round is 45 seconds ( F45....get it!)of work with a 15 sec rest.

Our workout consisted of TRX squats, row machine, ladder drills, Bosu lunges, box jumps, battle ropes, skaters and bunch of other sweat inducing exercises. We didn’t stop from the time we walked in the gym until the time we left. And I loved every second of it!

Throughout the workout the trainer was walking around correcting form, providing alternative movements to fit each persons level and offering words of encouragement. In a group class setting they usually have the encouragement thing down pat. Sometimes too much, but it’s rare that you get some one on one attention from the instructor, at least in my experience. It was nice to see they cared about providing a fun, safe environment for the members.  

When the class was over we were exhausted, in a good way. It was definitely a good work out. The trainer invited us back that weekend to try out Romans which is their functional strength-based workout. I really wanted to attend but was not up for making the drive again. If only there was an F45 closer to us.

F45 offers a free pass so you check out the different workouts and see if they are a good fit for you. They also offer a lot of resources on their website to help you on your health and fitness journey such as tracking, nutrition and an online community to keep you on track. The great thing is now there is a location in Land O’ Lakes, just outside of Tampa, where you can conveniently give it a try! You won't have to drive a billion miles like I did.

I love this group fitness gym and I feel it is right for any fitness level due to the trainer interaction. If you're not a intensity junky like me, like I said, they have 31 varieties of classes you can choose for your level and what you want out of your workout.

Go check them out! Let me know what you think.

F45 Land'O Lakes

Until next time gang, peace!