It took a while but Abu Dhabi is now home to a handful of CrossFit gyms, some of which are doing well to rake in the local population and steer the UAE away from a history of health-related illnesses caused by a sedentary lifestyle.
With a bigger, badder UAE team eyeing Asian supremacy in the globally contested Reebok CrossFit Games’ regional event next month, we were ourselves inspired to toughen up and check out the city’s first commercial box (affiliate gym), Code M CrossFit.
CrossFit – an American, military-inspired exercise philosophy that offers a full-body workout combining elements of cardio, weight lifting, gymnastics, core training and more to prepare the body for the unexpected – is indeed a big fitness trend the world over, and a great way to achieve leaps and bounds in your overall fitness and wellbeing.
But geared towards larger-than-life athleticism, it's go-hard-or-go-home approach is not for the fainthearted. There’s a timer, lots of Olympic bars and weights, gymnastics rings hanging from the ceiling and a bunch of stuff that looks to have been scraped off of a construction site, including scaffolding that’s meant for “play” – except you’re screaming and grunting while on it.
Indeed, the average box can be very intimidating and perplexing to some, maybe even seemingly sparse, but in that sense it is exciting to be in; a laboratory or treasure trove for the experimental and open-minded fitness junkie.
Immediately we feel part of a cool underground club and can understand CrossFit’s addictive appeal.
First-timers to Code M CrossFit need to initially attend a Fundamentals course for a run-through of the basic techniques and ‘skills’ required – prepare to learn a whole new language, both verbally and physically.
We speak a tiny bit of CrossFit already though, so Head Coach Joff Bunt – discovered by Code M’s owners while competing in the Dubai Fitness Competition – moved us right on up to ‘Train to Train’.
“It’s for people who have a basic understanding of CrossFit and are just training to keep fit and healthy,” Bunt explains.
“There’s then ‘Train to Compete’, for competing CrossFitters and those who just want something a bit harder. That’s by invitation only.”
Staring at one graffitied wall in the gym featuring a clown throwing up something that looked distinctly like fear, our aim that day was to just make it through though.
Here’s what went down…
The anatomy of a CrossFit session is pretty much the same everywhere you go – a warm up to increase the heart rate and open up the muscles for a beasting; a pre-beasting segment (depending on the day at Code M it can focus on strength, technique work, or Metabolic Conditioning AKA Met Con, which could be something like rowing or running); a Skills segment; and finally the timed beasting or WOD (Workout of the Day).
What isn’t the same is any given training day you can find multiple crazy and competitive WODs that can be done, at home or at the box, as an example on the official website www.crossfit.com.
What’s more, coach Bunt has a keen eye for what’s going on inside his own walls and does his own class programming to suit, so ‘bored’ is not a word you will hear here. ‘Challenged’, ‘wiped out’ , ‘Oh my God’, maybe.
We managed to be lucky enough to come upon a WOD-less day, but strength was the game plan in a challenging session which began with two rounds of:
• 10 x 10-metre shuttle runs outdoors
• 20 lunges
• 5 plank walk outs (where, while holding the plank, the opposite knee touches the opposite elbow)
• 10 squats
Then we tried our hands at pumping iron – front squats and strict presses (overhead lifts) with an Olympic lifting bar. After every five reps, you load more plates on to the bar and test your limits, safely (we partnered up).
Weights achieved were written down on a whiteboard – journaling too is strongly encouraged, for that day you happen to come across this routine again and are routing for a PB.
CrossFitters like a good acronym and next up was an EMOM (Every Minute On the Minute) Workout where the idea is to perform an exercise for a minute, switch to another on the next, and continue. Here we did ring dips and chin ups (Can’t hold your own weight? Yeah, we know).
Coach let us loop a resistance band through our legs for a boost); those infamous Kettle Bell swings and burpees, as well as box jumps (what it says, jumping on and off very large boxes).
That day we trained with a bunch of national competitive swimmers – they’ve been with coach Bunt for the past eight odd weeks taking in a new perspective on fitness for performance, and it shows that they won’t be turning back – and despite me being the only girl, and certainly not as fit, it was anything but uncomfortable working with this crew.
In fact, CrossFitters can be very supportive. On the last set of box jumps, we, shockingly, got tired and sneakily flipped our box down to a lower height.
One of our classmates caught it and immediately called us out on it. If that kind of social competitiveness is what you’re looking for in a training environment, then you really need look no further than CrossFit.
Drop-ins at Code M CrossFit, located in Danat Tower B, Al Reehan, Abu Dhabi (behind Holiday Inn on Airport Rd), are Dh120.
An eightclass pass is Dh850, a 12-class pass Dh1,200, and unlimited monthly use Dh1,399. They offer Ladies Only sessions also.
Info: 050 297 5222; [email protected]; Facebook – Code M CrossFit
Live off the island? Try one of these new boxes: CrossFit Abu Dhabi, Al Raha Beach (www.crossfitabudhabi.com) (Facebook: CrossFit Abu Dhabi). CrossFit FTS, out of Beyond Health Club, Khalifa City A (www.beyonduae.com) (Facebook: Beyond Health Club – Abu Dhabi)
What: Code M CrossFit
When: Daily
Where: Danat Tower B, Abu Dhabi
Contact & information: www.codemcrossfit.com
