CrossFit Motivate

Crossfit is a training movement that’s earned a cult following in recent years… heck, even trainer Bob Harper of Biggest Loser fame says he’s «drunk the Kool-​Aid». It can be tough to give a star rating to a gym, because different people will like different approaches to exercise. My three star rating therefore doesn’t reflect the quality of the workout, but rather its appeal to a general audience like Unilocal readers. To see if this gym is for you, read on.
Location:
An industrial park in the South East, which would be convenient for people in that neck of the woods, or if you go for the 6 a.m. workout, the traffic from anywhere isn’t much of an issue :-) The only real plus is plenty of parking.
Facility:
Purpose-​outfitted for the Crossfit style («functional movement»), which includes mats, jump boxes, skipping ropes, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettlebells, freeweights, rowing machines, gym (hanging) rings and the dreaded pull-​up bars. And walls. You use walls a lot. Walls… not just for keeping the outside outside anymore!
The floor is that impact-​reducing rubber composite matting found in many bootcamp gyms, which in my experience soils light colored workout gear. Given the Spartan nature of the facility, there are a couple of surprisingly well appointed shower rooms in case you need to freshen up before going to work.
Workouts:
There is one, ever-​changing workout-​of-​the-​day. Although it varies, there is a broad pattern. The class is one hour, which includes about 10 minutes of warmup/​stretching, often followed by a special focus exercise (e.g. a set of heavy freeweight movements, or head stands), then typically a long superset (e.g. pull-​ups, crunches, squats, pull-​ups, squats, crunches…) that is either timed intervals or a pyramid count. There is only one guarantee: you’ll be exhausted by the end. These classes are for people who like/​need to be pushed to their limits.
Someone who isn’t already pretty strong will find these classes quite daunting, but several modifications are available if all you want to injure is your pride.
Trainers:
I’ve been several times but only had one trainer, so take this with a grain of salt. Very fit, technically competent, but also very matter-​of-​fact in explaining exercises («like, that’s wrong»). Getting through the reps is mostly a question of self-​motivation, as everyone is doing things at their own pace, and there isn’t a lot of verbal reinforcement by the trainer compared to Fit Body bootcamps, for example.
Cost:
Probably 2 to 2.5 times the cost of a regular gym, but cheaper than getting personal training, which is the exactly the niche these specialized group exercise facilities try to fill.