UPTOWN FUNC

AS THE UP AND RISING STAR WITHIN THE DEVOTED PRACTITIONERS OF HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING, THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT WE STILL HAVEN’T KNOWN ABOUT F45

Lately, gyms are for those who aim for either two things: to bulk up, or to beat yourself up with cardio. So one’s for a larger figure, and the other is to gain stamina. It’s not that there are anything wrong with either of them. But some wanted a better experience in working out. Some wants the distinct shaped muscles but also the stamina. Enter high-intensity interval training, or HIIT. Before HIIT, fitness used to be common routines and repetitions. Now that we’ve been introduced to HIIT, it becomes a series of short but impactful challenges. And those who triumphed in this genre eventually has excellent figure, with monster strength and durability.

With many options out there for highintensity training, is there room for another one? Always. The latest fitness craze is F45, a new breed of HIIT that are starting to get the spotlight once hogged by other brands. We try to dissect everything you need to know about it – and how to start.

HIGH ( INTENSITY) DEFINITION

Basically F45 is a group HIIT workout, where participants undergo a series of intense exercises, in a limited time span. That’s the initial idea. And just like you right now, we also had the same question: what differs F45 from already established brands of trainings, such as CrossFit? It needs some technical explanation for this – which all starts from its nomenclature.

The name actually explains all: “F” stands for “functional” and “45” is the duration of each exercise. A functional workout is when we use some muscle groups or even full body to complete, implementing or mimicking acts that are similar to everyday movements. That’s why in F45, we do reps for movements such as lifting, squatting, jumping, twisting, pulling, pushing, punching, kicking, rowing and pedaling. In that 45 minutes of each class, you will do a series of exercises that consists of those short workouts and its variations.

Now, to make it even precise. F45 has an exact duration for their trainings, while CrossFit could last more than an hour, if you or the trainer deem suitable. F45 enhances your fitness by doing a series of workouts familiar to day to day activities, while CrossFit is a combination of aerobics, calisthenics and hardcore weightlifting. F45 is about doing exercise with the best experience, while CrossFit is for the ultra-competitive athletes who always wanted more power, stamina and endurance.

FOCUS GROUP

F45’s three key factors are outdatedly obvious: motivation, innovation and results – but, which gym or exercise method doesn’t? F45, though, has proven to be consistent. Basically, working out in a small group has been proven to motivate you more, especially when you’ve become a regular part of it and those separate groups have become one close community.

The innovation comes in shrewd details. Such as the extra cold room temperature to balance the intensity-induced heat. Or the wonderful song playlist that makes the routine, well, more fun. Or no exercise program is ever repeated to avoid staleness and boredom. That’s right. Every time you come to a F45 session, your circuit training will consist of a completely different set of workouts. No training day will ever be the same, because they have a pool of more than 4,500 movements to randomly choose from. Also, 250 new ones added every three months! The possibilities are basically limitless.

Lastly, it’s probably all that combined in a single 45 minute session that drives the results. That, and also the fact that in just seven years, F45 has spread to more than 35 countries and opened around 1,350 studios so far – including three in Jakarta, with five more to follow soon. So, even if their key factors are as basic as saying that water is the essence of life, it definitely works and has found a great community of loyal followers all across the globe.

ALPHA AND OMEGA

F45 started at the beginning of the 2010s in Sydney, Australia. The man behind this innovation was entrepreneur Rob Deutsch, who saw a large gap between low cost but less motivated gym members and the personally trained expensive sessions. He wanted something in between that combines the best of two worlds, where you pay mid-range price for getting results of intense trainings – but most importantly, enjoying the exercise.

So, if you think you have always been part of that middle gap area who hates the boring monthly-installment gym routine but forking extra cash for a PT course would damage your savings on the long run, F45 might be the answer for your middle class problem.

“F45’S KEY FACTORS ARE OUTDATEDLY OBVIOUS: MOTIVATION, INNOVATION AND RESULTS – BUT, WHICH GYM OR EXERCISE METHOD DOESN’T? F45, THOUGH, HAS PROVEN TO BE CONSISTENT”