After attending the Fernwood Summer Sculpt breakfast a few weeks back, I was invited by the lovely Fernwood girl’s, Jess and Mel, to try out a Functional Fit Class At Fernwood. Upon arrival, I was surprised by how well this typical CBD space had been set up.
As I entered the all-female, Flinders Lane gym, I was greeted by some lovely familiar faces. I love the feel of an all-female space. It’s like we have this unspoken understanding of each other. We can all relate to that feeling of uncertainty when walking into an unfamiliar place, therefore we go out of our way to make sure our guests feel welcome. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to shy away from a unisex gym either! In fact, I did a six month stint at a Body Builder gym in Brunswick a while back.
I think if you can handle grown men walking around in their jocks and posing in front of a mirror (no I’m not joking), then a female gym will always seem warm and friendly… and atheistically pleasing!
Fernwood culture: all workplaces take note!
Feeling pumped about this under-an-hour class, I filled out my health forms, signed my life away and got chatting to Mel. Fortunately for her, this was just another work day for her, where she gets to pop down stairs from her office on the first floor and do a workout. How awesome! Can you imagine how much more productive your workplace would be if we all got to do this? Not to mention how much more healthy we’d be if we all got to de-stress at midday by breaking out in a sweat and having the ability to jump around and let off all that built up tension! Jess soon joined us and the three of us jumped on the treadmill (not all on the same one mind you) and we started our warm up. After a few minutes, our lovely instructor called us in to start our workout.
Functional Fit
Functional. A big buzz word in the fitness community at the moment. Functional meaning a movement that you do regularly and naturally. Let’s be honest, not all exercises are ‘natural’ movements. Therefore not all exercises are functional. However, those that aren’t can still benefit you, as long as they are performed safely.
The word ‘functional’ in the fitness industry implies that you would do that movement outside the gym or in ‘everyday life’. Well that’s the whole idea! Though many would argue and give different meaning to the word, depending on what your fitness background is. Rather than over-analysing a silly word, let me go into details of the workout that got me red-faced and sweaty, this Friday afternoon at Fernwood.
The workout on this day was a circuit with 9 stations.
Each station was something different:
- Plank walk out, walk in + jump
- Bosu crunch (OUCH!)
- Clean + press
- Single-leg jump overs
- Dumbbell boxing
- Hurdles
- Tricep dips
- Sumo kettle bell squats
- Skipping
Now don’t be fooled to think it was easy when I tell you that the first round for each station of the circuit was only 20 seconds in length. Because it wasn’t. This 20 second round made the other rounds (which were 30 seconds then 40 seconds), seem so much harder! With barely a break in between each round, this workout proves what I always stand by: you don’t need to schedule aside hours to incorporate a workout into your day. By the end of this 30 minute class, I felt like I’d just given an hour’s worth of energy. I knew I was going to sleep well that night!
Looking like a red-capsicum (definitely red, as opposed to having a purple tinge like a beetroot), I rudely suggested to Mel and Jess that we have a group photo at the end of our sweat-sess. It’s taken me a while to realise this as a PT, but women especially do not like having their photo taken mid or post workout. The only acceptable time to ask for a photo is ‘pre’. Without batting an eye-lid, these two lovely ladies huddled in next to me along side the lady who tormented us for the half-hour, (also known as Jennie) and we put on our best poker faces for the camera.
Fernwood offers a variety of different classes at a heap of locations throughout Melbourne and Australia.
If you would like more information on their Functional Fit class, or other classes, check out their website here.
