CrossFitting the bar

I was recently suckered — enticed, actually — into going on a hiking trip. At the last stony hill toward the 4x4 vehicles that would take us back to town, my legs started cramping, everything was becoming bleary (puddle of mud-like), and I could hear the fat lady singing. I didn’t want to go down for the count because there was a girl whom I found really interesting. And she was already sunning herself uphill. It would be tragic if our tour guide were to carry me the rest of the way — collapsed, contorted a la gangly Jim Carrey. “Unfit” does not begin to describe what I am. The gym and I aren’t friends. I could say the same thing about others: The demands of work keep them from working out and keeping fit.

But there’s a relatively new exercise program that requires, what, 15 to 20 minutes of your time each day. They call it CrossFit Training, and many people swear by it. You could count Gerard Butler and his pack of six-packed Spartans in Frank Miller’s 300. Video/performance artist and CrossFit enthusiast Beatrix Syjuco says many people wondered whether those Spartan abs were merely CGI- or makeup-induced. She explains, “The foundation of their physique was obtained by doing CrossFit Training for six months.” 

Fitness aficionado Miguel Dy Buncio says, “CrossFit is like a mash-up of all the best fitness disciplines out there. In terms of strength development, it has the best exercises — from Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, plyometrics, running, rowing… you name it.”

Dy Buncio — along with Ferdi Catabian and former PBA point guard Matt Makalintal — is one of the coaches at CrossFit MNL at Libis near Eastwood, the country’s first officially certified gym that specializes in CrossFit Training, which like Dy Buncio says, is “a unique and remarkable mix of cardiovascular, track & field, gymnastics, plyometrics, kettlebell and weightlifting methods — carried out through simple and constantly varied movements in high intensities to yield the quickest and surest possible results.” CrossFit MNL opened in January of this year and it currently has 50 full-fledged members.

Video/performance artist and CrossFit Training enthusiast Beatrix Syjuco says, “When people initially hear CrossFit and how Gerard Butler of 300 got into shape by undergoing the training program, they get easily intimidated and think it’s something they’re not capable of doing. But CrossFit rids you of the three problems that prevent people from engaging in a fitness routine. One, you have no time. Here, everything is so compressed that you could finish it in 15 minutes. Two, you walk into another gym and see all those fancy machines and you don’t know what to do. Three, you manage to work with the equipment but don’t see any results. But here, you’re guaranteed that the workouts are spoon-fed to you, and you really see results. Even after two days.”

Catabian amplifies, “Here at CrossFit, (CrossFit MNL members) don’t have to repeat the same workout again. It’s always different every single day, so that your body doesn’t adapt to the program to avoid falling into routine, and so that your progress or performance doesn’t plateau. It’s always exciting; our members don’t know what we’re going to do for the day. And it’s always high-intensity.”

Syjuco adds, “Constantly varied, constantly diverse, so you can be assured that if you do it every day or every other day, each set of muscles will be worked at some point or another.”

Dy Buncio points out the pieces of equipment inside the CrossFit gym and annotates. There are the gymnastic rings (pull yourself up and do a dip just like an Olympian gymnast). There are pull-up bars (more pull-ups). There are kettlebells (which Beatrix demoed). There are rowing machines. There are barbells with bumper plates.

 “This is a special plate made of pure rubber,” he says as he lets it drop to the floor. “Most gyms won’t allow you to do that because their plates are just rubber-coated and metal inside.”

So here at CrossFit MNL when you’re lifting those barbells and have had enough, rather than risk injury by setting the equipment gently down, you could just let the mother fall with a soft, rubbery thud.

Men in action: CrossFit MNL coaches demonstrate the various exercises that make up the program.

Makalintal explains, “It’s an intense workout. The time of the workout is really short, so you have to push yourself, so your body gets intense for quick periods of time.”

Beatrix says the community spirit of the CrossFit Training program helps immensely. There is a white board with the names of members with details on how many rounds they’ve done, or how much time it took for them to finish the workout.

“What sets CrossFit apart from other fitness programs is that it’s self-discovering. You could really challenge yourself and unleash your potential, and discover what you’re really capable of. You could never do that if you’re simply lifting barbells at home. Here at the CrossFit gym, you want to match the level of other members. You want to be up to par with them.”

Dy Buncio shares, “We put the element of sport into working out. In sport, there is competition; but after the game, there is camaraderie and you get to meet new friends that share the same passion for the sport. Here at CrossFit everything is counted, everything is timed. Members have a goal (in each set of exercises). That’s what keeps the intensity high. It’s in the spirit of competition.” 

Beginners (ahem, ahem) and pro athletes could benefit from the CrossFit training. Membership in CrossFit MNL is open to everyone: from grandmas (yes, the gym has one) to elite tri-athletes (yes, the gym has a bunch of them).

Dy Buncio concludes, “Our current members include professional basketball players, tri-athletes, as well as regular people who just stepped inside a gym for the first time, and they’re just looking for something new, stretch their goals and achieve something different.”

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CrossFit MNL is at Magnitude Realty Estate (near Eastwood, Libis), 186 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Quezon City. For information, call or SMS 0917-5331787, e-mail info@crossfitmnl.comor visit crossfitmnl.com.

Carry that weight: Kettlebells and barbells are just some of pieces of equipment at the CrossFit MNL gym near Eastwood, Libis.