I’m sure you’ve all seen the Instagram adds pop up either between watching stories or on your feed. I’ve been putting off trying F45 for a long time because their only location was downtown Halifax, and I was not trying to spend time figuring out where I was going to park just to get my sweat on. So, when the Mumford location popped up (in real life and on my timeline) I knew it was time to finally get in for that 7-day free trial! #NoSpendingNovember
F45 prides itself in being a circuit and HIIT style of training that implements functional movements to get your heart pumping and to increase overall strength in just 45-minutes.
Their schedule is broken up like so:
M/W/F: Cardio
T/H/S: Resistance
Saturday: Hybrid
I tried each class out… well kind of (I’ll explain) & by what I got from it, everyone, everywhere, in the world, doing an F45 class that day is doing the exact same workout.
The cardio days were definitely challenging. It’s the kind of high-intensity interval training people who are scared of HIIT think of. Depending on the section you are in, you are either hopping up and down or moving around a weight pretty quickly. There is minimal rest between exercises and sets and the sweat comes fast. A good thing about how much you’re moving is that the 45-minutes actually does fly by, so no need to worry about that.
The resistance days were alright. Again, these are done in intervals so you can move as fast or as slow as you’d like and depending on the stations you may be using mainly dummbells, or kettlebells or miniature barbells. These days, from what I got from them, are meant to be shorter intervals to focus on moving heavier weight (obviously), but there is still the aspect of moving as quickly and doing as many reps as you can. Therefore, I see it more as a muscular endurance focus rather than strength. Which is totally fine!
The Saturday Hybrid class, also known as Hollywood, is meant to be a combination of cardio and resistance movements and is also 60-minutes long. Plus there’s a real live DJ! Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to experience the full effect of this class due to technology.
AND THIS, is where my faults of F45 come in…
**COVID may or may not have an impact on this next part so read with caution. But it’s also our new normal sooo***
F45 uses a lot of technology. At one time, there are 9 different workouts going on. Depending on the number square you are in, you are following one section of a screen. Therefore, if the screens don’t work for some weird reason, there is no workout to follow. Which is what happened to me. And, although there are two trainers in each class, they’re not necessarily coaches. Because there are so many different movements happening at one time, it’s hard for the trainers to cue everyone so they really just become your hype squad unless they’re right beside you and are adjusting your form.
Essentially you are in a group virtual class. So not sure how they justify their prices.
To be 100% honest, I was not a big fan of the workouts. I found they exhausted some body parts more than others and didn’t seem to have a real rhyme or reason for exercise choices other than making you sweaty and tired. I also could not imagine starting my ‘fitness journey’ here. Because of the minimal coaching, if you were new to exercising you may not know how to scale certain exercises and honestly may feel too challenged.
*Side note: when I looked around, it felt like I was in a secret club that only hott and fit people knew about (but that could just be my insecurities talking). But there was definitely a young, successful, self-employed, entrepreneur with a hint of med school vibe going on, which we love ;)*
Overall: In my opinion, F45 Mumford is for the already decently fit and busy professional who wants to work out mindlessly. It’s a neat place to get sweaty and is in a pretty sweet location. I personally had a great experience with the trainers. Shoutout to Victoria, Hannah, Taylor, Kenzie, Adi and Chad!
I’m rating this as a 6.5/10!