One Boulder Fitness, 1800 Broadway, Suite 190, Boulder, Oneboulderfitness.com, 303-447-8545
Instructor: Glen Marshman, of Boulder, owner and head trainer of the club. Marshman has 35 years of fitness experience, and this is the third club he's owned. He is certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and he says he is constantly studying and learning more about fitness and health.
What is the workout? Small-group personal training that works out all of your body parts using the "four pillars of human movement:" locomotion, level changes, push-pull and rotation. Most movements also hit the frontal, sagittal and transverse planes of movement. Movements are designed to be functional -- stuff you need to be able to do on a daily basis, like pick things up off the floor.
"You get a big bang for your buck by working so many muscles at the same time: stability, functional movements, core and regular strength, and cardio, as well," Marshman says.
Marshman is also a "stickler on technique and form," because he says the correct positions reduce the chances of getting hurt.
What's different: "The biggest thing is it's a small group -- maximum eight people -- and one-on-one coaching," Marshman says. "It's personal training at an affordable level."
In fact, he says, he estimates most fitness clubs will be offering this type of class in the next five to 10 years. The reason? He says it's impossible to watch all students in a large group fitness class, and this kind of training works.
"Anybody who takes this class or has taken it -- not one will come to me and say, 'That doesn't work,'" Marshman says. "It does work."
The class is about movement, not sitting on an exercise machine and "plugging and playing," as Marshman calls it, or working on a piece of cardio equipment for an hour with a low heart rate. Instead of a regular lunge, Marshman does a lunge with resistance bands and a twisting motion.
"People want to be fit and burn calories, and how you do that is you got to put out the effort," he says.
Inspiration for class: Marshman began teaching this class 31/2 years ago, and recently changed One Boulder Fitness to get rid of large group fitness classes and emphasise this kind of functional strength training. The class is a culmination of what Marshman has learned over the years, picking and choosing the exercises he thinks are most effective.
What does it cost? You can try the class for a $15 one-time drop-in, or free for members of the club. After that, it's $120 a month for training twice a week, which turns out to be $15 a class.
Who does it? "This class is good for anybody who wants to get in shape," Marshman says. The class ranges from people in their mid-20s to upper 50s, all levels of fitness, usually half men and half women.
When: Noon and 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday for 45 to 50 minutes. The class is slated for an hour, but no one can usually handle more than 50 minutes at the fast tempo, Marshman says. Other instructors who teach the class offer it at different times throughout the week.
I also met with Marshman 45 minutes before the class to prepare for it, learn the movements and ask questions. That was definitely necessary; the class goes fast and has a steep learning curve.
Level: All levels of fitness can do this class, so depending on how hard you push and the amount of resistance you choose (the color of band and how far away you stand to create tension) the difficulty varies. Participants vary from people with no fitness background to extreme endurance athletes, Marshman says.
During the class, I thought it was around an eight on a 10-point difficulty scale, but the next morning when I woke up very sore in every muscle, I realized exactly how hard I had been working, and I decided this class deserved a rare 10. I don't know how I could work out any harder.
Format: Light warm-up with a medicine ball to get you loosened up. Then we moved to the floor for dynamic mobility mat work to open up hip circuit and lower back; no static stretching. After about seven to eight minutes, we moved to the bands and did different exercises circuit-style: 30 seconds on, 15 second off. We proceeded through the class like that, with Marshman watching for when we got too fatigued. If we were still gasping and not yet recovered after 15 seconds, he gave us a few more seconds of a break to catch up.
"If you're so worn out that you can't be productive doing the next exercise, what's the point?" he says.
Marshman plans the exercises we do beforehand, but he says he changes on the spot depending on the group's specific needs.
"Being able to read people, after training people for 35 years, is second nature," he says.
He typically goes through 12 to 13 exercises in a class.
Equipment: Resistance bands, Body Bar, dumbbells, medicine balls, Fit Balls, mats. No two classes are the same, so you use different equipment each class.
What to wear: Workout clothes, shoes. Grab a towel and bring water. You will need both.
Muscles worked: Multi-plane movements work the full body. Keeping the tempo up gives you a good cardio workout, too. And that ignites your metabolism, Marshman says.
One new move: Stand facing away from the wall, with a resistance band attached to the wall and in your right hand. Stand staggered, with the left foot in front, right foot in back, knee bent similar to a lunge. Keep your torso square and don't rotate as you push forward with your right hand. This movement with an asymmetrical load really works your core and stability. It works your chest, shoulders, triceps, core and cardio.
What I loved: The interesting thing about this class is that because we used resistance bands, I felt more comfortable pushing myself much harder, because I wasn't worried about getting stuck under a heavy weight that I couldn't get out from under; I knew if I felt overwhelmed, all I had to do was step one inch closer to the wall and it would be easier -- without missing a beat or needing to slow down. I didn't feel intimidated or trapped, so I was more mentally willing to push my body harder.
Plus, I knew Marshman was watching me closely, so I didn't have to worry about hurting myself, and if I started to slack off, he rallied me to work harder. If I had done this same circuit alone in my house, I wouldn't have gotten a fraction as good of a workout as I did under Marshman's attentive eye.
All in all, I got a great workout because of the specific moves, the equipment used and Marshman's technique.
What I didn't like: Nothing. This is an effective class that offers one of the highest levels of fitness training I've experienced. I feel confident that anyone who tries this class will see results, and the principles it's based on are hard to dispute. I agree with Marshman: This works.
How I felt after the class: So very hungry that I ate enough Thai noodles to set a world record.
How I felt later: I was very sore for the next three days. My legs were the sorest at first, and then I felt my shoulders and arms a few days later (delayed reaction?). I think if I did this class for a month, I'd be in the best shape of my life. One of the most effective yet least intimidating classes I've ever tried.
-- Reported by Aimee Heckel.
