You Try It
Various times, Monday through Saturday
Xplicit Fitness
4780 Mission Gorge Place, Grantville
xplicitfitness.com
There’s no greater stress reliever than beating your fists against a heavy bag.
I couldn’t wait to punch away my tension at the Boxing Fusion class at Grantville’s Xplicit Fitness, but I wasn’t sure what to expect. Boxing… fused with what, exactly?
The owner, Chad Yarvitz, is a former Golden Gloves champion. He started the class with a 30-minute warm-up. Be warned: This “warm-up” is intense.
While Yarvitz shouted out health facts, we alternated between jumping lunges, Swiss-ball push-ups, dumbbell rows, sprints, and—my favorite—flinging heavy battle ropes.
Then trainer Mike Douglas joined Yarvitz and explained our next challenge: three minutes (the length of a boxing round) at each of six stations. We worked our way through chest-presses and rows on TRX straps, shuttle sprints, plank hammer curls, time on a rower, and plenty of punching: on a heavy bag, a double-ended bag, and even trainer-held focus mitts for people with boxing experience.
The hour finished up with “the Grid,” a 10-minute all-out sprint to fit in as many reps as possible of 60 v-ups (jackknife sit-ups), 20 bear crawls, and five shuttle runs.
This mash-up of boxing and functional fitness is a tough workout, but also easily customized to every fitness level. I was never bored, and at the end of the hour I was sweat-soaked and panting—and completely stress-free.
I Tried It: Boxing Fusion
Photo by Corey Jenkins
