After cruising a few Crossfit boxes when we first hit town, we finally settled on CF Sydney despite the face that we have to run past a couple of other boxes on the way, which pains my lazy ass to no end I have to admit. If you're reading this review, I'll assume you have the basic cult of CF lingo down, so I'll tailor the remarks with that understanding.
Basically, this box has everything you could want or need, a million class times running all day, from 0530 to 2000 M-F and tons of time on the weekends too if you're inclined to ruin your weekend with a WOD...which my wife makes me do regularly...but having been members at boxes where the times are limited, this is a huge plus. Also, the box is open for open gym and Olympic lifting all day long too, so you can swing in a work on whatever you want when you want as long as you're not in the way (which I'll get too in the Cons section)
The WOD's usually consist of an agility/mobility type stretch/warmup followed by a warmup WOD and then usually into either some sprints or interval work and then a lifting/metcon WOD. Every WOD is followed by an ab workout and then a stretch out, so you get the full hour in at every class. I should add here though that this isn't the box necessarily for people who really want to make it to the games and become the next Rich Fronning. They're much more focused on getting people fit, so if you're the next big thing coming to CF, I'm sure there's another box that'll probably suit you better.
Another huge factor for us, and I think should matter to most CF types is the coaches. The coaches here are fantabulous! They aren't over the top types spitting in your face to get one last rep out, but they're also not clowns yukking it up the whole time either. They're all focused on making sure you get the moves right with the right weight so you don't hurt yourself. On a plus note that shouldn't matter maybe, but they're all fit too and can do all the moves. Having been to boxes where half the coaches weren't exactly candidates for the cover of Muscle and Fitness, it's nice to see examples of where CF and good diet can take you. It's always a little easier to take constructive criticism from someone doing the lift then someone who can't, but maybe I'm just a prick...
Onto the one real Con of CF Sydney, and that is the space issue. It's friggin tight like a tiger in there! They have so much equipment and so many people stuffed in there, it can feel a bit crazy at times...It hasn't really effected any of our workouts, but I could see if someone was the super competitive perfectionist type, this might bother them. Hopefully they'll buy out the Christmas all year long warehouse next door soon and we'll all be able to do WOD's dressed like Santa!
If you're looking for a solid box to join, with the right balance of friendly people and dedicated coaches, you could do a lot worse than CF Sydney. If you stop in, I'll be the guy sweating like a whore in church in the back... read more