Balance Blog

Looks like DC’s fitness community is trying to follow Balance Gym‘s lead by starting to focus more on functional training and less on isolating muscles via weight machines.

This week, Washington Post fitness columnists Vicky Hallett and Lenny Bernstein wrote about the “latest trend” in personal training: functional training.

“That liberation is happening more, according to the American Council on Exercise, which named functional training one of the top trends of 2010. The group specifically called out the rise of the TRX suspension training system, which involves a set of straps with handles that affix to a ceiling (or tree, or anything).”

Of course, this style of training is nothing new for Balance Gym, Hallet and Bernstein acknowledged. “In Washington, that boom [functional training] started four years ago at Balance Gym in the District’s Kalorama neighborhood, which Mark Crick and Graham King founded with just $3,000 in equipment in the hopes of focusing on machine-free, athletic-style training. They soon opened their doors to CrossFit DC, the area’s first CrossFit affiliate. (There are now nearly 20 in the region.)”

Read the whole Post article here.

It’s true, at both Balance Gym Kalorama and Balance Gym Thomas Circle, we focus on movements, not muscles. With our personal training we integrate high intensity cardio with functional strength training. We use total- body movements that are challenging and tailored for each client. But we don’t just do that one-on-one, we also stick to that motto in our classes, such as Strength Class at Balance Gym Kalorama, Balance Boot Camp at both Kalorama and Thomas Circle location, and our newest CrossFit affilate, CrossFit Balance.

What kind of training do you prefer?