What's The Fuss About F45?

Heard the phrase 'Eat. F45. Repeat' lately? The training phenomenon has taken the health and fitness industry by storm. Monique McKenzie takes a look at what’s involved
 

Dubbed the world’s fastest-growing fitness craze, F45 was born in Bondi Beach in 2012 and developed by a celebrity trainer. In just the six years since launching, it has exploded – with more than 1000 studios across Australia, the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. The franchise, which was founded by Hollywood trainer Luke Istomin and Rob Deutsch, has amassed a cult following. Nicole Kidman swears by it, and other devotees include Ricky Martin and Nicole Richie. The ‘F’ stands for functional training and the ‘45’ for the total time of all classes: 45 minutes. F45 strives to be female-friendly. Membership is 70 per cent females, 30 per cent males. It’s also less intimidating than you might expect; you won’t find heavy weights, power lifting or heavy treadmills in the classes. Swinging an 8kg kettlebell in the air is just one of the circuit exercises you’ll endure. And expect lots of burpees.

Element of surprise

F45 was created after Deutsch spotted a gap in the fitness market. He could see people were joined up at commercial gyms with little innovation, and most couldn’t necessarily afford a $90 PT session three times a week. So he set out to create a group training facility featuring the most dynamic and effective training styles to date. He sought to find a way to vary workouts every day that could be implemented around the world. He has described the regularly changing workouts as some days training like an American quarterback, the next day training like a surfer on the pipeline. The variety keeps its members challenged.