Chris McVitty with instructor.
First things first; don’t be fooled by the photos, this is tough! Crossfit Enniskillen opened a month ago in Fermanagh and I can promise you it is not for the faint hearted.
If you’re looking for an easy half an hour of walking on the treadmill and chatting with friends over the water cooler then this is not for you, but if you want to get involved in an intense, varied fitness community then cross fit is ideal.
Started in 2000 in California and now with over 10,000 centres across the world Crossfit is a worldwide fitness phenomen incorporating; high-intensity interval training, Olympic weightlifting, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics, girevoy sport, calisthenics, strongman and other exercises.
Originally from Glasgow, proprietor Gary Wilson has been doing Crossfit for six years and has now set up home in Fermanagh.
“My girlfriend is originally from Enniskillen but moved over to Scotland 12 years ago to study Dentistry at University of Glasgow. My first visit to Enniskillen after we met, I recognised that there wasn’t a CrossFit gym in the county. I thought it strange as there were 21 CrossFit gyms spread out over Northern Ireland but none in Fermanagh. This got me thinking of a potential opportunity to realise my dream of opening my own CrossFit gym. It wasn’t until over a year later when the dream became a reality. My girlfriend made a few enquiries as to potential Dentistry jobs in Enniskillen and was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to purchase Lisbellaw Dental Practice. This immediately got the ball rolling and once we sat down and had the serious conversation of ‘Are we really going to do this?’ We weighed the pros and cons and decided that it was definitely what the both of us wanted to do even with the risks involved.”
The gym or ‘the box’ as they call it, is situated in the Portland Business Park, out the Tempo Road and has been funded through Gary’s own savings and the financial backing of his family.
Invest NI have also provided guidance on marketing and advertising to promote the business.
So far Gary has been overwhelmed by the response, despite being its infancy.
“I really couldn’t have asked for a better response from the people of Fermanagh. If Facebook likes is anything to go by then I had over one thousand likes before I even opened. I think this is unheard of for a CrossFit gym or even any gym for that matter.
I’m receiving so many enquiries every day from people who are complete beginners but heard good things about CrossFit, to people who have been doing CrossFit in their garage for the past year. I’m also receiving lots of interest from the local GAA and Rugby teams that would like to use CrossFit as their main Strength and Conditioning training.”
He added: “Walk in to a CrossFit gym and you walk in to a community, almost like an extended family. Everybody knows each other and all become friends. We have students, doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, firemen, policemen, people from all walks of life but when they come together after their shift and enter the door of CrossFit Enniskillen they all turn in to the same thing and that’s a CrossFitter. No matter what age or ability, they might be a local sporting hero to a complete beginner. You will see no mirrors, people care not for what you/they look like but how much effort you/they give in the workout.
The only shouting you will hear is the words of encouragement from friends to keep going when things start to get tough. CrossFit Enniskillen runs 4/5 classes per day from early morning to late evenings. Each class lasts exactly one hour and is always led by an experienced CrossFit certified trainer.
In the hour everybody goes through a specific warm-up, will learn a new skill, work on strength and mobility and then finish with a good workout that gets the heart racing and the lungs burning.
Each person is coached in technique every step of the way and no one is ever asked to perform a movement outside of their ability. You can almost see it as a personal training session at every class.”
All information regarding class schedule and membership options can be found on the website www.crossfitenniskillen.com. Or you can visit the Facebook page CrossFit Enniskillen.